Category Archives: communications

SOCIAL MEDIA REVIEW: Using radio station data in your review

I blogged a short while ago about the importance of running a social media review. One thing to do while doing this is to look at radio data, too.

Ofton radio stations are not juist a radio station but they’ve also got a social media footprint, too.

A key tool in assessing the importance of a radio station are RAJAR figures. You can find 2022’s 4th quarter figures here for example.

Local to me is BBC Radio WM, for example. In an area where 2.3 million live they reach 239,000 or 10 per cent of the population.

That’s great for listeners but they also have a Facebook page here with 49,000 likes. Scroll through and tyou’ll see the kind of content that they’ll post. Here, there’s 23 Facebook updates in seven days. That’s roughly three a day. Way behind something like the Birmingham Post & Mail – or Birmingham Live online – who post up to 60 times a day. Much of WM’s content cross promotes what is on BBC Sounds, rather than fresh news. As a comms person, I’d place them on the map online but I’d be keener to influence the radio schedule.

But who is the audience? For BBC Local Radio 58 per cent are aged over 55. That can really help you pin down not just the radio station’s audience but the potential audience you can tap into.

Always, look at things afresh rather than do things because you’ve always done it.

For more information about SOCIAL MEDIA REVIEWS head here.

CHANNEL DATA: UK TikTok user stats for 2023

There comes a point where the stats become so compelling the argument for using a channel is easier than against.

That’s certainly the case for TikTok in the UK which has broken out from being a hot platform for young people to a hot platform for more demographics.

Ofcom data show that 23.3 million people in the UK are using the platform.

But for me, it’s the demographics that are most interesting.

For under 24s, 75 per cent are using TikTok in the UK. That’s a huge chunk of people.

For 25 to 34-year-olds, there’s a majority of people using it.

The buy-in falls to just over a third for 35 to 44-year-olds and a quarter of 45 to 54-year-olds.

It’s only when over 55s come into the equation that the user numbers fall.

TikTok is a channel that has become a real contender to reach people but it’s a channel that’s unique.

The advice ‘Don’t make a video, make a TikTok is good.’ You need to make something for the channel rather than shoehorning stuff to tick a box.

You can find out more about the ESSENTIAL TIKTOK & REELS workshop and sign-up here.

HEADSPACE: Announcing lunchtime sessions

Here’s a thing for your calendar. Some lunchtime sessions for members of the Public Sector Comms Headspace Facebook group.

The group has now passed 7,000 members which is fantastic to see. 

The job of communicating is hard but you’ll be surprised how many people are in the same boat.

The lunchtime sessions are a chance to tune in, switch on, stick your cameras on and contribute. 

We ran some sessions last year on unconference principles. We have someone to start the discussion but people are encouraged to chip in. 

To be a member of the group you need to be in-house public sector and we hold the door open for third sector, further and higher education. You can join here. 

It’s a group I’m proud to be involved with. I know my co-admin Leanne Hughes and David Grindlay are proud to be involved too. 

Before anyone asks, we don’t record the sessions because we think it inhibits debate.   

Here’s a list of the sessions. More to be added. 

8.2.23 12pm-12.40pm FUTURE OF PUBLIC SECTOR SOCIAL MEDIA (with Victoria Kerr of Glasgow City Council)

Link: https://fb.me/e/3xQGbFByR

17.2.23 12pm – 12.45pm HOW TO DEAL WITH ONLINE SNARK (Freelancer and Headspace co-admin Dan Slee) 

Link: https://fb.me/e/4eellckvs

22.2.23 12pm – 12.45pm INTERNAL COMMS: LOW BUDGET, BIG IDEAS (Josephine Graham of Bradford City Council) 

https://fb.me/e/faUBUyfOQ

7.3.23 12pm – 12.45pm HOW TO DO YOUTH ENGAGEMENT THAT WORKS (Leanne Hughes, NHS) 

https://fb.me/e/8iw4AhTtg

28.3.23 12pm – 12.45pm PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS CRISIS COMMS TIPS (Freelancer Amanda Coleman) 

https://fb.me/e/7nXMNNxME

Hope to see you there.

