Conner Hoyt:
Constituent communications is always the top priority for our customers. Crafting the ever-elusive perfect communication strategy in the middle of a pandemic is – understandably – even more difficult than before. The heart of any successful strategy is reaching your constituents wherever they are, removing as much clutter and as many barriers to access as possible. There have always been plenty of ways for officials to get their message out – the challenge lay in listening to what constituents were saying in a meaningful way.
Since March 2020, our customers have tapped into their creativity to do just that. Leveraging the virtual town hall is a proven engagement strategy for any office, but this moment has called for adaptability on that front. To the delight of their constituents, elected officials doubled down on these town halls, relying heavily on Leidos’ Access Live Digital Town Halls to broaden their communication capabilities.
“We’ve had a lot of success working with Leidos,” said one Connecticut Representative’s Communications Director. “They make it easy, and we can see the value each event brings back to us in engagement and retention.”
“Telephone Town Halls have been a valuable resource for us to reach audiences during the pandemic, and Leidos gave us a powerful, easy-to-use platform to get it done,” the Representative’s Chief of Staff echoed.
Meet Them Where They Are
Constituents can join a virtual town hall by RSVPing ahead of time to be on the Event Organizer’s VIP call list, or by dialing in via landline or mobile number at the time of the event. They can also simply livestream the event on the Member’s website, or through a Facebook live event – allowing many options to experience the town hall as they like.
When constituents join by phone, they’ll receive a call and hear an audio file from the elected official letting them know to stay on the line to automatically be joined to the event, with a customized Caller ID identifying the elected official and using a local area code to help increase answer connection rates.
In an ever-changing political landscape, our Congressional clients cherish the ability to share information and engage in meaningful Q&A with their constituents in real time. Dashboard analytics allow our customers to address constituent questions immediately as they happen so constituents are responded to in real-time. This really creates a dynamic and interactive experience, rather than one in which your constituents are talked at.
A Texas Representative’s Chief of Staff, for example, said: “Hosting Telephone Town Halls is a key strategy we use for engaging our constituents. By partnering with the Leidos team they help deliver superior service from consulting on the audience to event set-up and after event actions and analytics”
If you’d like to experience a virtual town hall with your constituents, we are ready to help. Contact your account manager for more details.
