Providing insight and a strategic roadmap for a government comms office

A large UK Government communications office wanted to make their social media channels more effective with targeted audiences and reduce the volume of correspondence/calls to the public enquiry unit. They also needed an in-depth review of their channels which included recommendations going forward. 

Over the course of the project, we provided this in a number of ways:

  • An in-depth report where we reviewed the content and analytics from each of their social media channels and provided useful insights into how to increase engagement and avoid reputational damage. 
  • 4 pilot projects to test theories borne out of the review which included content training for media officers, workshops with individual social media and data analysis teams and developing new processes to trial.
  • Examined the siloed ways of working that were in place and suggested ways to together moving forward, cutting down the amount of data reports being produced and increasing the number of people with skills to produce high-quality social media content. 
  • Built confidence in the public enquiry unit to be able to handle enquiries over social media as well as developed new processes to do this effectively.
  • A road-mapping workshop with senior staff members to build an achievable plan over 3,6, 12 and 18 months.

Based on the insights in the report, we developed clear recommendations and processes to take forward. These included long-term structural and strategic recommendations as well as quick wins that would make a noticeable difference within weeks. 

Project Outcomes

  • Increased confidence to create digital content, among press office staff
  • A new process for evaluating social media activity alongside other channels
  • Greater ownership and responsibility for social across the department, including customer service

Here’s what they had to say about our work:

We commissioned Helpful Digital to produce an independent review of social media activity from the Department for Education.
We wanted to understand:
  • the impact of our existing activity
  • opportunities to improve the efficiency of how we used our channels and content to target a wide range of audiences
  • where we needed to build skills and experience
We chose Helpful Digital because they took time to get to know our team and understand the work of this Department.  The Helpful team spent time building relationships with different stakeholders. Helpful also co-produced the recommendations with our communications team. This approach helped everyone buy in to the review and its findings, and feel confident working with Helpful.
The review and subsequent recommendations identified a number of opportunities that covered the breadth of work we do online, including customer engagement. Since the review we’ve made significant changes to the way social media is managed and delivered. Social is now an even greater part of our overall communications effort and we’re proud of the work we deliver.

How could we help you?

Talk to us informally about how we approach this kind of work, ballpark budgets and timescales – or just to help you refine your brief: email [email protected]