SWITCHED ON: A basic guide on how to run a live broadcast on social media

Live video is very much a thing yet it surprises me how it’s often not part of the comms tool box.

If you’re making data-led decisions then live needs to be part of the mix.

Here’s some fresh Ofcom data around who is using live and in what channel.

If you think live is just the arena of young people you’d be very wrong.

Who uses what

The broad figures from Ofcom are really useful in decision making. The only complaint I’d make is that LinkedIn is very much part of the live video mix which the regulator’s snapshot misses out on.

Leaving the LinkedIn issue aside, 16-24-year-olds are the heaviest users with more than half regularly watching YouTube and TikTok lives narrowly beating Instagram as their favoured platform.

For 25 to 34, around half regularly watch Instagram and YouTube lives and as you reach the over 45s, around third of 45-year-olds are regularly watching Facebook lives falling to a quarter as you reach 55-year-olds.

Live video stops being a meaningful proposition to over 65s.

How do you choose a channel for live video?

The data around who uses what is your starting point. If your audience is on Facebook then head to Facebook. If you’re looking to reach a younger audience then look to use something like Instagram or TikTok. If you’re looking to reach a professional audience then head to LinkedIn.

How do you plan it?

You need to plan out a rough shape for the broadcast – and yes, lets call it by the right term – and you need to shout about it in advance so people can head to that spot at that time. There’s things to do afterwards but we’ll save that for a second.

The plan needs to be who is taking part, what ground and what you’ll cover in what order.

It’s also a good idea to think of some questions to get the ball rolling in the first few minutes of the broadcast.

During the planning stage, there’s a couple of other things to think about. The BBC have good guidance on what they plan for for live broadcasts. Included is being aware of strong language and stage invasions. That’s certainly something to be aware of. Start a live broadcast in the middle of Pride and the chances are someone will shout something. So, think about where you film it.

Have a plan for if something goes wrong. I’d say switch it off.

You’ll also need to be aware of GDPR. You need contributor’s permission. They’ll also need to be aware its live.

Whatever you do, run a test beforehand and if the participants aren’t used to live broadcasts this will be especially beneficial. You can test the tech, too.

Lastly, have someone in your corner, too. That’s someone from the team who can keep an eye on the broadcast and can WhatsApp you if there’s a problem. If you do that, keep your device with WhatsApp near.

What tech should I use?

You can use a smartphone or a tablet. It’s certainly authentic. But if its more than just you I’d look at something like Streamyard. This is a tool that can plug into your platform and you can broadcast using it. All you need is a webcam and you can invite guests to join from their webcam too. You can add titles, have a ticker running along the bottom and you can pull in questions from the platform while ignoring others. Its a real game changer.

Not only is Streamyard a handy platform but there’s a free version and you can run it with Facebook groups and pages, LinkedIn profiles and pages, YouTube and Twitter. There’s a pro version for more functionality.

How do you get an audience?

Shout. Tell people about it beforehand not just on the channel but in every way possible online and offline. If you’re looking to run an explainer on how to apply for your child’s senior school place then tell people and signpost people towards you ahead of time.

Create an event if you’re able on the platform in question.

What to do when you’re live?

When you go live leave a bit of a buffer. You press the button it’ll take a few seconds for the stream to work. It’s one of the reason I like Streamyard because it gives a 30-second countdown clock at the start.

There’s a few basic tricks the presenter can think about.

Welcome people.

Acknowledge a cross section people when they join.

Ask them to say where they are watching from.

Ask them to ask a question in the comments

Sell forward. Say what you are heading to and sell your sword of Damocles.

How do you end it?

Thank people and then end the broadcast. From experience switching to a short piece of footage is useful as there’s a few seconds of uncertainty.

Then what?

