Data decisions at 37,000ft, AI centre stage in Wigan & free Webinar this Thurs
Plus... sizing up, er, post size with Excel, learning to ❤️ FoI, and podcast pontification
Aisle be there for you
We recently headed off on family holiday (coming back with Covid – marvellous) and paid extra for the privilege of being allocated seats together on the plane. As we pondered where to sit, an infographic from David McCandless’s seminal Information Is Beautiful popped into my head, sending me scrabbling for a well-thumbed copy.
“Do you ever stop thinking about data,” my partner sighed, as I showed her the data visualisation above. Thankfully, a week under glorious blue skies and warm sun, away from Excel and email provided a definitive answer to that question.
And yes, we did sit at the back of the plane.
AI know you got (Northern) soul
Just before I jetted off to Turkey, it was an honour to be asked to speak to a buzzing and very engaged LGComms Academy in lovely Wigan.
I was delighted to give the opening address at the event on AI, a constantly developing area that with myriad implications for communicators.
Well done to the organisers, and huge thanks to everyone who contacted me to say they found it useful.
Some of the key points in my presentation:
If you say ‘please’ to ChatGPT, you will be get a better outcome (recent academic research backs up this point!)
AI tools can make your comms instantly more accessible by adding automatic British Sign Language (BSL) to video content
Be wary about going all-in on prompting skills – some experts think it will become irrelevant as the tech develops
A future where everyone has a personal AI might vastly change audience needs (for different formats) and demands on your team (to produce these different formats) - see the AI-powered Live Translation on the new Google Pixel 9.
AI can help you get instant insight from big data - but data literacy skills do and will still matter because of hallucination, and the need for assurance if you’re going to bet the house on AI insight.
Watch this recap from Lyndsey Dudley from Stockport Council. And if you’d like me to come and speak to your team or organisation, drop me a line.
Free Webinar: What makes a great data-informed campaign?
Come and find out this Thursday, 14 November 12-1pm
As part of the Data Bites for Comms Pros series, myself and Darren Caveney will be looking at using data for a great cost of living campaign.
Over fifty people have already signed up - and there is still chance to join them.
Our aim with these webinars is to boost interest in using data among not-for-profit communicators.
Shelley Rawlings, Strategic Communications and Campaigns Lead at Buckinghamshire Council, who scooped the first ever Best Use of Data award at the 2023 UnAwards, will be sharing her knowledge.
The Helping Hand campaign truly embraced data to help ensure Buckinghamshire’s most vulnerable residents got the support and advice they needed from the council and local partners.
Sign up here.
Does size matter? There is a correlation coefficient for that!
Does word count affect organic social media engagement?
I often ask comms team to state the assumptions, hunches and theories underpinning the decisions they take - and then I interrogate their data to see if these things stand up.
One of the common ones I hear is around optimal length of post on social media platforms.
There's a lot of received wisdom around this. But in reality, a few simple steps in Excel will help you determine if there's any substance to those hunches for your own content, or whether it's a red herring.
Using the techniques highlighted in this LinkedIn post, you can use a mathematical formula to check whether post length for organic content has any impact on engagement.
If you use Orlo (full disclaimer, I am an community partner), it’s very easy, thanks to the powerful ability to get full, structured data into a spreadsheet.
If you want to understand more about how to run a correlation coefficient formula across a year’s worth of your social content, feel free to drop me a line.
I want to break Free(dom of Information)
FoI is a tool that many inhouse communicators may see as a nuisance – but with some creative thinking it also presents opportunities.
For example, if you have a corporate policy of publishing previous FOI requests, then useful data to inform your next campaign may be easily available without having to corral reluctant internal people into giving you access.
It is also interesting to see FoI’s use for storytelling extending beyond journalists into campaigning and advocacy. The Home Builders Federation has used FoI as a way of obtaining fresh data and generating a newsworthy, eye-catching hook for its key messages around housing policy.
A FoI exercise undertaken by HBF earlier this year resulted in the eye-catching top line that £50 million of taxpayer money has been spent on external legal advice on planning appeals, which garnered them plenty of media coverage.
What does this mean for comms pros?
Regular readers will know that I frequently (sorry, not sorry) talk about the need for comms pros to mirror some of the approaches that today’s journalists take to utilising data.
Useful data can come from myriad sources and FoI is often overlooked. The insight it can reveal is something that communicators should be thinking about more broadly, rather than just seeing it as a headache.
FoI as a tool for storytelling is particularly relevant for those comms pros working for charities or campaign groups.
And with a big focus on Public Affairs in local government comms right now, FoI is something to embrace to understand your reputational risks - but also the great stories you might be able to share with stakeholders.
On the road
I will be out and about on my travels in Nov and Dec. If you are the following events, come and say hello.
Orlo Tour (London)
There is still chance to sign up for a free place on Wednesday 20 November. Join 40+ public sector comms, marketing and customer service professionals for a unique opportunity to network with like-minded professionals and gain valuable insights from others in the public sector.APComm Academy 2024
A workshop for police communicators on the opportunities of AI. APComm is the voice for police communications on a national level.
The UnAwards 2024
THE public sector comms event of the year, where I will be co-presenting the Best Use of Data Award. Run by comms2point0, the Awards are special and recognise genuine creativity, innovation and brilliant results. Now closed for entries, but have a think what you could enter for next year. It’s just £30 to attend the awards event on Fri 6 Dec. Look forward to seeing some of you there!
Podcast pontification
I spoke to the excellent David Richter recently for his Marketing Freed podcast.
The podcast features the knowledge, wisdom and experience from independent marketing specialists.
I gave David my thoughts on how comms professionals can harness data, not only by finding good stories, but also deploy what I have called ‘defensive data journalism’ techniques to get early warning of less positive stories that may emerge.
You also get an overview of:
how I got involved in the world of data after a career in journalism and communications
how the world of science and art collided for me to bring me to where I am now.
I am a communicator first and foremost as I understand challenges of that world, but specialise in bringing data analysis into the mix. Morphing these two disciplines together means I can help communicators like you use data in a relevant way, to help deliver effectively on priorities.
Types of work I do, with people just like you
- Workshops: Supercharging comms with data - and harnessing AI
- Projects: Social media data deep dives, benchmarking and cutting through to ‘what works - with key recommendations to help make you more effective and efficient use of channels.
- Thought leadership: Keynote sessions on data in comms (and how AI can make this easier).
- Bespoke consultancy: Finding and taming data, weaving data into storytelling, data for advocacy and public affairs, data skills development and best practice.
If you want to make more use of data in 2025 and beyond, drop me a line at alex@whetstonecomms.com. I currently have availability from January 2025 onwards.
Data Communications Chronicles is written by Alex Waddington, founder of Whetstone Communications, which helps public sector and not for profit comms teams do more - and deliver more - using data.