3 Federal Trends Taking over 2014 Digital Communications in the Public Sector

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Federal Government Edition

TRENDS TAKING OVER 2014 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS Priority 1: Focus on Results..........................................................

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Priority 2: Implement a Multichannel Strategy.............................

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Priority 3: Increase Outreach........................................................

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Bonus: Consider Mobile..............................................................

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About GovDelivery ....................................................................

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What are your top priorities for government communications in 2014? And, perhaps more importantly, how do you plan to achieve those goals?

We posed these questions to nearly 100 government communicators across U.S. federal government agencies to compile the top priorities trending among public sector communicators. Along the way, we found many themes you are likely to agree with, and a few that may surprise you. Across all federal government organizations surveyed, three priorities consistently made the top of their 2014 to do lists: focus on results, multichannel approaches and increasing outreach.

Read on to discover how your communication priorities for 2014 trend against your peers in the federal government and get ideas to help you plan and deliver more successful digital communications in the new year.

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Priority 1:

Focus on Results The top priority in the new year for federal government digital communicators was a renewed commitment to achieving results from communication efforts. In fact, boosting stakeholder engagement with the organization was rated as the most important communications objective among nearly 36 percent of federal government respondents. Stakeholders taking action and engaging with the organization’s mission as a result of communications is a critical factor in helping more organizations achieve their goals of achieving higher flu vaccination rates, seeing increasing numbers of enrollees sign up for health insurance, and more. As budgets decrease and expectations increase in the public sector, it’s no wonder that organizations continue to focus more on communications as a cost-effective way to produce results.

WHAT DO YOU RATE AS THE MOST IMPORTANT DIGITAL COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION IN 2014?

36%

22%

16%

13%

10%

4%

BOOST ENGAGEMENT

TARGETED/ SEGMENTED MESSAGING

BETTER CONTENT

MOBILE/ RSPONSIVE DESIGN

LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA

OTHER

Good communication – delivering the right message at the right time to the right people – is critical to building greater awareness and deeper engagement with your audience. Connecting with more people to deliver relevant communications brings increasing numbers of stakeholders into the conversation and allows your organization to make better decisions based on greater input.

THREE TRENDS TAKING OVER 2014 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Government organizations communicate a continuous stream of critical information to the public at a massive scale. Improving these messages by quickly reaching large audiences with significant information can profoundly impact a government organization’s ability to achieve its mission.

Testing message content is an effective way to improve communication results and see more engagement with stakeholders with your communications. Government communicators plan to use testing in an effort to achieve better results from their messages. Nearly one-quarter of users surveyed plan to test all of these variables in order to fine tune their messages.

DO YOU PLAN TO DO ANY TESTING OF EMAIL MESSAGING CONTENT? IF SO, WHICH DO YOU PLAN TO TEST?

58%

28%

12%

15% 6%

SUBJECT LINES

CONTENT/ LAYOUT

DAY OF WEEK DEPLOYMENT

7%

TIME OF DAY DEPLOYMENT

ALL OF THE ABOVE

NONE

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Priority 2:

Implement a Multichannel Strategy Email and social media were nearly tied for the top digital communication channels federal organizations will focus on in 2014. More than threequarters of respondents name both channels at the top of their communication priorities, illustrating a strong push in the government sector for a multichannel communications approach. Text messaging (SMS) also made a big impact on the list with more than one-quarter of those surveyed finding it another important channel to include.

Implementing a multichannel strategy enables organizations to significantly increase engagement by connecting with more stakeholders via the channels they prefer. Using more channels to engage constituents enhances the chances of providing information where and when they wish to receive it, making it more likely that they are in the frame of mind to act upon the message information.

IS GROWING THE SIZE OF YOUR DIGITAL AUDIENCE A PRIORITY?

66% YES

THREE TRENDS TAKING OVER 2014 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

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Using multiple communication channels also provides more opportunities to connect with more people.

And this is a top priority for government communicators. More than 66 percent of survey respondents indicated growing the size of their digital audience as a priority for their organization. Implementing a multichannel strategy can help them attain this goal.

While social media is a great addition to strengthen the reach of your messages, email should remain the core of your digital communications program. Social media allows government to engage with constituents in highly interactive, personal ways. Social media can work well as an add-on engagement tool, and can also be a powerful tool to provide another opportunity for people to opt in to your direct email communications. However, social media is often unpredictable. Audiences come and go on social media platforms inconsistently, and guidelines for posting set by these platforms can sometimes change to negatively impact how often your messages will show in your stakeholders’ news feeds. By keeping email at the base of all your communications, you enable a safety net that is reliable – and when you’re sending vital information to your stakeholders, that’s the most important feature to have.

WHICH DIGITAL COMMUNICATION CHANNEL WILL YOUR ORGANIZATION FOCUS ON IN 2014?