Once you’ve executed the broadcast, make the most of it. Facebook say that seven times as many people often come back and watch the live broadcast if its available than those who saw it live. People are busy so that makes sense.
Facebook gives the ability to re-post the live video. If you can, do it. Then embed the broadcast on a relevant webpage.

I hope you found the post useful. Live video is included in my ESSENTIAL VIDEO SAKILLS REBOOTED workshop. For more information head here.

NEWS AGENTS: How to get local media coverage in 2023

I often find myself reaching these days for a film quote to sum up a tricky scenario.

I have a whole lexicon of well-worn cinematic phrases to celebrate the good, the life or death and call out the awkward.

One in particular phrase I’ve been using quite a lot of late.

“Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

It’s a homely pair of slippers of a line. It’s from 1939 Oscar-winning movie ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ A timeless phrase said by the character of Dorothy who has just been swept up by a tornado and plonked down with her dog in a different world.

This week, I saw a hugely helpful webinar organised by the Midlands CIPR ‘Meet the Media.’ Two senior editors from Reach plc’s regional titles Graeme Brown and Natalie Fahy joined the UK Press Gazette’s Charlotte Tobbitt.

I started in newspapers when they were print-led and the main show in town. In 2023, they have truly evolved. No longer calling themselves ‘newspapers’ they are news brands who have a print offering but also are online and available via a website, email, Facebook and TikTok.

If news is breaking they want to be online within minutes. The idea that people will wait until 4pm tomorrow for the next edition to come out is as obsolete as silent movies.

Newsbrands have content editors, agenda writers and data analysts.

To an ex-journo like me Truly, Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore.     

Here’s a summary of the advice…

News brands are not papers of record anymore

The paper I worked on sent a reporter to every council meeting and went to every court and inquest every day. That simply doesn’t happen anymore. There isn’t the resource or the interest. The public sector, therefore, can’t commend an expectation of coverage. It has to be earned.

News brands are digital first 

This is not new but it bears repeating. In the riots in 2011, my local paper couldn’t tell their stories until the next day. That wouldn’t happen today. It would be straight on the website and across social media. 

News brands are driven by data

A few years ago, I heard a Reach plc person talk about how some content in the print edition may have been read by almost nobody but it was impossible to tell because there was no Google Analytics for page six of the paper. Insight now drives what stories are covered. In basic terms, if there are clicks in it there’s more chance of coverage.

News brands are worried about news avoidance

Avoiding the news is an active lifestyle decision for many people. Let’s face it the news has been pretty rubbish for more than a decade. We’ve had austerity then we had COVID. Then we had three Prime Ministers in a few months and war in Ukraine. It’s enough to make anyone stop wanting to go out to the paper shop and buy a 50 page edition and pay through the nose.  

News brands are defensive about ‘clickbait’ 

One criticism that was brushed off was that news brands use clickbait and plenty of it. ‘Click bait’ they maintain is a headline that doesn’t marry up with the story. I can see this argument. I think the criticism goes deeper than that. I think of the nine stories in 24-hours on Birmingham Live when Phil and Holly jumped the queue at the Queen’s Lying in State at Westminster Hall. That nudging forward of the story may not fulfill that definition of clickbait, sure. But this is not the local news content that people have grown to expect from local newspapers. I don’t think journalists can  

News brands don’t need PR people to fill space anymore

As newsbrands are heading to be digital first there’s less opportunity to fill column inches with content that isn’t all that. Which begs the question about what is wanted. ‘Don’t tell us, show us,’ is one approach.

Reach plc titles are ‘proudly mainstream’

The audience for local news, Reach say, is mainstream. So much so that ‘proudly mainstream’ is a slogan amongst the editorial hierarchy. This means they’ll be keener on content that works in the mainstream rather than something niche. 

What content works #1: Don’t tell us, show us

This is fascinating. One of the Reach plc people spoke about how in the olden days an inflation rate announcement would have made a page lead in the business-focussed Birmingham Post. They don’t do that anymore. Instead, they’ll cover the story by sending someone out to buy a basket of supermarket goods and tell the story through the 3p on a pint of milk.

