Getting Creative with Public-Sector Communications

During the past two years, public-sector PR professionals have been challenged to adapt to new technology while also juggling the demands of public services during an ongoing pandemic. 

However, as many in-person public services went virtual and social media tools become more important, at least one silver lining has emerged: Communications people working in the public-service sector have found more room to be creative.

Labeled by some as being a “red tape” bureaucratic environment, the public sector is rarely credited with creativity, but during COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions, many organizations have been forced to find more innovative ways to interact with their constituents. 

Here are five areas in which public-sector PR professionals can become more creative in 2022 and adapt to our ever-changing times:

Marketing services

In the public sector, marketing is not about selling a product or promoting a client, but it plays an important role, nonetheless. Marketing helps public-sector PR professionals demonstrate that they understand their constituents’ needs.

Provided or regulated by the government, public services include education, public safety, emergency services, health care and utilities such as water and electrical power. All of these services can benefit from creative marketing. 

To better serve residents, public-sector agencies and their communications staffs first must earn their trust. By brainstorming creative strategies to better communicate who we are and what we do, we can show the public how we make their communities better places to live. Creative marketing also lets public-sector PR professionals create goodwill with the public that will benefit their organizations in the future.

We can improve our marketing by first asking ourselves: What is our organization doing to better serve the public? How can our organization go beyond its website to promote the good that we do? How can we improve our marketing materials?

As a next step in our marketing efforts, we can enlist the help of employees to tell success stories about our organizations. And rather than rely on stock photos and boilerplate messages, we can use real images and anecdotes from the communities we serve in our marketing materials.

Marketing the services of public-sector organizations also means being transparent. For example, you might offer the public you serve an inside look at how your organization gets things done. Showcase what’s involved with carrying out public services during these crucial times. 

Through creative marketing, we can boost our operations’ accountability and get citizens more involved with our services. 

Staying current with social media

Social media platforms continue to provide new features. For instance, last fall, Twitter made Spaces — its audio chatrooms modeled on the popularity of the Clubhouse app — available to all of its users. 

Instagram, meanwhile, introduced link stickers, which let users include hyperlinks in their Stories, in the form of stickers. They’re a fun way to link your followers to information about the important services your public-sector organization provides. 

TikTok is another social media option that can help communicators expand their reach. The platform opens the door for PR teams to develop creative ideas for its 15–60 second videos, which can be both fun and informative. 

With TikTok, you have the opportunity to turn bland topics such as water conservation into engaging posts, while also introducing employees to people in your region. In the public sector, you often hear it’s essential to “meet people where they are,” and that’s the goal when using platforms such as TikTok. It’s important to continue to find the residents who you serve where they are.

Creating vibrant designs

To better communicate with their constituents, PR professionals in the public sector can also make their online graphics more vibrant and engaging, even when working on a tight budget. 

With Canva, for example, you can easily create branded graphics, even if you don’t have graphic design experience. Better online graphics increase brand awareness for your organization, and make your social media pages look effortless and relevant. 

With Design Wizard, an online graphic-design software, you can create content such as videos and image designs, with no professional experience required. 

To boost their creativity and big-picture thinking, challenge your communications team to conceive creative content ideas every month.

Asking communities for creative input

Another way to find creative marketing ideas for your public-sector organization is by asking the citizens you serve for their input. First, analyze what mission-centric problems your organization is looking to solve. And then spread the word to your community that you’re interested in their ideas. 

By asking the public to help solve problems, you can co-create solutions that may not have appeared on your organization’s radar otherwise. 

Tapping the collective knowledge and resources of the public helps usher new creative ideas in the door, while also building goodwill and trust for your organization. 

Launching an in-house innovation team

If your organization doesn’t have an in-house team dedicated to innovation and creativity, consider starting one that centers around your organization’s goals. 

The team will help your public-service agency be more creative with its communication, marketing and outreach — while also gathering input from your internal and external stakeholders. Those ideas can then become part of your strategic plan. 

As we continue to adapt to changes from the pandemic and in social media, let’s make creativity the norm in the public sector.