Public service advertisements are government campaigns (“Stay Home, Save Lives”) designed to shape public behaviour, build trust, and reinforce national priorities. B2G suppliers can learn valuable lessons from these strategic campaigns, effectively using them as a blueprint for coordinated messaging that drives positive action, and as a model for developing a comprehensive marketing strategy.
In this article, we explore what makes a great marketing campaign strategy in the UK public sector, and how suppliers can leverage this type of marketing data to improve their own marketing communications strategies. Analysing government campaigns can also help suppliers develop a robust marketing strategy that aligns with each stage of the marketing funnel, guiding audiences from awareness to action.
The Role of Advertising in Public Service
Public service advertisements are like non-commercial commercials. They’re all about education and awareness regarding social issues, including health, public safety, and climate change. Creating awareness is a primary goal of public service campaigns, as they aim to inform and prepare the public for positive behaviour change. They’re not about selling products or services.
Public service marketing campaigns are typically sponsored by nonprofits and government bodies, although they can also be sponsored by brands involved in activities related to a cause. For example, a toothpaste brand sponsors a national campaign focused on raising awareness of the high sugar content in sodas and the impact on dental health in children.
Public service announcements are similar to advertising, but they tend to focus more on government policies, changes to existing services, and new government priorities or initiatives, like the net zero goal. These campaigns use multiple marketing channels, such as radio, TV, print, and digital platforms, to effectively reach a diverse target audience.
Coordinating various marketing activities, such as developing a marketing plan, content creation, and feedback management, is essential for successful campaign performance.
National campaigns require a special approach that is best managed by official communications departments in the Cabinet Office, Home Office, NHS, and HMRC. This is to ensure consistency in marketing messages and cohesion across the board. You can find out more about the coordination of national government campaigns on GOV.UK campaigns.
What Defines a “Great” Government Campaign?
Government campaigns need a lot of planning and strategising. They have to because the message has to reach the entire country. It’s like planning a typical procurement marketing campaign, but to the nth degree. For example, the target audience is everyone.
It’s tricky enough developing a marketing strategy for a niche audience, like local contracting authorities in the transport industry. Now, there is no niche. So, how do communications departments create great public service advertising campaigns?
A clear campaign strategy is needed to align messaging, media selection, and execution with the campaign’s objectives.
Defining specific campaign goals is also crucial, as they guide the campaign’s direction and provide measurable benchmarks for success.
What else goes into a successful marketing campaign?
1) Keep messages clear and accessible to the target audience
Simplicity is best. That means succinct, jargon-free content that also sticks in the brain. For example, the “Fit for the Future” campaign by the NHS. It’s short, to the point, and it uses alliteration, which helps make it memorable. Concise marketing content is especially important in public service campaigns to ensure the message is easily understood.
The rest of the message is also reader-friendly and to the point:
- 10-Year Health Plan
- We’re Transforming the NHS
Followed by five bullet points.
2) Determine strategic objectives
You must know what you want to achieve, and it must be measurable. Setting clear marketing campaign objectives and defining key performance indicators (KPIs) at the outset is essential to ensure your campaign is goal-oriented and its success can be tracked.
For example, Fit for the Future’s primary objective is for the NHS to “… create a truly modern health service …” It’s pretty vague, but the information in the bullet points narrows it down.
The second bullet point refers to the NHS app. A measurable outcome is the number of app downloads since the campaign launch, which serves as a key performance indicator.
The final bullet point refers to the use of technology to accelerate diagnoses and improve virtual healthcare through digitally accessible patient records. A measurable outcome is the number of healthcare service providers who complete specific digital skills training courses, another important KPI.
Delivering specific outcomes like this and using follow-up advertising to publish the results are important because they prove the campaign’s effectiveness to the public, which can motivate even more people to download the app.
Organisations can measure campaign success by tracking these KPIs and analysing the results to refine future marketing campaign strategies.
