In the past, marketing and human resources were thought to be completely separate entities, commissioned by the business owner to achieve their own goals. Today, as businesses seek new ways to remain relevant and grow, innovative uses for marketing in HR are becoming more prevalent. The result is that marketing and HR concepts are more closely related than ever before. Both functions are designed to operate under the precepts of promotion, and both have tangible elements to market.

Marketing Mindset

People in marketing have often been considered as individuals possessing outgoing, upbeat personalities and compelling powers of persuasion. These traits work effectively to bring positive notoriety to the businesses for which these professionals work. The tools of the trade include creative thinking, contemporary attitudes and patience. Human resources professionals inherently possess these same qualities, putting them to use for the same reasons that motivate marketers -- to increase business -- but perhaps in more indirect ways. For example, marketing techniques are used as a means of communicating with employees rather than to directly promote a product or service.

Internal Marketing

Human resources professionals know that your employees are your internal customers. When disseminating information to these customers, the more creative and upbeat the message, the more receptive employees may be to the content. Human resources staff members attempt to grab the attention of your employees and motivate them to act, in much the same way that marketing professionals do with potential customers. For example, when human resources personnel schedule an employee meeting to kick off a new safety program, they might distribute flyers using creative words and images that convey a message like “Exciting new information that can earn you rewards! Find out more -- come to the meeting!” Regular marketing to your employees imparting business information can be achieved through the monthly publication of newsletters.

External Marketing

Marketing axioms are in full effect when implemented by companies promoting certain types of software to HR departments. For instance, human resources teams are often inundated by direct-mail pieces, phone calls and email offers describing the benefits of the latest advancements in a particular human resources information system. HR is just as vulnerable to this type of prolific external marketing as any customer might be. External marketing to human resources can include offers from marketers for HR outsourcing companies, workers' compensation and health insurance companies, and HR consultants. External marketing from human resources comes into play during HR personnel's recruitment activities, when concocting creative and persuasive ads to attract qualified applicants. External HR marketing is also implemented in support of your company brand through employment ads that describe the advantages of working with your company.

Business Benefits

The boon to your business comes when HR's efforts using marketing techniques inspire workers to increase profitability and, thus, profits. For example, a new-hire packet describing procedures for increasing sales could follow a marketing notion by laying out incentives for sales. This could be achieved by including a graphic illustration depicting how to up-sell products, combined with clever text giving a motivational description of your bonus program. Internal and external marketing can work together to create goodwill for your company when the HR department actively promotes employee participation on a company-sponsored effort, such as working with Habitat for Humanity. A positive endeavor such as this can build employee respect and loyalty for your company, as well as indirectly market your business’s philanthropic activities to the community.