Apply that ‘don’t tell us show us’ approach elsewhere the grant for the football team isn’t words but images, footage and quotes of the kids playing with the news goals in their new kit. In itself, this isn’t new. Back in the day, this would be gold standard. Now, gold standard is more minimum standard.

What content works: #2 building a relationship with reporters

Hearteningly, the personal relationship is just as important as it ever was, the session said. I always found relationships with reporters a fine balance of fear and ego. Fear, because as a reporter you didn’t want to miss out on something. Ego because every reporter wanted the front page or a byline. That’s the public credit for a piece of work.

Interestingly, the feedback from the news profession was that they are more likely to listen to someone they have a relationship with on the issue of a representation for more time to pull together a statement. That certainly chimes with the old ways of doing things.   

What content works: #2 building a relationship with Local Democracy Reporters

The BBC scheme sees 165 reporters working to help fill the gaps left by declining news rooms. Their brief is to work more off diary and steer away from press releases. This is potentially rich ground for the public sector.  

What content works #3 Solutions journalism

This was really interesting. What’s meant by this is that newspapers – sod it, I’m calling them that – are looking at the issue but also ways to solve it. So, worried about fuel bills at winter? Here’s what you can do to save money. That’s a really interesting take.

What content works: Useful things for people to do

This is something the public sector can really excel at. 

News brands are reversing from Facebook towards email newsletters

Facebook has announced its intentions to move away from news. No doubt in part because of demands from news brands that their content deserves paying. Facebook have already closed down their journalism projects in a clear sign the romance is dead. The clock is very much ticking on news on Facebook. 

Interestingly, they also have a clear view of their audience on Facebook. It’s female and aged around 40. 

One place news companies are looking at in more detail is email newsletters. In the West Midlands, Reach now have more than 40 newsletters people can sign up to. Certainly, email lists means that they are not at the whims of a tech company’s algorithm. That’s not just important for comms people to know as its illustrative of how people consume news. It’s also potentially a direction of travel for the public sector’s own.

Sport is a separate thing 

Sport is ‘content vertical’ at Reach plc. This means that sport reporters in Stoke report to regional sport editors rather than the Sentinel and Staffordshire Life editorial team. This is itself doesn’t mean much to public sector comms people. It is, however, interesting to see how sport spins off from the news Facebook pages. So, there’s a Manchester Evening News Facebook page with a million and a million following their Manchester City coverage on a dedicated page and another million following Manchester United.

There is so much change and it’s fascinating to watch.

LAW CHANGE: Public sector comms people: the Online Safety Bill could be your friend

If you’re in any doubt as to the impact of monitoring social media have a word with someone who does it for the public sector.

They’ll see the benefit but they’ll also tell you about the horrendous abuse it can attract.

It’s certainly a problem. In late 2022, 47 per cent of the 300 public sector comms people I surveyed said that they saw verbal abuse or threats weekly and 7 per cent saw racist abuse every week. They’re appalling statistics.

That’s why the UK Government’s Online Safety Bill could be one of the most important pieces of legislation for them for several years.

A disclaimer. This isn’t legal advice. Talk to David Banks if you need that. But looking through the terms of the bill travelling through Parliament there is plenty to help public sector comms people.

In this post I’ll take you through the salient points and especially the protections the bill can offer. Yes, there was existing legislation. But what this does is create a series of fresh tools the beleagered comms person can use.

I’ll go through the most helpful parts of the legislation for you.

Protections for public sector comms

This is big chunk of legislation that will gladden the hearts of public sector comms people who are fed-up of being threatened.

Basically, section 160 of the act says that people break the law if they post something knowing it to be false or to cause ‘non-trivial’ psychological harm or physical harm and is likely to see the message.

However, there’s a cut-off point. You can’t prosecute if the issue happened more than three years ago. There’s also an exemption for recognised broadcasters and news publishers. The definitions of this are pretty tight so it excludes the kind of right wing shock jocks that tend to get banned from social media platforms.

