Oracle Marketing Cloud and The Public Sector

A couple of weeks ago, I was catching up with an old friend who works in a completely different field than I do, so I was trying to explain what it is that I actually “do” for my job.

After several minutes of me trying to explain some of the complexities of working with a robust software platform like Oracle Eloqua, I could tell he wasn’t totally getting it. I finally said, “We help companies get the most out of the software marketers use to create business opportunities.” Even though he still has no clue about the nuances of using all the functionality of what’s available with a platform like the Oracle Marketing Cloud, I think that explanation made sense to him. One of our consultants does a good job explaining it here.

He let my description set in for a second and asked, “How do you go from working for the government to consulting with businesses on marketing software?” I went on to explain my meandering career path of working in the government, to the non-profit world, and finally on to marketing for tech companies. My story made sense to him, and we moved on. But, as I sit back and think about it, the root of his question is not the technicality of taking jobs in different industries, but rather, “What does doing property tax research, legislative affairs, and affordable housing work have to do with big businesses selling stuff to other businesses?”

I understand the confusion. A lot of people think government and business have nothing in common. After all, the government doesn’t have to worry about things like ROI, sales projections, P&L sheets, funnel stages, and the like. Well, not quite. I would argue that the government and businesses have similar objectives; they’re just measured differently.

Take ROI for example. In the corporate world, you figure out how long it will take to recoup the financial cost of investing in equipment, software, or staff. If spending the money now makes you a lot more money down the road, you go for it.

The majority of the government doesn’t have to worry about “making money.” They provide services for the public. But if a city, county, agency or department doesn’t have to generate revenue, does it mean they don’t have to demonstrate ROI? I think they do. The ROI just comes in the form of visitors to a park, number of people who get flu shots, crime reduction, cars being registered, people getting to work on time, new business loans being generated and lives saved.

Here’s an example: I live in St. Paul, MN. As a resident, I pay taxes that pay for amenities that effect my satisfaction with how well the city is doing. If crime rates are falling, the streets are plowed in the winter, potholes are fixed in the summer, parks are kept up, businesses are expanding within the city, and there’s enough parking downtown, I’m a happy camper. If these things change, I start to feel like my investment (tax dollars) are not worth what I’m getting and I might contemplate moving to Minneapolis where I could get a better return for my money. It’s really very similar to a business evaluating ROI. Governments just measure it differently.

You might be wondering why I’m telling you all this.

Fundamental to public sector organizations being able to meet their ROI goals is the ability to provide timely information and receive feedback from the public. Sadly, many government organizations haven’t embraced powerful technology that allows for this type of information sharing. Many public sector organizations are still using Listservs and websites that haven’t been refreshed in years. This is where I think the Oracle Marketing Cloud (OMC) can help.

Sure, the OMC was originally built for businesses to do marketing, but much of the functionality would greatly benefit a public sector organization.

Let me explain how I think public sector organizations could benefit from using different aspects of the OMC:

Oracle Eloqua
Government entities could use the list segmentation, email, landing page and forms functionality to better serve the public.

Example 1:
You work at the state DNR. You could pull together a segment of all the people who have indicated they’re interested in natural resources, state parks, or fishing and who have also registered for a boating license in the past but haven’t renewed for the current year. You then build out a form allowing a person to renew their boat license. You put that form on a landing page with more information about outdoor activities in the state and link to it from a three-touch email campaign. After each email, you create a decision rule to only send subsequent emails to those who have not re-registered their boats. 



Example 2:
You work for the FDA and are in charge of a smoking cessation program. You could pull together a segment of all the people who have requested information on programs to help quit smoking. You set up a 3-month drip campaign that sends out emails with information about the benefits of quitting. In each email, you have a button that allows people to click it if they want to be connected to a local program they can join. Once clicked, Oracle Eloqua serves up a landing page with content that dynamically displays programs in their area and sends the person’s contact information off to the local organization to follow up.

Oracle SRM
Public sector organizations could use the social listening and posting to address real time situations in order to communicate with people when response time is critical.

Example 1:
You work for FEMA or the US Forest Service, and there are large wildfires raging on the west coast. Using Oracle SRM, you create social listening topics around fire updates, weather changes, cities near the fire’s path, news organizations covering the story, and local emergency responders. By grabbing all the social traffic into one centralized hub, you can quickly get information out to the public to keep them safe, direct them to where they can go to get help if they lose their home, give updates on weather changes, or quickly dispel inaccurate media reports. The ability to listen and respond in real time can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Example 2:
You work for the Regional Transit Authority. Bus and train routes are always changing. Road construction necessitates changing routes, and maintenance on tracks can cause delays. Using Oracle SRM to stay on top of rider questions can mean the difference between someone getting to work on time and someone missing important meetings.

Oracle Content Marketing
Large cities, counties, state agencies and the Federal government produce a lot of content. Lots of subject matter experts are involved, and there are layers of approvals needed before a piece of content is made available to the public. This could include official policy-driven content or just general information such as newsletters. Additionally, some of the content is statutorily required to be posted on or before certain dates. Creating an editorial calendar that allows for multiple contributors and editorial review is extremely useful. 



Example 1:
You work in the communications department of the US Small Business Administration. You need to gather all the content for your monthly newsletter. You want to include six stories, all of them written by different people. Each of the stories needs to be proofread and approved by the Director of Communications before you can send it out. Using Oracle Content Marketing allows all of these activities to be managed in one central hub.

Example 2:
You work in the mayor’s policy department and you need to put out information on upcoming changes to on-street parking in the business district. You need to get information from Parking Enforcement, the city council and the mayor, and you want to solicit input from the business community. Additionally, how you position the policy changes will vary depending on your audience. Within city hall, there are several people who will need to contribute to the upcoming policy change. By using Oracle Content Marketing, you’re able to solicit all the feedback you need, provide editorial review and shape the message of your announcement within one application.

If you’re in the public sector, think about your key objectives. (If you’re unsure, answer this: “If we accomplished ________ this year, that would be a huge win for the city/mayor/county/representative/agency/state/etc.) Regardless of what you fill in that blank, I’m guessing that efficiently communicating with the public, seeking input for stakeholders, maximizing efficiency of your communications staff, and keeping the public informed are all things that would help you meet those objectives. This is what the Oracle Marketing Cloud was built for. There’s no other tool in the world that can provide the perfect combination of flexibility, ease of use, robust functionality, enterprise readiness, and immediate scalability. That’s the sort of tool public sector organizations should be looking for to help drive and support their missions.