70%

70%

27%

9%

EMAIL

SMS (TEXT MSGS), MMS (MULTIMEDIA/ PICTURE MSGS)

SOCIAL MEDIA

VOICE/PHONE

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Priority 3:

Increase Outreach As previously mentioned, more than 66 percent of respondents indicated that growing the size of their digital audience was vital to their 2014 plans. With growth goals ranging from adding 1,000 to 1 million additional people to their digital audiences, agencies small and large are increasingly focused on reaching more people with their messages.

Expanding options for how constituents can receive communications is one way to reach more people with your messages. By allowing your stakeholders to choose different options to receive information, you simplify the process of communication, enabling prospective audience members to select the most convenient format to receive information. The ever expanding use of smartphones opens new possibilities to deliver more information via email or text messages, resulting in successful digital communications for people on the go.

Consider using an email subscription box on your website, or even a website overlay, to promote your communications. An overlay should be a simple, unobtrusive window that appears when someone arrives at your website. GovDelivery clients see between 250%-500% growth in people added to their subscriber lists after implementing overlays. Reminding stakeholders that you send out regular communications when they are already interested in learning more about your organization by being on your website, is a great way to convert web visitors into engaged audience members.

Successful public sector communications are the result of a commitment to reach stakeholders in a way that drives immediate measurable impact. Using digital communications to streamline complex communications and increase engagement, enables government agencies to deliver greater value to the public.

To learn more tips on increasing the number of connections you make with the public, download our Digital Outreach Best Practices Guide.

THREE TRENDS TAKING OVER 2014 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

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Bonus: Consider Mobile While it didn’t make the top three priorities according to our 2014 digital trends survey, “Mobile Gov” is a buzzword that touts the importance of mobile and increasing mobile citizen service. Yet the government community is split on the use of mobile in digital communications. So while mobile communications are certainly important and will undoubtedly grow in the future, a clear consensus on how it can best be used in public sector communications today is lacking.

More than 50 percent of those surveyed plan to add or increase mobile messaging in their organizations. The other half of users surveyed felt mobile strategies were too invasive. Among those looking to adopt mobile in digital communications, SMS/text messaging was the top critical mobile strategy with 30 percent of people considering adding or expanding its use.

To expand your reach and drive more engagement with the general public, provide options to receive your content anywhere – whether on a desktop computer or a mobile device. Promoting email through text messages, and vice versa, is an effective way to build your digital audience.

ARE YOU PLANNING TO ADD OR INCREASE MOBILE MESSAGING? IF SO, WHICH STRATEGIES ARE THE MOST CRITICAL TO YOUR ORGANIZATION?

59%

–

16%

15% 10%

DIRECT SMS/TEXT MESSAGES

MMS (MULTIMEDIA/ PICTURE MESSAGES)

PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

12%

ALL STRATEGIES

NONE – TOO INVASIVE

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Think about multiple types of stakeholders and the most convenient methods for them to not only receive information from your organization, but sign up to receive that information on a regular basis. Traditional methods of signing up for every update using an online process might be inconvenient for those who have limited Internet access and would like to receive mobile updates. However, setting up a text-to-subscribe functionality gives your audience members the ability to send a simple text message containing their email address and a keyword to receive updates on a specific topic.

Because it’s convenient and casts a wide net for subscribers, using two-way SMS/text messaging is another excellent option to increase the number of people you reach with your messages. Many low-income or rural citizens are more likely to have a cell phone than Internet access. Where the Internet and traditional media fall short, text messaging fills the void to help you connect with more people than previously possible.

The ability to integrate metrics from your email, SMS/text messaging, and social media messages into your website analytics is also a big benefit of using digital communications. Nearly 51 percent of survey respondents are planning to harness the power of integrating metrics from these communications channels into their website analytics.

71%

ARE YOU PLANNING TO INTEGRATE MULTICHANNEL MESSAGE METRICS INTO YOUR WEBSITE ANALYTICS?

51% YES

THREE TRENDS TAKING OVER 2014 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Conclusion Digital communications are a key component in helping federal government agencies increase constituent engagement and deliver relevant communications where and when they are most effective. The trends displayed by survey respondents here show that by focusing on results, implementing a multichannel communication strategy and increasing outreach efforts, government communicators are able to connect with more people and get those people to act, driving mission value for their organizations.

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THREE TRENDS TAKING OVER 2014 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

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About GovDelivery GovDelivery enables public sector organizations to connect with more people and to get those people to take action. As the number one referrer of traffic to hundreds of government websites, GovDelivery’s enterprise-class, cloud-based technology allows government organizations to transform their communications. With more than 1,000 public sector organizations, from the city of Louisville, KY and Baltimore, MD to Gov.UK to the European Parliament, using GovDelivery to deliver messages to more than 60 million people around the world, GovDelivery helps clients meet mission and program goals, resulting in safer communities, happier commuters, healthier families, and better government.

GovDelivery is an ICG (Nasdaq: ICGE) company. For more information visit govdelivery.com.

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