Charlie Martin, Communications Consultant
The life advice ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’ still holds as much weight today as ever. It’s also a message that PRs should heed too. The ability to think like a journalist and sniff out a story has never been more important but there are still some things us 'flacks’ can learn from our fellow ‘hacks’.
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are used frequently by journalists who are investigating or reporting on the actions and activities of government departments, local authorities, the NHS, state schools and police forces. For PRs they can also be great tools to create newsworthy campaigns with genuine national and regional media interest. However they are still relatively under used by the industry.
Managing a campaign based on FOI request data is not easy and far from a ‘quick and dirty consumer survey’. However when done right they can create newsworthy stories and campaigns that other traditional routes would not be able to. At Hard Numbers we always strive for our campaigns to deliver demonstrable results alongside top tier creative and FOI campaigns are another valuable string to our bow in achieving this.
What is an FOI?
An FOI Request or Freedom of Information Request falls under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which provides public access to information held by public authorities. This means anyone can request information covering finances, expenditure and emails from Government or other public bodies such as universities, schools, the NHS and local councils.
If your client has something to say about topics such as HS2, Project Gigabit, The Pensions Dashboard or the Levelling Up Agenda, these types of requests can give golden nuggets of data for campaign activity.
Top tips for FOI requests:
FOIs can often be tricky to manage and navigate so here are some top tips and tricks to follow when conducting an FOI campaign.
1. Do your research - The topics covered by FOIs are often complex and unlike consumer or B2B surveys there’s no research partner to lean on. Having a solid foundation of understanding of the topic will ensure you ask the right questions to the right public body to get the results you need for the campaign.
2. Clear and concise questions - Ambiguous or unclear questions can set your campaign back weeks, so making sure all requests and questions are easy to understand for the recipient is vital. As with survey questions keep your desired headline front of mind and always ask yourself ‘so what?’.
3. Get organised - There’s a lot of different moving parts with an FOI campaign and managing and tracking responses is an area where you can easily fall down. At an absolute minimum you need to be tracking sent requests and responses from relevant authorities. At Hard Numbers we use a CRM system for all email to clients, journalists, influencers and other stakeholders, so we can track open rates, response rates and get quick reporting on progress for each individual Government department, local authority or other bodies.
4. Be ready to roll up your sleeves - The responses to your FOI requests and subsequent data you receive won’t come in a neatly packaged excel sheet with a summary of the findings. You may receive it directly via email, pdf or word doc and it may come from multiple sources. To get data collated and analysed requires a real data-deep dive so be prepared to invest time and patience into the analysis stage.
Are FOIs right for your client?
FOIs don’t suit all clients but for those that are willing to take a strong position on topics in the public sphere, it’s definitely something to consider. FOIs will provide clients with the ability to really cut through the noise and insert themselves into the conversation and wider news agenda.
FOIs can often work well due to the value they hold within the media. Journalists are often submitting their own FOI requests and the data associated with FOI requests is considered to play a part in ‘real journalism’. As journalist inboxes are getting more congested, FOIs can give your campaign almost immediate credibility and provide unique data points. Ultimately they can provide the opportunity for a client to talk authoritatively on issues that are already relevant to the news agenda.
If your campaigns aren’t quite moving the needle as desired, or you're looking for ways to insert your business into the conversation and build credibility,get in contact with Hard Numbers today.
