Christine Townsend, President of PIO Toolkit, joined us to discuss how the communications arms of governments can harness the power of branding and use LinkedIn to create community connections. PIO Toolkit is a resource for those who work in government communications.
What got you here
Tell us about your work as a public information officer, and what led you to create PIO Toolkit.
I spent 15 years in the UK putting my journalism skills to work managing websites, social media, and communication strategies for a number of police forces and government agencies. Over the course of my career, I worked on several high-profile events, including the London 2012 Olympics, G20 riots, various terrorist incidents, and large-scale international fraud cases. My final assignment was managing social media for the police at British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s funeral.
I moved to the US six years ago to deliver media training to different agencies around the world. When COVID hit, I took the time to reflect and think creatively about how I could continue to support those who work in communications for the government. I wanted to draw on my experiences to help others learn from my successes – and mistakes. What started out as a simple blog turned into a valuable resource for comms pros in government and public safety.
Tell us about your recent merger with LAW Publications and how the two organizations will be stronger together.
Both Law Publications and PIO Toolkit are mission-driven with a common goal of wanting to improve community relations through better communication. Law Publications offers no-cost printed materials to support agencies tasked with delivering public service messages to the wider community. PIO Toolkit supports those with the challenging (and rewarding) job of communicating with the media, stakeholders, and everyone in their communities. The combination of strategic and tactical approaches to community engagement really covers all bases when it comes to working holistically to solve problems.
Develop your brand and audience strategy
Many governments may not think about brand-building. Can you talk about why this is an important consideration for governments?
Cultivating a strong, recognizable brand is crucial for governments when it comes to building trust and increasing levels of engagement from the community they serve. Ultimately, people want reliable services. If there’s a problem, they want it solved. Strong branding and excellent communication offer people a clear understanding of where they can go for help.
“Cultivating a strong, recognizable brand is crucial for governments when it comes to building trust and increasing levels of engagement from the community they serve.”
Signposting and public service communications that support the public through their customer journey mean not only better service but also better use of resources and public money. Branding is more than just a logo – it’s the representation of all you can do and be for a member of the public. What do you want your service to be synonymous with?
Why is it important for PIOs to understand the audience they're trying to reach, and how should they go about doing that?
Understanding people is the bedrock of communication. When you speak from an informed position, the language you use truly resonates with your audience – and being a PIO means addressing multiple audiences within the community.
Empathy, understanding, and research should inform all you do. The most dangerous thing a communicator can do is to communicate from their own perspective. The moment an audience catches you are speaking from your own point of view, they will disengage.
Carrying out stakeholder mapping exercises and working through citizen personas will help you segment all of the people that you need to communicate with. You can then refine and improve with surveys, feedback, and community engagement. The feedback may not always be positive or pretty, but it’s absolutely essential.
“It is human nature to look for someone like ourselves in the narrative. As soon as we realize content doesn’t resonate with us, we move on.”
Once you understand your audience, how does this enable more effective communication?
It’s human nature to look for someone like ourselves in the narrative. As soon as we realize content doesn’t resonate with us, we move on. We are more likely to listen to someone if they have clearly taken the time to understand us.
Part of understanding your audience is knowing where they consume their information and which languages and dialects they use. There are so many layers to who we are as people. Culture, gender, and socio-economic factors should all be considered when crafting communication. Effective communication through better understanding increases safety, well-being, and community cohesion.
Using LinkedIn as a PIO
How can government agencies get the most out of LinkedIn?
Understanding the demographics on LinkedIn will set you up for success. The broad range of tools on LinkedIn helps with different types of engagement, and the reporting provides hard evidence for what works and what misses the mark.
LinkedIn isn’t just about sharing professional success or looking for a job — it’s a whole community of people who possess an enormous amount of insight, experience, and passion for what they do. You may find that you’re working on a crime prevention campaign for people within a certain industry, or you're seeking unique perspectives on a planned initiative from people who have niche interests.
There are likely segments of your audience that spend more time on LinkedIn than any other platform, so it pays to engage with them there. You should always go to where people are rather than expect them to come to you.
“LinkedIn isn’t just about sharing professional success or looking for a job — it’s a whole community of people who possess an enormous amount of insight, experience, and passion for what they do.”
How can governments utilize their Page and leverage employee profiles to build their "brand" on LinkedIn?
Your Page is both your newsroom and your online community. This is your opportunity to show your strengths through thoughtful and considered content. You can be strategic about building a relationship with your citizens.
Your employees are your advocates. Individuals in public-facing roles are your brand. These are the people that should truly shine a light on your values and mission.
This is no less true on social media. LinkedIn strengthens confidence in your brand through the people that work for you. If your audience sees real, relatable people who care about the services they provide, they are more likely to have faith in your organization. This results in a better pool of potential hires, a better likelihood of good news stories being picked up by the media, and more thoughtful and constructive feedback from your audiences.
Topics: Customer stories
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