There are so many amazing ways in which technology has enabled stronger, digital connections between us in which communication is faster and cheaper. It has also been especially powerful in creating greater inclusion for the diverse communities that you’ll work with within the social housing sector. Are you making the most of the various digital communication channels in your work? Here’s a handful of ideas to get you started.

Video calls – FaceTime, Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, Google (and so on!)

There is a near-limitless choice of options for video chatting, so you’ll be able to find an affordable one (many are free) and secure enough for your IT people to be happy (most of them). If the COVID lockdowns taught us anything, it’s that you can replace face-to-face communication with a remote conversation that’s good enough for most conversations. Not every one, though. Some conversations or meetings will be more appropriate held face-to-face. But, for those that can be done over Zoom, you’ll be able to widen your reach on who you can communicate with. In doing so, you’ll also be able to reduce your environmental impact: fewer miles = fewer carbon emissions.

Multi-language and translation tools

When using digital communication methods – emails, websites, social media – to speak with your tenants, you have a huge advantage over using traditional hard-copy letters. This is because there are a whole host of free tools that can make your life easier, and quicker, and cut costs. It also offers your tenants more control over how they receive your messages, which helps build better relationships with them. Some examples of these tools include:

• screen readers for people with visual impairments – something that letters can’t ever offer so it increases the tenants’ independence as they won’t need someone to read the letter for them. You need to follow accessibility guidelines to make the most of this – alt text on images is often overlooked and a great place to start.
• browser and phone settings to vary the font size so people can read comfortably – one size (quite literally) doesn’t fit all.
• Google translate so people can read in the language of their choice – we’re a diverse, multicultural society and not everyone has English as their first language.

These tools offer a positive combination of faster, cheaper to produce communications with tenants gaining greater freedom and control to better engage with the messages you create.

Targeted advertising

While targeted ads sometimes get a bad reputation, they’re also extremely useful if you need to get a specific message to a specific group of people. This is more true as the data gathered by Facebook, Google etc. becomes more detailed and precise. For example, you can use targeted adverts to encourage customers to engage with your website or new campaign.

Archiving previous communications

Here’s something that can be useful for tenants as well as any field-based staff: replacing printed magazines/newsletters with online page flip magazines. After you’ve created and distributed them, the older versions can remain available online as archives. This is great because it’s one less thing going to the landfill (and becoming forgotten when it’s there). Also, if tenants or field staff need to check back on something, it’s easily available to find the information or resources online.

All-in-all, there’s so much great potential in building digital into your communications plan.

Need help in making the most of it? Book a free call!

In my previous article ‘Branding and the social housing sector’ I discussed the need, as part of the branding process, to understand your organisation’s core purpose.

From our work in the social housing sector over the years and having seen the recent challenges faced by social housing organisations, we observe that the core purpose of some housing organisations are mere statements and not many are really emotive, the core tenet of branding itself.

Core purpose has been identified by Built to Last authors Jim Collins and Jerry Poras as one of the key ingredients for a high performing organisation. Collins and Poras conducted a 6 year study of exceptional and long lasting companies like Hewlett Packard, 3M, Procter & Gamble, Disney and Marriott, who have an average of over 100 years of sustained business performance.

They uncovered some key components that ensured these high-flying businesses endured and thrived over time. One of these key components is their core purpose that creates a strong sense of identity and continuity throughout a business.

What’s your housing association’s core purpose?

Your core purpose is your reason for being and engages and motivates employees. It’s who you are and why you exist and should be idealistic in nature. It’s not about what you do but what you believe. Unfortunately we have seen housing associations fail to define their core purpose and end up with uninspiring mission statements that motivate no one.

The point of your core purpose is to motivate and lead your people and employees at every level so they know that everything they do has a line of sight to the organisation’s core purpose and is therefore meaningful to them.

Defining your true purpose is all about clarity, genuineness and alignment. It doenst have to be overcomplicated or even unique, but it has to be meaningful to your organisation.

Why do you exist?

We’d like to see more on the rich earthy stories about why housing associations exist that really connect with their many and varied audiences. There seems to be a lot of statements of core purpose but not many that are really emotive. How did you come about? Where are you going? Who do you help and what difference do you make to customers’ lives? In the hierarchy of messaging this needs to be right up there, not buried deep within your site. Your core purpose matters more than anything – give us emotion not just facts; good branding is all about you communicating how you do it not just what you do.

Core purpose means engaged employees

Your team knows that what their daily responsibilities are and when they know their daily work is part of the bigger mission, they are more driven to show up every day on time and do their job well.

A well-communicated core purpose results in a workforce that is more engaged. Engaged employees work with passion and they feel a deep connection to their company. They co-operate to build a company and they create new customers because they have become brand advocates.

A clear understanding and line of sight of how a person’s job contributes to their company’s reason for being is a powerful form of emotional compensation. It, quite simply, is more thrilling to share a common purpose than complete a job.

