Success Stories
Plant Protection and Quarantine Program grows stakeholder registry by 78% in two months
Situation
To communicate and increase transparency with stakeholders, PPQ was using a desktop application for capturing stakeholder subscriptions. Unfortunately, the application was disorganized and not user friendly. It provided stakeholders with an overwhelming laundry list of topics that left them unsure of what they were signing up for. In addition, PPQ sought ways to improve employee participation in the content production and distribution process. The job of sending updates to its stakeholders was managed by only one individual. PPQ wanted to empower its program staff and field personnel to begin taking broader responsibility for communicating directly with their respective stakeholders.
Solutions
In June 2011, PPQ launched GovDelivery Digital Communication Management. PPQ joined seven other USDA agencies using GovDelivery to power its stakeholder communications and outreach. The solution allows the agency to reach people through different communication channels including email and text messages, which enable the flow of important information to those stakeholders without internet access. With GovDelivery, PPQ is able to customize subscriber questions to find the attributes that define its audience. With this information, PPQ is now able to segment its audience based on organizational affiliation, state, and country and deliver relevant communications to stakeholder groups with commonalities. Such targeted communications can increase stakeholders’ engagement with PPQ’s mission.
Results
These proactive steps helped to create awareness; PPQ reached 2800 subscribers within 2 months. As a point of comparison, it took the program 9 years to get 3600 subscribers with the previous system. PPQ has also benefited from the opportunity to engage stakeholders that are “finding” them through the interagency links provided by the unique GovDelivery Network. For example, website visitors to the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection (DHS-CBP) are able to subscribe to PPQ content through a cross-promotion feature enabled by GovDelivery. Communication between these two agencies is vital as PPQ is responsible for the rules and regulations while CBP is responsible for enforcement.
