Engaging your community online requires disciplined and thoughtful planning. The more time and consideration you give your consultation, the more likely you are to run a meaningful engagement and the greater the chance is of a higher engagement rate.
When planning your engagement, there are several concrete steps you must take:
Understanding the background and context behind your engagement. This includes knowing the legal, historical, societal, cultural, and administrative implications beforehand.
Setting the purpose of your engagement. You need to understand what you are asking from your community. Are you looking for input on a decision that’s already been made, looking for ideas, or asking them to contribute to the decision-making process?
Defining the scope of the project. What data do you need from participants? What influence do they have on this engagement, and what can they actually change?
The method of engagement. What tools will you use? Will you take offline and online contributions? What information does your community need to participate effectively?
This is not an exhaustive list of steps to plan your consultations. There may be other considerations and actions you must take before engaging. However, to get you thinking, here are some key aspects of project planning to consider:
The intentions of your project, the impacts, and the desired outcomes
Who will be affected, and who will be interested
The objectives of stakeholder groups through the inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower stages
What metrics you need to measure success. Do you need qualitative or quantitative data? What about contribution numbers, visitors, and engagement rates?
Detailed goals for each metric you decide on
What kind of budget do you have? Your resourcing can affect how you campaign, communicate, and create content.
How will you market and promote your consultation – socials, website, newsletters, in-person, print?
Rich content such as videos, images, infographics, interactive documents, etc.
Make questions concrete and specific to get relevant answers
How you will interact through online engagement and what resources you will need – forum facilitation, commenting on ideas, direct contact, newsletter updates, etc.
How you will provide updates and outcomes and how community feedback will be used