3) Maintain cross-channel consistency across marketing channels
Consistency is key to any marketing campaign. It’s reliable, predictable, and engenders trust. Changing the tone, or even the message across content distribution channels, creates a kind of mental vertigo in your audience. They’re not sure exactly what you want to convey, and it’s difficult to gauge its seriousness.
It’s also important to extend your marketing efforts across as many channels as possible, leveraging multiple channels such as radio, TV, social media, print media, billboards, and more. Selecting the right marketing medium for each audience segment is crucial to maximise reach and engagement.
You must ensure that you coordinate the marketing communications plan across media. Coordinating multiple marketing teams is also essential for maintaining consistency across multiple channels.
4) Leverage data-driven insights
Without data, marketing campaigns are shooting in the dark. However, not all data is good data. In fact, most data is bad data, at least in terms of its usefulness for government marketing campaigns. Marketing automation can help streamline data collection and analysis, making it easier to gather actionable insights for your campaigns.
Audience segmentation and behavioural data are great starting points, which can be refined as your strategy develops. Demographics are also useful and can enhance audience segmentation.
Managing marketing campaign activities, such as segmentation and targeting, further improves the effectiveness of your campaigns. Gathering customer feedback is essential for refining and optimising your campaign strategies.
Notable UK Government Campaigns: Lessons for the B2G Market
Fit for the Future is just one of many notable public service advertising campaigns. We’re going to look at another three of the top marketing campaigns and see what lessons apply to B2G suppliers.
1) “Better Health” (NHS/Department of Health)
“Better Health” has a very simple CTA: Kickstart Your Health.
There’s no messing about there. It sets the stage for a comprehensive strategy to tackle weight loss, excessive drinking, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles (fitness).
It’s successful because:
- The tone is consistent across multiple channels, the message never varies, and it’s supported by creative assets to enhance campaign effectiveness.
- The message extends to a wide target audience spread across the country.
- The language encourages positive action.
Lessons for public sector suppliers:
Use positive language that inspires and empowers your target audience. Involve your marketing team in campaign planning and execution to ensure coordinated and impactful results.
2) “Cyber Aware” (National Cyber Security Centre)
This campaign from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre might not have a punchy tagline, but it states its marketing goal clearly:
Advice on how to stay secure online.
The campaign uses digital marketing and content marketing strategies to effectively reach and engage its diverse target audience.
There’s no doubt about its focus – cyber security for people, businesses, professionals, public sector organisations, those who are self-employed, and SMEs.
It’s successful because:
- It doesn’t beat about the bush; the aim is to improve security for your email account.
- It provides two simple solutions: Two-step verification and a strong password.
- It uses plain language.
Lessons for public sector suppliers:
Translate complex services into layman’s terms and chunk services into clear groups.
3) “Help for Households” (Cost of Living Campaign)
It’s simple: A list of support services (with links) for UK citizens who struggle with the rising cost of living, including assistance with bills and living costs, disability benefits, support for over 60s, and money management.
It’s successful because:
- It’s (always) highly relevant.
- Assistance is practical and easily doable.
- It’s aligned with GOV.UK advice.
Lessons for public sector suppliers:
Ensure your message addresses genuine public needs (you’ll need to do some research) and aligns with policy context.
Why B2G Suppliers Should Care About Government Campaigns
As we’ve seen, B2G suppliers and marketers can learn a lot from successful government campaigns, especially when it comes to the use of plain language and the clarity of marketing messages.
But there’s another reason suppliers should concern themselves with the government’s marketing communications. They clearly demonstrate the government’s priorities, like health and digital technology and equipment. B2G suppliers should create campaigns that align with these government priorities to maximise their impact.
With that information handy, it’s easier to create a marketing campaign by following key steps such as defining objectives, conducting research, developing a marketing strategy, and crafting targeted messages that address these pain points. Having a well-structured marketing plan and a clear marketing strategy are essential to guide your marketing efforts and ensure that each campaign is a direct hit with your target audience.
It’s even easier when you work with a marketing agency that specialises in the B2G sector. Cadence Marketing is that specialist. Contact us for a free consultation and see how we work with you to develop marketing campaigns that are bound for success.
