Five valuable lessons from Queensland Health’s communications team on how to build and leverage trust.
Trust.
Does your team have it? Have you earned it?
Having recently interviewed Robert Hoge, former Head of Communications at the Queensland Government’s Department of Health, on the Your Digital Reputation podcast about his team’s experience during the COVID pandemic, this was the key concept he kept coming back to. If you haven’t heard his story, there’s plenty to learn from it.
It wasn’t “clever content” that meant people were exposed to critical health messages on Facebook – it was trust.
It wasn’t a risk-taking culture that led to a chat bot being developed in the early weeks of the pandemic – it was trust.
It wasn’t either pestering or lucky timing that meant Comms had a seat at the decision-making table – it was trust.
In Robert’s case, trust was earned through consistency, engagement, transparency, and showing his team cared for stakeholder needs and concerns – both those within and outside the department.
If you listen to Robert describing Queensland Health’s ability to communicate and manage the COVID-19 crisis on social media via the podcast, it was clear they had earned trust – with their social media communities, partners, executives and within the team itself. And that this trust was the foundation for providing regular information and updates, addressing misinformation, and guiding their community through uncertain times.
So, it’s well worth asking:
Is your social media operation trusted?
Is your team trusted to make decisions that will ultimately shape the reputation and credibility of your organisation online? Or are you simply seen as a mechanism to push out content others have already decided is important?
Read also: The future of internal comms in the Australian public sector: Measuring & maximising impact
Viewed another way, is your team’s role strategic or tactical?
In Robert’s case – and as his COVID-19 experience shows – the Queensland Health Communications teams’ job was to build and maintain trust with key audiences. Social media became the perfect mechanism by which to do that.
With that in mind, here are my five takeaways from that discussion with Robert to help you and your team get social media right in the moments that matter.
1. You must build trust and credibility with your audience before a crisis hits.
Never build your fort in a battle. Robert’s team had already grown their Facebook following to 250,000 before the pandemic by consistently sharing engaging, useful content and being responsive to their community. This trust and goodwill was crucial when the crisis struck (particularly when Facebook took their page down…!).
2. Earn a seat at the decision-making table.
Robert had the respect of senior leaders and a voice in key meetings, allowing him to influence decisions and communication strategies. This relationship is essential for effective crisis response on social media, but it is earned by showing the strategic role social media plays, and by sharing valuable audience insights internally – not vanity metrics.
3. Be transparent and timely with updates.
Robert’s team aimed to inform Queenslanders about what was happening as soon as possible, sharing case numbers, health alerts, and live broadcasts. The community came to expect and rely on these updates, which also helped manage misinformation.
4. Leverage partnerships and alternative channels.
When Facebook shut down Queensland Health’s page, Robert’s team quickly engaged other government partners and their pages – and Health’s other owned channels – to distribute critical information. Having a network of partners and “back up” channels to amplify messages is invaluable – a network that, again, was built on trust.
5. Empower your team to innovate.
Without their chat bot innovation, Robert’s team risked drowning in 60,000-70,000 private inbound queries each month (let alone the thousands of public comments on top). Because his team felt trusted and supported to try new things, even younger team members were empowered to solve problems that ultimately saved lives.
You’ll see the common thread of “trust” throughout all these examples, and how vital it is to build strong, effective relationships with every stakeholder group.
Take a moment to assess your own social media direction and efforts today before a crisis hits. And ask yourself: are your efforts skewed towards building followers and content calendars? Or are you listening, learning, engaging and building trust online?
I know which approach will generate the strongest returns in the moments that matter.
Roger Christie
Roger Christie is the Managing Director of Propel – a multi-award-winning advisory firm that helps organisations get social media right in the moments that matter.
For more than 15 years, Roger has provided strategic social media advice to large enterprises to help them solve complex business challenges linked to growth, productivity, talent, innovation and reputation. His clients include the ACCC, Australia Post, Coles, CommBank, IAG, Suncorp, Team Global Express, UniSuper, Westpac, and more than 50 federal, state and local government agencies.
Roger is a regular industry speaker, host of the Your Digital Reputation podcast, and author of the Digital Reputation Report – looking at how leaders across the public and private sector use LinkedIn.