Under section 162 of the proposed act, a threat of death, a rape threat, grevious bodily harm or the threat of financial loss.

There are a variety of penalties with the maximum being five years for the worst offences.

The rest of the act

There are other areas to the act. There’s plenty there that covers sending pictures of genitals or threatening to. There’s a lot about the responsibility on social media companies to act.

There’s more emphasis on social media companies to act on reports of harmful content and there’s more wide-ranging power for Ofcom to intervene.

How to use the act

If you work in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, this is something to pay attention to. Scotland isn’t by and large covered by this although bits of tidying up are.

Knowing the terms of the act is useful for frontline public facing comms people so they understand what protections they have.

Responsible heads of comms and managers need to know about the act so they understand what protections their teams can expect.

Aside from the comms team, this is also relevant for the comms team to know about so they can advise the under-fire chief executive or senior officer.

Finally, a working knowledge of the act will be useful in potentially raising the issue with your legal department. It’s quite possible that the duty solicitor responding to that out-of-hours email may be a conveyancing solicitor by day so sliding the act across to them tells them that you know what you’re talking about.

Having looked after social media accounts in the public sector I sympathise with people who switch on knowing they are likely to receive abuse of some sort. I’ve blogged about it many times before. It’s so important that the organisation stands up for its staff. This act is a clear line in the sand.

LICENCE FREED: What comms and PR can learn from how the BBC use TikTok

TikTok is surging in importance as a comms channel and a new study shows journalism as an unlikely hothouse for developing how to use it.

According to the UK Press Gazette data news brands have been experimenting with the platform and the clear trailblazer? The BBC.

It may feel counter-intuitive but it’s entirely in keeping with the corporation’s pioneering use of new technology.

The BBC leads the field in the survey with a 2,000 per cent increase in follower numbers in the eight months to January 2023.

Interestingly, the top 10 leading news TikTok embracers include a mix of traditional broadcasters and new media – such as LadBible, Huffpost, CNN and ITV News.

There’s no representation for UK local media companies such as Reach or LocalWorld in the top 30 list. Combined, such companies pack a fierce punch on Facebook and with their websites. A lack of resource, a focus on e-mail newsletters and the scattered nature of their audience may explain their position. 

But, still.

What can public sector comms people learn from this list?

A fair amount. 

What you can learn from the BBC on TikTok

National content is vertical as well as landscape

Firstly, people looking to pitch to national media now have the additional route of vertical video. With the BBC’s main account @bbc they have 3.8 million followers and 2,170 videos. Their main focus is to refocus and tease their iplayer content. However, @bbcnews has a news focus with almost 800,000 followers and 442 videos.

Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMFobyYRm/

Not one channel but many

The BBC is a big organisation with lots of content. It’s quite right that it has a number of accounts as well as identifiable journalist accounts. This gives an additional route to the audience.

The BBC TikTok style book need offers tips

Often, people are nervous of TikTok for its dances, memes, trends and creativity. I get that. But there’s a very strong argument to embrace that approach to fully embrace the platform. South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue do this brilliantly.

But what BBC News does offer is storytelling that’s with more of a straight bat.

Here’s a few things you can learn.

  1. Branding

In training, I often talk about the need to park-up traditional branding approaches when dealing with social media. That’s true of TikTok too. But what BBC News have is a translucent BBC logo in the top left of the screen along with a translucent red strip down the side. Scrolling through their timeline, it’s immediately clear to the viewer that this is from the same place.

A logo jpg added in the edit before uploading to TikTok can do this for you. 

  1. No bongs

The BBC News content doesn’t start with BBC News Titles or theme tune. Nor should it. That works on terrestrial TV. It doesn’t work on social media where the scrolling subscriber is met with the same five or 10 seconds of intro they already saw twice that morning.

  1. A title

Each clip starts with a clear title with black text on a white background with red and black edging. You have a headline summary, literally.

