Smart strategic use of digital communications by the public sector is more important than ever especially in the context of budget constraints and the ever-changing demands and expectations of the modern consumer.
Communications teams must align their work wholeheartedly with customers’ needs and organisational objectives, empowering and supporting programmes and services that foster safer, healthier and happier places to live and work. Is there time or resource for anything else?
If communicators are to stand a chance of influencing the way people live their lives, the decisions they make, the services they access, and the opportunities they take up, they must be able to reach and engage the right people at the right moment on the right channel. They must capture attention and inspire action. How? The answer lies in knowing your audience, and the journey to this enlightenment must be guided by data.
Where is your audience comfortable interacting with you? Where do they spend time? In our fragmenting media landscape and “always on” society, finding a way to control your message and cut through the “noise” to reach your target audience can be a challenge.
With the proliferation in recent years of so many social media and messaging platforms, figuring out which channels generate the best returns on investment (ROI) for your organisation may be somewhat daunting – and expensive, in terms of both time and money. But one trusty communications channel is standing the test of time, yes… you guessed right – it’s email.
Email continues to be a cost-effective way to reach and engage large audiences, and drive those people to act on specific calls-to-action (CTAs). It isn’t going anywhere, and this expectation is backed up by the latest Ofcom market report and research by the Office of National Statistics.
As communicators map their work to strategic objectives, they must monitor communications performance to help turn “I think this works” into “I know this works”.
Are your email bulletins a shot in the dark? As you hit send do you feel confident your messages will resonate with your target audience? Is there any science to your messaging strategy?
At Granicus we recommend you continually review your email performance data to understand how well your communications are connecting with your audience and which messaging, design and content decisions hold the potential to yield the best results.
Data can help identify who cares about your messages, what interests your audience most, which techniques are effective at eliciting a response, and most importantly, what tactics drive meaningful audience engagement that could affect your programme outcomes.
Granicus has produced a report, “Email Marketing Benchmarks and Best Practices for the UK Public Sector”, which analyses the email performance of nearly 200 UK government and public sector organisations who use our govDelivery platform to deliver digital communications.
The report provides an insight into email marketing-communications delivered by; central government, fire and rescue services, health organisations, local government, internal communicators and the police.
You can easily review the metric reports in the guide to compare your performance with others in your industry and to identify areas that may require improvement. The email marketing best practice tips and examples provided throughout the guide will help you sharpen your strategy for better results.
Download the report and see how your organisation compares against others and, if you’d like to talk to us at Granicus about improving your engagement rates and increasing subscriber growth just get in touch – we’re always happy to help.
