As public officials, the primary goal is to serve the public while maintaining a strong reputation for doing what is best within the community. This can come with many challenges as public officials are forced to please the majority while having to disappoint a small sector of their base of supporters. In the past, one of the major complaints from constituents was that public officials never connected with the general public on almost any level. It was almost as if public officials operated inside a bubble with no sense of what was actually happening in the community.
Thankfully public officials around the country are beginning to understand that outreach is vitally important to being reelected and actually improving issues within the community. Public officials who are having trouble connecting with their supporters and detractors should look at some of the outreach strategies below to become more aware of these issues and have the ability to work with their community to solve them.
Social Media
Many think of social media as only being useful for individuals and businesses that are trying to disseminate information online, but public officials can benefit as well. Using social media to connect with members of your community can allow you to quickly distribute information to a large number of people. Think about being able to make announcements to all of your supporters through social media as opposed to more expensive methods such as direct mail or television ads. Social media allows you reach people on the platforms they already use and to quickly notify supporters without having to dip into your ever-shrinking budget.
Meet and Greet
While social media is a great way to connect with people in your community, there is nothing better than actually getting out in the community and meeting with people. By talking with people in the community about what is bothering them, you are able to relate to people on their level. If you can connect with people face to face, they will be much more likely to vote for you come election time. People want to vote for someone that they can connect with and if you are stuck in your office each and every day, you may find yourself becoming disconnected from the people that voted you into it in the first place. By being visible in the community you show your vulnerabilities and will likely learn a lot that you can use in your job as a public official.
Video Marketing
Video is becoming the preferred method of distributing content online. As a public official, video marketing can be a great method to use to announce important information to your community members. With streaming providers like TikiLIVE, you can easily go from never producing a video before to streaming your content to a variety of different devices. TikiLIVE offers a variety of features that can make sharing video content simple:
- HD Wave – Whether you are on a PC or a Mac, you can use TikiLIVE’s HD Wave software to quickly produce HD quality video. With a user-friendly interface, HD Wave will be easy for you to understand and use.
- Stream from Your Mobile Device – You do not have to have an expensive video camera to be able to stream content online. If you are making an announcement, all you need is a mobile phone and you can be streaming online in minutes. TikiLIVE offers an app for iPhones and Android devices, which both allow you to easily stream content to the world.
- HTML5 Support – If you are new to computers, you may not understand what HTML5 support actually means. To put it simply, it means that whether your community members access your content from a smartphone, tablet or computer, they will receive the same high quality viewing experience. With more than half of all Internet traffic originating from mobile devices it is important that you can get your message out to this huge segment of your community.
Stream Meetings Online
Similar to video marketing, you can also use a service like TikiLIVE to stream community meetings online. This can allow your community to actually view the meetings that are deciding the issues that affect each and every one of them. By allowing these meetings to be streamed online you may be surprised at the participation that you receive from your community. Many community members are much more apt to participate in a community meeting if it is streamed online as opposed to having to travel from their home to sit and listen. TikiLIVE makes it simple to stream these meetings, so why not give it a try for your next committee meeting?
Be Transparent
One of the complaints about politicians is that they make decisions in a vacuum with no real idea of how these decisions will actually affect those people in the communities where they serve. This can be extremely frustrating for community members and is something that politicians should work hard to correct. By being completely transparent in your decision making you can help your supporters understand why you are making each and every decision that is made while you are in office. When there are important decisions to be made ensure that you are connecting with your community members so that they understand the implications of your decisions. This extra step will help to build trust within your community, which will only help you if and when you choose to run for office again.
Connect With Your Community With TikiLIVE
If you are ready to do a better job of outreach within your community, it is time to look into a robust streaming provider like TikiLIVE. With TikiLIVE you can easily stream all of your video content online and even connect with your various social media accounts to quickly get the word out about any of your initiatives. If you need more information as to how TikiLIVE can help you improve your outreach strategies, contact our customer service team today. We would be happy to discuss our wide range of services and how public officials around the country are using them to connect with their community members.