This looks as though its been added in the edit well before the upload. You could alternatively add a cover in the TikTok editing tool itself. This is certainly helpful if you’re scrolling through old video. 

  1. A strong opening three seconds

The law of social video is to startly boldly with either eye catching footage or an eye catching quote from an interview. BBC News manage this quite happily. 

  1. Cutaways are king 

Cutaways or B-roll is the footage which helps paint a picture. It’s shots of the picket line or cars sounding their horns passing the picket line. Over this you can add a voiceover or text to tell the story.

Like this clip of Thor the walrus:

  1. And voiceovers are fine

Much of the BBC News TikTok content is fairly anonymously presented. There is content with a reporter asking the questions and reacting but for the most part there is no recognisable news anchor. Authority comes from the branding and the blue tick not the sight of the newsreader.

This is a good example for comms people not seeking the limelight.  

  1. About a minute or less

Timing is also key. BBC News don’t have space for lengthy content. The days of hour long interviews between Robin Day and Margaret Thatcher couldn’t be further away. About a minute is the length of most of their video.

  1. Understand the complex and tell with simplicity

This is not new. The journalist has always had to get their heads around the complicated and then explain the story clearly to their audience. It’s jargon free. This chimes with public sector comms’ need to do the same. 

9. Avoid copyright issues

I’ve written about this before, but having a standard account as an organisation is dangerous. You need a business account. This limits the sounds you can use but means those available to you are safe to use. BBC News do this, too.

In summary

So, in summary, there’s lots to learn from BBC News for public sector comms. It’s not the only approach open. But it is a good template to see how to cover news and sensitive topics when you need to avoid a trend.

COMPUTER WORLD: What AI tools like ChatGPT mean for PR and communications

Bear with me, I’m going to open gently with a story before I move to the central point because I think the central point is almost too large to grasp.

When I worked in local government there was a man in charge of committee clerks. He was a grey haired man, always approachable and always helpful. He made sure committee meetings ran smoothly and in accordance with the laws and constitution. He was a deep well of information and anecdote.

I remember being in his office one day and he pointed at the grey filing cabinet in the corner of the room.

“Back in the day,” he said. “That’s where all the archives were stored. Every set of agenda papers, every minute, every decision. It was all there. There used to be a queue of people asking to check things and we’d have someone who would check things for them.”

His tone darkened.

“Then the internet came along and someone in their infinite wisdom decided that was better.”

At first, I thought he was joking. He wasn’t.

As the gatekeeper of that information he was an important man. He still was important. But something told me he missed being that gatekeeping librarian. For the first 20 years of his career he was the internet as far as constitutional matters were concerned.

The internet meant that anyone could do it when previously just one could. There was many winners and one loser.

Something is going on with Chat GPT

I don’t think I’m overselling it to say that something is happening right now that is truly revolutionary and I’m not sure if we’ve got our heads around it.

In late 2022, the Microsoft-backed AI chatbot ChatGPT was released. It plugs into 20 years of internet knowledge to produce solutions to tasks given it. Google finds you the links to help you piece together the solution eventually. ChatGPT finds the solution and gives you it with a bow tied around it.

I’m coming to the main point.

If you have earned your living from the knowledge economy your job is about to be turned upside down.

What you’ve spent years working and studying for can be replicated in seconds by ChatGPT.

As an experiment, I gave it a few tasks.

I used it to create a tenancy agreement under the law of England & Wales that favoured the tenant here.

A Dad’s Army scene that involves Captain Mainwaring, Sgt Wilson and a Tech Bro from Shoreditch looking to move to Warmington-on-Sea here. 

I also asked it to write a communications strategy for a charity that looks to communicate with young people and to set out the channels here.

Other people have used it for far greater tasks.

Like writing a Seinfeld script, a tool for debugging code, design meal plans, as a rival for Google search, writing a piano piece in the style of Mozart, writing verse in the style of Shakespeare on climate destruction or a poem about electrons written in iambic pentameter.

Looking at what I asked it to write it looks as though it’s about 75 per cent there.

