statistics are vital for communications with clout!

Data is becoming increasingly important for truly effective comms. That’s why UnAwards23 features a new “Best Use of Data” category – and this is why you should enter.

by Karen Pagett

A lot has been said recently about the importance of public sector communications “having a seat at the top table” in their organisation. Indeed, there have been comm2point0 blog posts on the subject, including one by us after the UnAwards 2022 Winners’ Masterclass on the increase in trust placed in comms teams since the Covid-19 pandemic.

But there’s still a long way to go and – as Comms Creatives supremo Helen Reynolds points out entertainingly on her socials – there’s no point being at the top table if you’re using up precious creative time at meetings, shoved right at the end of the agenda and not taken seriously.

One way guaranteed to make people sit up and listen is talking data. Comms often has the unfortunate reputation of being a bit fluffy because traditionally we don’t do maths. But presenting a big old set of statistics that demonstrate the campaign you ran had a positive impact on service take-up? Coming to a kick-off meeting forearmed with a bunch of relevant research? Boom!

Comms with clout

At CAN Digital, we’ve started summing up in one word the ability to demonstrate the power of comms through measurable data and other insight: “clout”.

At any one time, we’re working with dozens of public sector organisations on their campaigns and comms officers mention time and again the frustrations of proving “the point of Comms” (other than for firing off press releases and organic social media posts).

We’re currently setting up a series of workshops on this theme (in partnership with email experts e-shot™) that we hope will equip public sector communicators with the right digital know-how and confidence to prove their worth.

Here are three things that can help give you clout in your organisation:

1. Make comms integral

This is the “top table” bit. Or at least the “project table” bit. Communications teams need to have a say right from the start of any new endeavour as much as the service project lead or finance.

Not just to question ideas that might come back to slap people in the face(book). But to help with things like stakeholder mapping and decisions on which data should be used to evaluate the project. Make sure the latter includes meaningful data for the communications team to report on throughout, so they are seen as an integral part of a project’s success (or a failure – but, importantly, the fabric of it).

In Darren Caveney’s own blog post “Are comms at your top table?” he rightly says “Communications is a strategic business function. Your comms lead will prioritise precious comms resources to the council’s largest priorities and support the delivery of the council plan. Having them in your inner sanctum can only help in the delivery of this sensible approach.”

2. Make comms measurable

At the project table, it’s not vanity metrics like impressions, shares and likes on your organic social media accounts that will cut the mustard. If you have a viral video hit during a campaign, absolutely shout about it (and enter it for a “Best Creative Comms” or “Best Social Media Campaign” UnAward!).

But you should be striving to prove you’ve made an impact on actual outcomes. Early intervention is recognised as key to improving life chances and for saving public money in the long run. Demonstrate the link between your campaign and these big wins: you engaged with the required target audience, they received the right messages online and they acted on them by taking the next step – whether it’s filling in a form or booking an appointment. And you can prove this with data.

This will entail using channels that can give you meaningful, measurable metrics like audience breakdown by demographics and geolocations. Platforms such as programmatic advertising on websites, targeted email, Google Search and paid-for social media.

And it will mean things like working closely with service areas to plot their eventual outcomes against your activity to prove the links between the two, and getting hold of other useful data, like benchmarking stats that compare your results with those of similar organisations.

3. Make comms worth investing in

The term “comms” doesn’t help matters in this regard! This diminutive of communications can feel literally belittling, implying what you’re doing is a fluffy add-on and that it won’t have a cost attached to it. Maybe “marketing”, “promoting” or even “selling” would be more empowering. In any case, how do you demonstrate you need the sort of slice of the budget that means you can properly do your best for a project?

Start talking figures. Ask the project manager what their measurable objectives are and how these correlate with their desired outcomes. Then, when you present your campaign plan, you can say: “£XXXX investment in media-buying on these channels will get you XXXXXX number of impressions which will guarantee you XXXX number of interactions.

“You (the project team) have said you need an outcome of 100 sign-ups – this activity will get 5,000 people to look at your application form, and if 1% fill it in, you’ve reached your target and we can prove communications was the driver.”

Once you’ve been through a campaign with this way of thinking and have proof in the form of a meaningful campaign evaluation linking comms activity with outcomes, you’ll have even more clout at the table. Next time round, when a project manager is talking about slicing the budget and planning to leave the crumbs for comms – you can demonstrate the value of what you do!

Still tell your stories

Data isn’t just for number geeks. And using it needn’t be “dry”. In fact, as Sophie DiMauro of Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership pointed out in a comms2point0 blog post from July, data can make your campaign narratives more robust and relatable – especially in the realm of health communications where following the science (and data) is imperative.

As Sophie says in the blog, “Blending stories and numbers together can be extremely powerful.” It can also add gravitas to your campaign creatives and post copy.

So, have you used campaign data to demonstrate success? Or used research data to get insights into a target audience to better tailor campaign messages? Or helped tell a great story on your socials using stats?

Then get more “clout” in your organisation by winning the all-new “Best Use of Data” – sponsored by Alex Waddington and Whetsone Communications - prize at this year’s UnAwards! Start filling in that entry form today.

Karen Pagett is communications and marketing manager at CAN Digital, official event partner for this year’s UnAwards.

CAN Digital helps public sector organisations run successful campaigns with a whole range of meaningful data! Follow them on X @counciladnet, on LinkedIn, sign up for their monthly ebulletin, or email connect@can-digital.net.