How do you identify your core purpose?

Jim Collins identifies five important characteristics of a company’s core purpose:

• It’s inspiring to those inside the company.

• It’s something that’s as valid 100 years from now as it is today.

• It should help you think widely about what you could do but aren’t doing.

• It should help you decide what not to do.

• It’s truly authentic to your organisation.

But, your core purpose is not your unique proposition. In fact, you can have the same or a similar core purpose as another company, even one that is in an entirely different industry.

So having defined the importance of your core purpose, here’s some questions that can help you determine it.

1. Why does your organisation’s existence matter?

2. What is your most important reason for being here and why?

3. What would be lost if your organisation ceased to exist?

4. Why are you important to the people you serve?

5. Why would anyone dedicate their oh-so precious time, energy and passion to your company? (And it’s not just about money).

If you’d like help defining your core purpose in the branding process, please give Philippa Smart a call on 01902 797970 or email her.

We’ve worked in the social housing sector for 18 years and in that time we’ve got to know the sector pretty well, having worked with quite a few housing associations; Bromford, Orbit Group, Halton Housing, Stafford and Rural Homes, Trent and Dove, The Wrekin Housing Trust and Pierhead.

It goes without saying that we pick up on both the social housing big picture and their branding and how they communicate with their audiences.

Housing associations are always conscious of their need to deliver large on social purpose, but these are the organisations that have the greatest need to develop strong communications.

The social housing sector has changed, and this was impacted even more with the introduction of George Osborne’s rent reforms in 2015. There are challenges all ways round for social housing organisations;

Their audience has changed

Social housing organisations now need to be more refined in the way they communicate with a wider-than-ever-before range of audiences. Customers, local and central Government, the financial sector, other housing associations, home buyers and developers are all audiences that now need to be considered. But not only that, shared ownership and market rent has joined the mix and the demographic of their customers has changed because of the need of younger people, including professionals, to get their foot on the first rung of the property ladder.

Needing new and varied services

Funding the original social purpose of the social housing sector has meant that market rent, shared ownership and homes for sale have entered the mix. Some housing associations are utilising their maintenance division by offering their service to other associations. Some associations are moving into the homes for sale sector which means they have a totally different audience and therefore need to communicate very differently. This can be challenging for them.

The rent reforms in 2015 have created an impact. It started a wave of mergers and acquisitions which still continue and this means that those organisations are looking for new and more effective ways of being able to stick to their core principle of social purpose.

So what do we advise?

We see that the social housing sector acknowledges the need to consider brand and communications from the flurry of mergers and acquisitions and the subsequent brand evolution. But in some cases, strategic consideration is not given to the brand and of those who do look at it strategically, money is not spent as wisely as it could be.

If you look at other sectors as a comparison, the quality of communications could be higher. Where money is spent it is not always spent well with some poor quality design, writing and production.

One of the challenges for housing associations is to produce professional and good quality brand communications at a reasonable price, since the core purpose of housing associations is to help those in need. It is almost as important to not give the impression that things have cost money but the cost of poor quality design or failing to invest at all, may be greater than investing carefully in quality.

Housing associations like Bromford demonstrate it is possible to look professional without seeming like they’ve spent too much money on the communications piece.

As a Communications Manager ask yourself these questions:

Can you afford not to invest in your brand and communications?

Remember the cost of poor quality design or failing to invest at all, may be greater than investing carefully in quality.

Why do you exist?

We’d like to see more on the rich earthy stories about why housing associations exist that really connect with their many and varied audiences. There seems to be a lot of statements of core purpose but not many that are really emotive. How did you come about? Where are you going? Who do you help and what difference do you make to customers’ lives? In the hierarchy of messaging this needs to be right up there, not buried deep within your site. Your core purpose matters more than anything – give us emotion not just facts; good branding is all about you communicating how you do it not just what you do.

How do you differentiate yourself?

Many in the social housing sector are swimming in the same direction in the same river; using happy people images, bright colours and iconography, so achieving no differentiation from each other. This is a real opportunity to achieve stand out. How could you differentiate yourself?

Break out of the housing association design ‘straight jacket’ – now more than ever you need to stand out, so swim against the tide and create something more sophisticated away from the bright colours and iconography.

Does your brand identity have visual flexibility?

With the additional new audiences and services, the ‘straight jacket’ visual language doesn’t extend well across other applications so there is a fall-back default position to create sub brands which end up being managed awkwardly and lead to confusion for the user on their websites.

Build more flexibility into your visual language and messaging – don’t default to automatically creating new sub brands. Flexibility in your visual language and messaging may be all you need to create.

If you do develop sub brands, create a ‘family’ – ensure the relationship between your various brands is clear and that your master brand benefits from the shine of everything you are doing.

If you’re interested in finding out how Be Smart can help with your brand give Philippa Smart a call on 01902 797970 or email us.