It looks as though it was written by a human and it makes sense.

The thing is, AI looks to improve itself constantly. These are the baby steps. Far more powerful tools are expected in the next few years.

What ChatGPT and AI tools mean

There is a school of thought that says that we are moving overnight from being information creators to information curators.

The most extreme of predictions are that potentially everyone who has a career in the knowledge economy can be replaced. Why pay for five £40,000-a-year professionals, the argument goes, when two using AI can do the job?

AI companies that have written about the industry insist that AI is not to be feared. They’re here to help, they say, not replace. There’s part of me that’s not so sure they even believe that themselves.  

Many schools and Universities who have started to wake up to the threat have moved to ban ChatGPT from work submitted here and here. This prompts the idea of an arms race between AI essay writers like ChatGPT and software that can detect AI writing. Internet Q&A site Slack Overflow have also banned ChatGPT for providing answers that are not reliable.

What does ChatGPT and AI tools mean for comms and PR?

On the face of it a tool like ChatGPT is a threat. It can produce what you do to an increasingly good standard. That’s dangerous, surely? Well, partly, yes and partly no.

If we step aside from the shock of seeing the outline of a comms plan being produced by a robot we need to ask ourselves the question ‘then what?’.

A comms plan on its own is an attachment that sits on a hard drive. On its own, it won’t produce and post content. Right now, that will need some human involvement. Sure, ChatGPT could help to produce the rough content but right now it still needs shaping and scheduling. 

What’s coming out of an AI tool is not 100 per cent fool proof. So, there’s still need for humans.

Right now, tools such as ChatGPT can be a help to the day-to-day. It’ll be fascinating to see where they take is in two, five and ten years. 

HELLO 2023: Public sector comms predictions for 2023

The greatest danger of turbulence, wrote Peter Drucker is not the turbulence is to act with yesterday’s logic.

Here are the 11th set of predictions for public sector communications that starts yet again with a quote that sums up the year ahead. 

Turbulence. If you think its been windy, strap yourself in for 2023. It’s going to blow a gale. 

There is little ahead but turbulence. The way to approach the gale is very much like coping with seasick. Focus on the horizon with a level head. Don’t be too worried by the detail.

2012 comms

One persistent thought kept emerging as I was drawing up these predictions. The danger is to act with yesterday’s logic. In summary, this is to run a comms team as though it is still 2012. Having Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and media relations isn’t enough. Nor is posting a link to a news story on your website to Facebook and Twitter. This is now as effective as hoping people will pick up the print edition of the evening paper and turn to page eight.  

New thinking needs to be done not just to catch up with 2023 but to move into the future.  

I’ve put what I got right and wrong in the 2022 predictions at the bottom of the post.

PREDICTIONS FOR 2023

Turbulence with channels accelerates

We are at a crossroads with digital communications where the old hegemony of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is disintegrating. How they are used in 2023 is different to 2012. Being up to date with algorithmic shifts is an important part of the comms team. Make time for it. It’ll save time in the long term. Other channels rise. 

Permacrisis turbulence

Public sector comms is a reflection of the ambition, drive, trust and stability of the public sector as a whole. The UK economy has suffered because of its own poor political decisions. Liz Truss’s mini-budget is just one of these. Trust and stability are in short measure with strikes, power cuts, disruption and economic turbulence. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, all this will mean that pressure for independence creates further pressure on to-do lists. 

Your organisation may fall over and it’s not your fault

No matter where you are in the public sector there’s a chance that your organisation may run out of money or run out of staff and collapse. This will happen more often in 2023. You working an 80-hour week every week for 52-weeks won’t change this.  

Easing away from the Town Square 

The traditional social media model was the Town Square where everyone could see each other’s opinions. Abuse has made this model toxic. The public sector, like news, will continue to back away from this in 2023. 

Email lists will be more important

Email lists which are not beholden to the whims of Elon Musk or algorithm changes will become more important. 

