9 Strategies to Transform Your Communications Plan

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently shared their annual report on social media. The survey finds that Facebook still is the leading social networking site, but others continue to gain in popularity. One of the interesting statistics was finding out usage patterns for social media sites (see image to right). Some of the interesting statistics include:

• 63% of Facebook users report going on the site at least daily (40% logging on multiple times per day).
• More than half of Instagram users (57%) use the app on a daily basis. 35% doing so several times per day.
• Some 46% use Twitter daily, with 29% checking in several times per day.
• 32% of Twitter users say that they check in less than once per week.
• 23% of Pinterest users visit daily.
• 13% of LinkedIn users visit the sites daily.

This data is fascinating to look at, and also shows the complex ecosystem government communicators face. Not only are there are many channels that citizens use and communicate through, they are also using each differently. But how does an agency begin to measure value across so many different channels? GovDelivery has recently published a white paper, Guidelines for Government Communications Success, that helps provide clarity on how to identify value. The report provides 9 best practices to adopt when thinking about your communications program. Below I have shared three of my favorite examples from the report:

Automate the Communications Process for Easier Management

You should be able to leverage website content and distribute it easily through multiple channels to drive traffic and interest to your organization’s information. The best way to do this is to utilize automation that can monitor website content for changes and automatically generate a message whenever content of interest is updated. You should have the option of automatically distributing – or sending after administrator approval – that message simultaneously through email, text message and social media posts.

Cross-Promote with Other Agencies

The public sector is uniquely positioned to cross-promote other government organizations’ information. Ultimately, this collaboration can help your organization drive mission results and create lasting impact with stakeholders. As an example, cross-promotion of NASA’s subscription topics drove thousands of stakeholders to also sign up for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) online community on national preparedness. You never know what stakeholders might be interested in, but simple cross-promotion of government information can drive deeper engagement with stakeholders.

Promote Your Digital Properties Everywhere

While some stakeholders will discover your site when searching for information, you also want to reach those who may be gathering information from other sources (i.e. newsletters) or interacting with your organization in other ways (i.e. phone calls). Make sure the addresses or URLs for your digital properties are on every communication you send, including press releases, emails, business letters, bills, recorded phone prompts, and more.

To read all nine strategies, be sure to download the report. These strategies will help you re-ignite your communications plan, and help you to measure and identify deeper value.

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GovDelivery is the #1 sender of government-to-citizen communications, serving over 400 government entities worldwide and more than half of major U.S. federal agencies. Organizations use GovDelivery to send over 200 million messages every month on a broad range of topics including national emergencies, health alerts, tax policy changes and more. Check out their User Group on GovLoop as well.