Differences and relationship between internal and external communication in a company

23 of May, 2025

When it comes to communication within a company, it’s important to highlight the difference between internal and external communication. There are several characteristics that distinguish internal from external communication.

In broad strokes, internal communication is the process of sharing information among a company’s employees. Meanwhile, external communication is the process of sharing information between a company and its stakeholders.

Want to learn more about how these communication strategies work? Keep reading, we’ll tell you more.

Difference between internal and external communication

There is a significant difference between internal and external communication. And it’s important to understand the characteristics of each before deciding how to implement them in your company.

Internal communication involves getting the right information to the right people so they can effectively perform their jobs. External communication involves getting the right information to the right people so that they purchase your product or service.

Thus, internal communication is communication among employees within the company.

It’s a way for employees to share information, collaborate, and coordinate their activities. Its main characteristics are:

It can be face to face or through notes, emails, or chat apps.
It’s often more informal, clear, and direct.
It’s faster with less review and approval time.
It’s more directive. That is, it’s often used to indirectly give orders.

What’s the difference between internal and external communication? The recipients.

Thus, external communication is communication between the company and its clients or stakeholders. Such as, shareholders.

This includes advertising, public relations, and customer service. Its features would be:

It’s usually done through media, such as television, radio, newspapers, and social networks.
It’s usually more formal and detailed.
It can be slower, due to the need to ensure all relevant parties have been consulted.
It’s more consultative. And is used to establish relationships.

What’s the best option?

Having seen the difference between internal and external communication, you may be wondering which type of corporate communication is best for your company.

In the end, it all depends on your goals and objectives. Internal communication is an essential part of any company. As it helps ensure that employees are aware of what’s happening within the organization and are able to effectively perform their roles.

External communication is also important. It allows your company to share your story with the world and establish relationships with your stakeholder groups.

In the end, despite the difference between internal and external communication, ideally, you should combine both in your company to benefit from them in all possible aspects.

Let’s delve deeper into their features to help you make an informed decision.

Internal and external factors of communication

There are several factors that contribute to the success or failure of communication in a company.

Internally, communication is influenced by factors such as:

The company culture.
The morale of the employees.
The level of trust among team members.

Externally, communication depends on factors like:

The competition.
The economy.
Technological changes.

It’s important that you’re aware of these factors that affect communication. And that ultimately mark the difference between internal and external communication.

If you understand how they work together, you can create a more effective communication strategy. Thus you can meet the needs of the company and your employees.

Internal and external communication media

A company can communicate with its employees in different ways. At this point, it’s also important to emphasize the difference between internal and external communication.

One of the most common methods is the use of internal communication channels. This can include things like memos, email, intranet, and face-to-face meetings.

This is important because it allows your company to keep employees up-to-date with the latest news and updates. Which helps to build trust between your company and your employees.

In the end, employees are more likely to be loyal to a company that communicates effectively with them.

On the other hand, external communication is used to communicate with individuals outside the company. This can be clients, suppliers, investors, and the general public.

External communication is important as it helps establish relationships with these groups. It also helps create a positive image of the company.

A company can use different methods of external communication, such as printed media, audiovisual media, and digital media.

It’s all about leveraging the difference between internal and external communication to create the perfect media mix.

Internal and external communication barriers

Barriers hinder the communication process and affect team efficiency. When it comes to internal communication strategies, there are barriers like:

Lack of initiative to share information.
Distrust.
Lack of clarity when sending a message and misunderstanding.
Inappropriate language by employees.
Improper use of internal channels.

On the other hand, there are also external barriers such as:

Problems with the communication media used.
External interruptions.
Ambient noise.
Misunderstandings due to cultural diversity.

These barriers must be identified and resolved as soon as they arise to ensure that each message is correctly understood.

Difference between internal and external communication: examples

Let’s take a look at some examples to better understand the difference between internal and external communication. First, let’s look at some examples of internal communication. This would include actions like announcing a new project via email.

On the other hand, examples of external communication would be those actions to promote a product or service to the external audience. Like online advertising and promotion on social networks.

In both cases, the goal is to receive feedback in an optimized way. The key is to choose the right media to correctly convey the messages.

Sesame HR offers you the best solution for improving your team’s communication and for your company to thrive.

Sesame HR, internal communication software

Sesame HR is a designed software to help your team communicate efficiently. With it, you’ll overcome the difference between internal and external communication

With this internal communication tool, you can improve your employees’ work experience, increasing their engagement and contributing to a better work climate in your company.

This software offers you several useful features to improve internal communication in your company, such as:

Creating more complete announcements with links, images, and a cover.
Simple and efficient message sending, thanks to filtering by center, department, and by employee.
Chat with HR directly from the app.
Real-time notifications.
Viewing and analyzing delivery information.

Improve your internal communication by simplifying and modernizing it. Are you ready to start?

If you want to learn more about this and other topics, follow our resources section. Or request a 14-day demo to test our HR software.

HR professional with experience in building strong 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 among HR leaders. As the founder of the 𝐇𝐑 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 and 𝐇𝐑 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, I leverage my 15+ years of experience to enhance the professional landscape for HR leaders.

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tiagosantos

HR Content Specialist