3 Tips to Boost Engagement with the Public
Engaging with the public is critical to a successful communications strategy. Whether you’re an elected leader or represent an organization or policy issue, getting the public on your side and highlighting the work you’re doing in service to them should be a top priority.
Organizations should feel an equal obligation to engage and communicate with the public – to create connections and to reinforce the benefit of their product or initiative. This article will highlight three tips to boost engagement with the public and help strengthen your communication strategy.
Offer free value
One of the fastest ways to increase engagement and show your value is to provide something for free. Based on the expertise you or your organization have, create an informational or educational product for your audience or the general public.
For elected officials, this could be something like a calendar with all of the federal and state holidays or details about something useful like trash collection days or free constituent services that your office provides. Find something that is relevant and package it in a useful way and distribute it for free. You could mail it out or you could post it on social media and send it via email.
If you are an environmental organization, you could provide a list of compostable food or a calendar with dates for local farmer’s markets. Brainstorm ideas regarding what the public might want and how you can provide complimentary value. If you have experts on staff, use their knowledge to inform your engagement approach. Tying in the work you do is important – it gives you a reason to list your website or phone number and it reinforces your commitment to service, which builds good will with the public.
Ask for feedback
Studies show that asking people for feedback helps build a sense of connection. It’s why telephone town halls continue to be extremely effective ways to boost trust. Depending on your goals, a virtual or in-person town hall-style event is a great way to engage with constituents or the general public. They provide an opportunity to answer questions while also outlining priorities.
If you are an elected official, telephone town halls allow you to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of people at once in a more intimate and personal way than a Tweet or an email can provide. If you represent an organization, telephone town halls are a great tool to help raise awareness and build name recognition amongst a target audience. If it seems too soon in your efforts to start calling people, you could conduct an online survey.
Social media platforms offer great survey tools built into the applications to help you collect information from the public. Use surveys as a jumping off point to inform your content. Aim to collect input every six weeks or so to get a better idea of the pain points your target audience is experiencing. Use this data to inform your communications strategy. A survey on social media should be shorter, but if you have an email list you can send a longer survey that dives deeper into key questions. This is another way to show your audience that you care while collecting valuable information that you can incorporate into your content strategy and messaging.
In addition to surveys, hosting Facebook or Instagram live streams is another avenue to engage with people. You don’t necessarily have to ask questions, but could simply share what you’re working on to engage with your followers. People enjoy this kind of access to their elected official or an organization – it makes them feel connected more with the mission and your team. Consider going live at least once a month. If livestreaming doesn’t work, you could record a video to provide some personal perspective, again giving people access they otherwise don’t get.
Create an online community
As you start to engage through surveys, telephone town halls, or live events on social media, you will likely start to naturally create an online community. As you make yourself available and as you ask the public for their feedback and insight, they will feel a connection to you. They may comment under your social media posts or engage with your videos, and it’s important that you foster that engagement to help your community grow.
Reply to comments, answer questions, and keep an open mind. The more you create a safe and open space for people to interact with your organization or official, the more comfortable your followers will be and the stronger the community will become.
In addition to regularly posting and engaging with your followers, make sure you are providing value. Often, people break selected news developments to their email list or social media followers first. This again shows your audience that they are a priority and further encourages engagement. The more you foster this connection through the content you create and the way you communicate, the stronger your connection will be.
Conclusion
Engaging with the public is crucial to accomplishing your goals as an organization, candidate, or official. From winning an election to growing your name recognition, public engagement should be a central part of your strategy. This article outlined three tips to boost public engagement, including: offering free value, soliciting feedback or taking surveys, and creating and fostering an online community. These tools will create greater buy-in amongst the public and your target audience and are tried-and-true methods to boost engagement.
