Currently there is a lot of postulating and uncertainty about what “Brexit means Brexit” will really mean for citizens and businesses across the UK (and Europe). Given the lack of published plans on the “how, what, when, where, who and why”, a natural vacuum is forming, and we all know that nature abhors a vacuum… Where can we find the source of truth!?
Come the end of March, Theresa May will trigger article 50, and it’s at this point that we all expect the clarity to start trickling in, or at least that’s what we hope for! Soon the Department for Exiting the European Union will need to communicate plans and actions – to citizens, businesses, other government departments, and stakeholders all over the world.
Government organisations at all levels – central and local – will find themselves in a position where they too absolutely need to communicate effectively with citizens and stakeholders, at scale and at pace. But does the public sector – your organisation included – have the mechanisms in place, ready to deliver the mass and highly targeted communication that citizens will desperately need and expect? Have you built an audience? How will you ensure you get the right message to the right people at the exact right moment?
We’re already working with over 150 public sector organisations in the UK to help them engage over 10 million citizens and businesses using our digital engagement solutions. These organisations’ subscriber bases continue to increase rapidly, thanks to some excellent audience engagement techniques and access to the unique GovDelivery Network which can double audiences within the first year of an organisation joining. Caerphilly County Borough Council grew its digital audience from 500 to 47,000 in less than 2 years after implementing the GovDelivery Communications Cloud by Granicus (~28% of the local population).
It is alarming however that many government departments and local government services simply do not have the means to inform, educate and engage their target audiences now, let alone over the coming months and years when proactive communication will be more important than ever.
In the run up to this point, how has your organisation been communicating what we do know about Brexit to different stakeholders (in terms of its specific implications for your organisation, your staff and the people you serve)?
Are your “customers” having to rely on information passed through the press’s editorial prism to deduce what the road ahead may look like for their families, businesses, livelihoods and communities?
With little or no reliable information available, fear, confusion and doubt proliferate. These can be a dangerous concoction for your organisation, local communities, and society at large, particularly in the current climate where public trust in government institutions is at all-time low. Rumours and half-truths are rife, often taking much longer and more effort to dispel. By waiting around for direction and not being proactive in the meantime, you risk damaging your credibility in the process. Now is certainly time to build trust and a dialogue with the people you serve.
As we lead up to the enacting of article 50, the demand from a highly strung public for accurate information can only mean one thing for any organisation in the public sector. The demands on your team’s time and budget will increase. We believe that now is the time to prepare for this, and put measures in place which alleviate this pressure. You must take action now to get accurate messages to more people, in well-defined groups, to increase the number of people you’re able to reach, educate and engage, and to satisfy their thirst for information and clear calls to action.
The best way to do this is to follow the lead of over 150 UK government organisations (and 3,000 worldwide) who have anticipated and are meeting citizens’ demands for better access to timely information and services. They’re using a user-friendly automated cloud communications platform called the GovDelivery Communications Cloud (by Granicus).
Already we’re helping them engage more than 10 million UK citizens, and 150 million worldwide with our world-leading public sector citizen engagement technology.
Regardless of what you need to communicate or which action you need to drive, our team of experts can help you achieve big things in a short space of time. For example, the London Borough of Havering needed to reduce call centre contact and shift transactions for a garden waste collection service online, boosting renewal rates. Using the GovDelivery Communications Cloud to target residents and drive this online action, the council generated an extra £350k of income during one single email marketing campaign and reduced the strain on their staff. HMRC continues to help more SMEs be compliant and close the tax gap by streamlining taxation processes and improving education online. More examples of how public services are improving with our help are available here.
Get in touch today to find out how you could:
For a chat about how your organisation could use our technologies and services to improve public perceptions of government and boost the positive impact of your work, please give us a call on 0800 032 5769 or drop us a line.
