I’ve just published the findings of the largest report into Public Sector Digital Communications in the UK. Over 215 public sector organisations including 123 councils, 5 combined authorities, 13 police forces, 15 fire and rescue services and 44 health organisations took part.
by Mandy Pearse
There is a huge amount of data involved in these studies so it can be difficult to see the wood from the trees.
So what does it tell us?
We are very busy. We deliver a lot of campaigns, manage many social channels and provide plenty of news.
But we do so on a shoestring. We don’t have the best PR technology, we aren’t training ourselves and we struggle to show impact.
And we are behind the curve in understanding, adopting and using artificial intelligence (AI) in our communications.
So what do we do?
Here is my top five things I’d recommend to focus on for 2025:
Prioritise using the Bronze, Silver, Gold approach and get priorities agreed.
Get to grips with using OASIS and behaviour change models for our campaigns.
Review our social channels, be clear on purpose and differentiate content.
Understand which tasks AI can help with rather than focus on tools.
Show outcomes, return on investment and organisational impact.
We also need to work together through the LGA, FirePro, LG Comms, CIPR LPS, APCOMM and NHScomms to show the value of PR to senior leadership.
You can download the summary report. Anyone interested in the detailed 36 page report or in hosting a presentation on the data for a group of councils, blue lights or NHS please get in touch mandy@seashellcommunications.com
Mandy Pearse is a consultant, trainer and speaker at Seashell Communications.
