PR Notes- Making Regulatory Content Compelling to Target Audience/Internal Employees

I recently met with a potential client with a familiar challenge; make regulatory content compelling to her clients and the employees who service the accounts.  Let’s face it, not all content is compelling on its own merits.  However, there are ways to help target audiences absorb content vital to their positions.  What can make it even more difficult is the fact that in this particular case, email is the primary mode of distribution.  The current content is delivered in the form of monthly important alerts and a quarterly newsletter with more general administrative-related information.

Here are some tips to help create content to capture attention and ideally create engagement:

1) Use the 3 Key Message Rule- Regardless of the amount of information, do your best to provide the important highlights within 3 key data points.  This will enable your audience to at the very least skim for vital updates and store the details for later use.  Try to condense each message to a maximum of 2-3 sentences.

2) Integrate Multi-Media- Certain content, such as regulatory information, is dry enough as text only.  Based on budget and resources, the use of user-friendly graphics, including pie charts, bar graphs, Top 5 Lists, video, etc will help to make the information easier to ingest.

3) Stroke Egos/Provide Incentives- Everyone, even your regulatory clients/internal employees in charge of the accounts, like to share best practices, trends and pain points.  Provide opportunities for clients and internal employees to share content and earn “props” from their colleagues and bosses.  Successful tactics include spotlight stories, authored columns, support teams, free promotions, etc.

Don’t get trapped in the same old method to disseminate lawyer-generated content as a means to create target audience engagement.  If you have the chance, make an effort to “jazz” up and condense important information to compel participation and information sharing.