Engaging Digital Comms: How charities, higher education and local government are creating connection

The new reality: stretched resources lead to creative solutions

A theme that resonated throughout the conference was the stark reality most UK organisations are facing: achieving more with diminished resources. 

Team sizes are shrinking, budgets are tighter, yet the demand for impactful digital communications continues to grow.

Creating a safe space for these discussions proved invaluable, as attendees (myself included!) realised they weren’t alone in their struggles and could learn from each other’s approaches.

The value of in-person events like this became immediately apparent and there was refreshing honesty about the challenges people are facing and the solutions they’re trialling. 

AI: From “Should we?” to “How do we?”

Perhaps the most significant shift I observed was in attitudes toward AI. The conversation has definitively moved beyond “should we use AI?” to “how can we best use AI?” 

Don’t expect charities to lag behind the private sector for much longer – they’re using AI strategically to accelerate their capabilities.

The discussion emphasised some common considerations for AI implementation:

Understanding AI’s limitations

• AI isn’t truly “intelligent”: it’s sophisticated pattern matching using existing internet content
• It’s programmed to please rather than prioritise truth
• Testing AI responses in your area of expertise quickly reveals its limitations

Strategic AI implementation

• Don’t use AI tools “out of the box”, customise them for your specific needs
• Build your own instances with relevant training materials
• Start with low-risk areas before implementing in critical work
• Use AI for initial drafts and research, but always verify with expert colleagues

AI excels at finding alternative word choices, providing initial research in unfamiliar topics, and creating interactive examples. However, most speakers recommended avoiding publishing AI-generated content without human review or sharing sensitive information through AI tools.

As Reason Digital’s Matt Haworth aptly summarised: “Whether you embrace AI or not, it’s coming, and it’ll be used by the most vulnerable in society, including your service users.”

The shifting advertising landscape

Another significant trend is the reduced reliance on Meta for paid advertising results. As targeting becomes more complex and attribution more difficult, organisations are diversifying their spend. 

Google Ads remains the primary alternative, but we’re seeing increased experimentation with alternatives like Microsoft Ads, TikTok, Spotify, and Reddit.

The challenge? Driving meaningful volume from these alternative platforms requires different strategies and expertise that many teams are still developing.

That’s why we’ve developed a team of paid media strategists at Empower, who are experienced enough of the different platforms to help each of our clients navigate through the shifting advertising landscape.

Social listening in a locked-down world

Social listening remains valuable for understanding audience sentiment, but platforms increasingly restricting access makes this more challenging. 

However, Facebook Groups and Reddit continue to be goldmines of information, if you can identify relevant subreddits or groups within your charity’s niche.

I’ll be updating our article on free social social media listening tools to help you keep up to date with what’s available.

Content emphasising authenticity over polish

The conference reinforced that video content consistently outperforms text across platforms, but the approach is evolving. 

Key insights for content creators:

• Shift from traditional presenters to content creators
• Implement episodic content structures
• Repurpose content into shorts format
• Place your target audience at the heart of your videos
• Encourage user-generated content to build community engagement

The focus should be on authenticity over polished content, and quick turnaround times are  essential. Mobile phone cameras can produce sufficient quality content, and there’s no need for expensive production companies, as shown by LSE’s AI series.

Measuring what matters

Rebecca Heaton from the National Deaf Children’s Society delivered a compelling talk on measuring and showcasing the direct impact of digital communications. 

Her REI Framework promises to be a valuable tool for the sector, hopefully one that gets shared more widely for long-term, data-driven success.

The emphasis should be on measuring impact rather than activity, focusing on meaningful metrics that demonstrate real value rather than vanity statistics.

Looking forward: Implementing an engaging digital comms strategy

For organisations ready to enhance their digital communication the following key themes emerged:

• Start simple: Implement basic AI features initially, testing functionality in controlled environments.

• Quality first: Establish quality benchmarks and monitoring for all digital outputs

• Policy development: Create and publish clear AI usage policies, maintaining transparency with stakeholders.

• Measured approach: Take incremental steps, building confidence before tackling higher-risk implementations.
• Continuous learning: Establish feedback loops and regular review processes.