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Is Summer Recess Really Almost Over?

August 4, 2014

Yes, it’s true.  Summer Recess is nearly over and before long, you’ll be back in the midst of the fast-paced, high-stress environment that is a Congressional office in full swing.  Whether you’ve spent this August catching up on work in the DC office, working with constituents in the district or if you packed your bags and headed to the beach at 5pm sharp on August 1st, there’s still time to take some proactive steps that will really impress your boss once Congress reconvenes. 

Clean Up Your Data.
Maintaining clean and accurate contact data for your constituents is vitally important to successful communications in Congress.  It’s also one of the most difficult challenges in managing large databases.  Constituents move, change email addresses, get new phone numbers, etc. and it’s a tall task to keep this data clean and up to date.  When your Member gets back to DC, we promise they’ll be impressed to see that you’ve been hard at work scrubbing up your data.  We can help by offering you scrubbed voter files for your district or state.  Here’s some quick math to illustrate our point:

Clean Contact Lists = Better Open Rates
Better Open Rates = Happy Boss
Happy Boss = Happy You!
 

Explore New Web Design Concepts.
A Member’s website is sometimes both the first and only point of contact between the Member and constituents.  With no strings attached, our team of web experts will happily drop by your office anytime to talk about ideas that they have for improving the design of your site. We’ve created custom, award winning websites for Members from both sides of the aisle and we’d love to work with you too.   Show your boss that you’ve been hard at work this recess by presenting some creative new ideas for their home page.

Improve Event Management.
Whether it’s an email, a Tweet, a phone call or a letter, it’s important to capture all constituent correspondence.  But in-person events and tele-Town Halls are also crucial opportunities to gauge constituent opinions and capture contact data for future outreach.  With our new integration with Eventbrite, IQ offices will be able to easily schedule and plan events, allowing users to easily register with automated reminders.  But wait, there’s more!  Your office can import this constituent-supplied contact data directly into IQ with only one click.  

 

Contact us today to learn more about how the IQ team can help your office as we head into the Fall.

Sharing Your Unique Perspective

June 26, 2014

Across all major social media platforms, analytics show that posts with images attached are 93% more likely to generate engagement than text-only posts.  As a Congressional Staff Member, you’re in a unique position to observe and share a truly special perspective of the legislative process at work.  Most of your constituents will never have the chance to experience some of the things you see on a daily basis in your position.  We believe sharing these unique experiences through images on your office’s social media channels is one of the best ways to generate engagement and help your Member connect with the people you serve. 

Social media represents a great way to showcase a Member’s personality and demonstrate how they relate to their constituents on multiple levels. Instead of a photo of the Member speaking in front of a podium, why not post a pic of her playing with her dog?  Rather than posting an image of the Member shaking hands in a rope line, what about posting a pic of him walking into his favorite pizza place on Capitol Hill?  Small differences like these can be the difference in converting a constituent from a passive observer to a passionate supporter. 

The IQ team understands the value of a creative, organized and consistent approach to your office’s social media efforts and that’s why we’re proud to offer total social media integration into IQ.  Contact us today to learn more about how IQ can help optimize your social efforts.

eNewsletter Best Practices

June 17, 2014

While the growth rate for email traffic in the U.S. is expected to flatten in the coming years in favor of social communications and instant messaging, email is still king of the hill.  In fact, the average American receives about 100 emails a day and sends out another 20-30 of their own!  That’s almost one email every four minutes during the course of an 8-hour work day.  A huge number of these incoming emails are deleted immediately and never see the light of day.  What’s your plan to make sure your office’s outreach gets the attention it deserves? 

A recent poll showed that 21% of email recipients will report email as spam, even if they know it isn’t.  69% of recipients report as spam based on the subject line alone.  Statistics like these might be a bit nerve-wracking to communications staff, but we’ve identified some best practices that can help your next message hit its mark.

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