5 practical ways to prove internal comms ROI (and finally unlock budget)
If you work in internal comms, you’ve probably been asked some version of this; “But what’s the actual impact?” Not engagement. Not reach. Not clicks. Impact. And that exposes a gap.x
And as digital communication and collaboration consultant Sharon O’Dea put it in our recent webinar, The comms ROI playbook: How to get more budget in 2026:
“It’s not that leaders don’t care about communication. It’s that the value isn’t always framed in terms they prioritise.”
In the session, Sharon unpacked how to close it, with a practical framework for connecting comms to real business problems, measurable outcomes, and investment.
Here are five takeaways you can apply immediately.
#1. Start with the business problem, not the Comms ask
The biggest shift in the session was simple, but critical: “What are leadership actually worried about?”
Not comms metrics.
Not channels.
Not formats.
Things like:
- attrition
- productivity
- compliance
- change adoption
Then, and only then, do you connect Comms to that.
Because if you start with comms, you’re asking for budget. If you start with business problems, you’re solving one.
#2. Find the friction: that’s where your ROI is hiding
One of the most practical prompts from Sharon:
“Where are poor comms creating measurable drag?”
That’s the unlock.
Look at where work breaks down:
- managers clarifying missed updates
- onboarding delays
- low adoption of change
- safety incidents linked to missed information
This is what comms actually impacts.
But more importantly, this is what the business is already paying for. They’re just not calling it ‘comms’.
#3. Stop reporting activity. Start proving impact.
This was one of the clearest moments in the session:
“We improved reach by 20%” isn’t a business case.
Instead, Sharon reframed it as:
“We reduced onboarding time by 3 days.”
“We cut policy clarification tickets by 18%.”
“We improved shift-fill speed.”
That’s the shift:
- from activity → outcome
- from comms metrics → operational impact
And it ties directly to something else she called out:
“We need to move beyond being vague and fluffy… and talk about what’s specific and measurable.”
Because that’s what leadership funds.
#4. Build a case that reflects reality, not assumptions
Another strong thread from the session:
“You probably know where the bodies are buried.”
Comms teams already know:
- where people are blocked
- what leaders care about
- where things break down
But that insight often stays implicit.
The opportunity is to make it explicit:
- show where work slows down
- show what people are working around
- show the gap between HQ assumptions and frontline reality
Because that’s what makes the case real.
#5. Treat comms like infrastructure, not a one-off project
This was a subtle but important point:
“These things are treated as one-off programmes… and then you have to fight for them every time.”
Instead, Sharon reframed it as:
This should be “business hygiene… this is now the norm.”
That’s a big shift.
Because if comms is:
- a project → it gets cut
- infrastructure → it gets funded
And that’s ultimately what you’re trying to change.
The shift: from comms team → business translator
This is the thread running through everything.
As Sharon put it, we need to connect what we do to “specific and measurable” impact.
That means:
- translating engagement → performance
- translating comms → operational outcomes
- translating friction → cost
Because the value is already there. It just isn’t being expressed in a way the business recognises.
The cost of doing nothing
If you don’t make that shift, the business still pays.
Just quietly.
In:
- time lost chasing updates
- delays in onboarding and change
- missed information and avoidable risk
- duplicated effort and workarounds
That’s the real cost of inaction. And it’s already happening — whether it’s measured or not.
The goal is to make communications an imperative
The goal isn’t to make comms sound more impressive.
It’s to make it:
- visible
- measurable
- fundable
Because when you do that, it’s not just the conversation that changes - it’s the budget.
You can watch the full session with Sharon here.