Fractured channels

As the traditional hegemony of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube diminishes, the public sector needs to learn to be fleet of foot to identify sub-channels used by clusters of their audience and tailor individual messages to individual audiences. For example, the Quarry Bank Facebook group or the internal staff WhatsApp community, for example. The loud hailer of reaching mass audience will be less important.

SEO is back, baby

With the Town Square loud hailer no longer working so well SEO will become more important to connect to make a voice heard. SEO will be important not just on platforms such as Google but search on Instagram and TikTok. Google are also experimenting with search within video itself. This builds on an emerging trend.

The drift of staff to the private sector increases

The public sector is no longer a career for life. It is stressful, subject to abuse and poorly paid. Pay rises continue to lag behind inflation. The exit ramp from the public sector is a better paid career in the private sector in PR… or even stacking shelves. Those familiar with the talent drain from journalism in the last 20 years will find this scenario familiar. Long term this will lead to a talent drain. 

Viva the generalist

Those left behind in public sector comms must be a jack of all trades from media relations to comms planning to content creation to video editing. The silver lining is that this range of battle-learned skills will make them attractive to the private sector. New skills are needed not just as a once-in-five-years investment but constantly. Invest in your staff. 

There will be a two speed AI learning curve

AI has begun to make inroads into the popular conscience with public sector PR. In 2023, the bow wave will experiment with plugging AI into some areas of content creation. As budgets shrink the need for this will increase. In 2023, there will be examples of comms teams being reshaped to deploy AI by the end of the year. That’s one side of the learning curve. On the other side, teams will lag behind.  

Burn out is in danger of being institutionalised

The need for better strategic management is often not being met by the existing management skill set. Burn out as people try to fill the gaps and service expectations to run a comms team like its still 2012 will lead to staff suffering.

TikTok: more mainstream

There is little risk in this prediction. But TikTok will continue to seek an older audience.  

TikTok: the end of organic reach

TikTok has been flying and hoovering up audience. However, these are the salad days. Make the most of them because organic reach will start to curb in the same way that Facebook Zero curbed it.

Mastodon won’t be a Twitter rival

Those people looking at Mastodon as a chance to recreate old Twitter will be disappointed. It will be a network for the tech savvy but won’t become mainstream in the next 12-months.

Working with creators

This will become more important in 2023. If someone local to you is doing TikTok or Instagram really well, working with them will be more of a sensible idea. 

LinkedIn becomes helpful daily 

The platform once described as ‘like Facebook for accountants’ will really come into its own as the professional Twitter alternative. 

Predictions for 2022 I didn’t get right

I didn’t see three Prime Ministers in three months.

The online harms bill and GDPR Lite didn’t materialise. 

VR and AR didn’t make huge inroads.

Predictions for 2022 I got right

Looking back here’s what I got right…

2022 was be a hard year. 

People did walk off the job burnt out.

Political authority did dip – most notably with 10 Downing Street. 

Brexit did make things harder.

Comms teams did struggle to recruit and retain staff.

Political decision making was broadly poorer.

Diversity continued to get worse. 

The AI gap grew.

TikTok came of age.  

Organic Facebook reach did continue to deteriorate.

Video did increase – particularly vertical. 

Nextdoor did get bigger. 

One size fits all comms did get less effective. 

There was algorithmic upheaval. 

There you go. What did I miss?

TRUST FALLS: Nurses remain the most trusted while trust in UK politicians bombs

Ladies and gentlemen, trust in politicians has gone through the floor.

In the Ipsos MORI Veracity index 2022, trust in political figures generally has now dipped to 12 per cent.

For local councillors, it’s a healthier 38 per cent but even that is a six per cent fall.

Nurses still top the list with 89 per cent while doctors have slipped to third place. Engineers are now the second most trusted profession.

Why does this matter?

Because who public sector comms people include in their content has a big say on whether or not the message will be believed.

The Ipsos MORI figures for 2022 is important insight that allows you to choose and justify the choice of who should be quoted or featured.

The full data is here.

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