Social Campaign Strategy

Ensure you’re subscribed to local news outlets and make sure you’re part of the conversations happening in community social media accounts/groups. Are there any emerging topics which could help influence your approach to an upcoming campaign? Or are you able to see off a crisis before it snowballs?

Gauging the opinions of those across your team and organisation can provide great insight into how your campaign may land externally. Accounting for a diverse range of perspectives, ideas, ages and cultures will help your messaging land across different segments of the community.

The best lessons are often learnt from some of our biggest mistakes – take a deep dive into your organisation’s past campaigns and review what’s worked well previously and what missed the mark.

Working on a new campaign that’s being rolled out UK-wide? Make the most of pre-existing content, collateral and imagery created centrally, to free up your team’s valuable time to focus on what really requires that localised approach.

Comms Files from comms2point0 is a great resource for any comms professional. Created by and for those working across the public sector and beyond, the database has over 300 case studies to inspire you. Searchable by keyword, it couldn’t be easier to find examples from those who have been there, dealt with the pitfalls and reaped the rewards of their campaigns.

Collaborate with other government agencies, departments or local councils to share insights and best practices. Cross-functional collaboration can lead to fresh ideas and innovative approaches.

Understand the needs, preferences and concerns of your community and target audience – conduct surveys and run focus groups to gather insights into what really matters to them and how they prefer to receive information.

Nail your channel strategy – taking a slightly different approach across social channels can help tailor content and messaging to the audiences on each specific channel. Know that video content is what 18 to 24-year-olds in your community are most engaged with and they hang out on TikTok rather than in Facebook Groups? Ta-da! There’s the basis of your new campaign right there.

Set out what success looks like for each campaign. This will help gain internal buy-in from key stakeholders, including senior leadership when you’re able to showcase the campaign’s achievements and how they link back to your organisation’s overall goals. Check out resources such as the OASIS Framework, specifically designed with public sector campaign planning in mind.

Be agile in your approach and ready to switch things up and adapt at the drop of a hat, in order to get the most out of your campaigns. Spotting potential bumps in the road early can help save a campaign and ensure it’s still a success.