Public Sector Marketing: 6 Predictions for 2020

What changes will 2020 bring to public sector marketing? In this article, Susan Ganeshan, Granicus CMO, offers 6 predictions drawn from technological shifts, regulatory happenings, and the impacts of broader cultural and political paradigms.

What a decade. In the last ten years, we’ve watched public sector organizations do their best to keep up with dizzying, high-speed change — change powered by tech and steered by citizen expectations for “easy” and “now.” On the bright side, tech has empowered major breakthroughs in public sector accessibility, transparency, and civic engagement. On the somewhat darker side, there have been growing and justified concerns over privacy and security.

With that in mind, what can public sector marketers expect in 2020? And how can they keep up with what will be another change-filled year? Here are a few of my predictions.  

Mobile Website Traffic Will Rise By 8%

In the next year, more and more Millennials and Gen Z will age into civic processes, like getting driver’s licenses, getting married, voting, paying taxes, and all the other things that come with adulthood. And they’ll bring their mobile-first technology preferences along with them. In 2019, 42% of visits to government websites were mobileOpens a new window . In 2020, let’s expect an 8% percent increase to 50%. Assume that about every other person you’re communicating with has their head tilted down at their iPhone.

What does that mean tactically? If you haven’t revamped your website to give it a mobile-friendly user experience — complete with dynamic page flow, dynamic sizing, and mobile forms submission — you’ll want to do that in 2020. The fact is, all public sector campaigns and programs must have mobile-first thinking built into the strategy. When your customer is on the go, meet them where they are. When your citizens need frequent updates, consider text messaging, the preferred communication channel for a majority of AmericansOpens a new window , to improve your outreach frequency and effectiveness. Also, review your email marketing strategy to make sure your email design is similarly optimized for mobile devices, with clear calls to action for citizens on the move.

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Convenience Will Become a Public Sector Selling Point

The public sector — not historically known for being easy to interact with — will continue to make strides toward delivering the easy and instant experience that citizens already receive from the private sector. We’re seeing momentum. Organizations such as the City of Culver City, California, and the State of Oklahoma are improving convenience by swapping out “print a PDF and wait in line at your government office” with “visit the website, submit request digitally, and be done.”

Now, when I say the convenience will be a selling point, I mean that literally. Not only is it easier and more efficient for staff to process applications, permits, tax payments and the like, but also governments that have transformed to digital services will be able to start charging nominal fees for the convenience. In 2020, public sector marketers and communicators will start to position convenience to citizens —and at volume it will pay off.

Despite Regulations, Public Sector Marketers Will Prevail

Communication specialists in the U.S. public sector have largely been unaffected by major developments in data and consumer privacy brought on by Europe’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). GDPR, it seems, was the first domino. Similar regulations are rippling throughout the U.S. California’s Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 will take effect in 2020. There are likeminded developments occurring in Nevada, New York, Washington, and Texas. Safe to say, data privacy efforts will be top of mind in 2020.

While complying with new regulations will require time and effort, don’t be overly concerned with these regulations’ effect on your ability to communicate with citizens. In the U.K., as we at Granicus implemented GDPR across our more than 300 government agency communications teams, we saw a slight decrease in subscribers to government-related topics. But we also saw a dramatic increase in active engagement from citizens, with median email engagement rates escalating from 55% to 67%Opens a new window . The net result: People do want to hear from their local, state, and federal government agencies and when you talk, they listen, and they act.

50% of Budget Will Be Funneled Into the ‘Digital’ Column

Budget spreadsheets will better reflect citizens’ online habits in 2020. That means public sector marketers will continue transitioning budget expenditures from traditional methods to more sophisticated digital marketing methods — email, text, and social, even digital advertising —with a focus on creating a complete and actionable experience for citizens. In some cases, it will still make sense to include offline methods, such as signage or mailers. But these costly legacy methods of communication will receive an even smaller slice of the marketing budget in 2020. How much of a move? I predict more of 50/50 split between online and offline channels.

Public Sector Marketers Will Meet More Machines

For the first time, a year or two ago, a machine powered by AI and machine learning (ML) was able to beat the best human player in the world at one of the most technically complex games that exist, called “Go.” In 2020, I predict we’ll see more public sector professionals becoming familiar with what such capabilities can bring to the complex game of improving connections between government and people.

Here’s an example that gives some insight into the opportunities of AI. Imagine you’re a citizen who just moved into a new town. You have a dog and want to find the best, nearest dog park in your area. After a quick search, you land on a county website. On that webpage, you find the hours and location of a local dog park, but as you go to leave the page, you’re given an opportunity to sign up to receive updates about dog parks, pet registration, and animal-friendly events in the county. You love dogs, so you sign up. Now let’s imagine, because of what machine learning can glean from analysis of subscriber preferences, that we discover a strong correlation between people who own dogs and people who volunteer for community events.

What if right there on the page we can offer that new resident (and dog lover) the option to sign up for email updates about community volunteer opportunities? They’re likely to subscribe to that as well, and we’re able to further develop their sense of civic pride. That kind of real-time, personalized engagement (which we’re continuously improving via the Granicus Subscriber Network) is possible with AI and ML. We’re going to see more of this in 2020 and beyond.

Public Sector’s Role as Truthsayer Will Become More Vital

Public sector marketers and communicators will continue to be on front lines for truth. In the U.S., we’re witnessing declining trust in governmentOpens a new window . Hackers, foreign actors, divisive national politics — they’re all chipping away at the foundation of trust in public institutions. The good news: Americans are optimistic, according to Pew Research, 8 out of 10 believe that trust can be repaired.

A major factor in that reparation? Transparency. And no one is in a better position to bring transparency to government than professionals in marketing and communications roles. In 2020, government leaders will continue to be relied onOpens a new window to craft truthful, transparent, and detailed messaging to keep citizens and stakeholders informed on everything from new regulations to upcoming votes to opportunities for citizens to provide feedback. In the end, that’s a win-win for civic councils and citizens alike.

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Bringing It All Together

Certainly, 2020 will bring developments no one could have predicted. And there will always be things we can’t control (despite our best intentions). But if we can focus on taking small but smart steps toward lofty goals — like engaging residents more effectively and delivering and measuring outcomes for programs and services — we’ll be able to look back at 2020 and say, “Well, it didn’t all work out, but we’ve learned from it. And we sure came a long way.” Steady improvement — isn’t that what it’s all about?”