How councils can drive stronger resident engagement: lessons from our comms workshop

Kate Hatten, Senior Customer Success Manager, Lightning Reach

Local councils are facing growing pressure to reach residents effectively with crucial cost of living resources and direct them to financial support. I recently ran a communications workshop with the councils that we work with at Lightning Reach, where the community shared practical tactics that have boosted resident engagement across different regions and communities.

Despite differences in organisational size or structure, the challenges were strikingly similar. Councils want to connect residents to support, but messages often get lost, ignored or mistrusted. Across our discussions, clear themes emerged about what truly works.

Below are the key lessons councils can apply to strengthen engagement and ensure more residents access the help they need.

1. Build trust through familiar, repeated channels

One of the strongest themes was the importance of trust. Many residents hesitate when they receive messages about money (especially directly from councils) because they worry the communication may be linked to debts or formal processes. This can reduce engagement even with well-designed campaigns.To overcome this, councils found success by sharing messages through trusted, familiar channels that residents already use.

Consistent messaging across multiple channels helps build resident trust

This included:

School newsletters and parent apps
Advice partners and community groups
Council WhatsApp broadcasts
Existing digital newsletters

Social media channels residents recogniseInstead of relying on a single route, partners saw the biggest lift in engagement when the same message appeared across multiple trusted touchpoints. That repetition helps normalise the call-to-action and makes it feel safe, official and worth clicking.

Embedding direct referral links into these channels made it easier for residents to engage immediately.

2. Use relatable messaging - not “crisis” wording

Something I hear frequently from partners that was strongly reinforced during this workshop is that how a message is framed has a major impact on whether residents engage. Leading with terms like “financial hardship” or “poverty” often holds people back due to stigma.

Instead, campaigns performed better when they focused on practical, relatable moments such as:

Support with winter energy costs

Help during school holidays

Back-to-school pressures

Cost-of-living changes affecting everyday bills

By positioning the message around a real situation residents recognise, councils found people were more willing to explore what support was available, without feeling judged or labelled.

This approach is especially effective for residents who wouldn’t normally describe themselves as “in hardship” but still face real financial pressure.

3. Time campaigns around natural points of need

Timing mattered as much as the message itself. Several councils shared how strong campaigns underperformed simply because they went out at the wrong moment, such as early December when residents were too busy to engage.Partners saw higher resident engagement when they aligned outreach with predictable pressure points, including:

School holidays (when costs increase)
Colder months (energy support feels more relevant)
January and February (when post-Christmas bills hit)
Periods of national attention, such as Pension Credit campaigns

Targeting comms around key moments in the year can boost engagement with residents

Piggybacking on existing public awareness proved particularly effective. One council saw a significant increase in older residents engaging with Lightning Reach simply because the messaging aligned with a national push.

The takeaway: timing is strategic. Councils should plan campaigns around when residents are most likely to be receptive.

4. Keep testing, learning and adapting

Our council partners emphasised that successful engagement is a continuous process, not a one-off campaign. Small adjustments (e.g. different subject lines, varied imagery, alternative send times, new community partners) often led to significant jumps in resident response.

Councils used a mix of analytics and referral tracking to understand what worked and what didn’t. Even campaigns that received low engagement offered valuable insight for future planning.

Collectively, our partners agreed that sharing approaches, data and outcomes across the network helped everyone learn faster and improve their resident engagement strategies.

Conclusion: Supporting councils to connect more residents with support

The workshop demonstrated the quick pivots that council teams can make to significantly improve resident engagement. By focusing on trust, timing, relatable messaging and continuous learning, teams can ensure that more residents understand, trust and act on the support available to them.

If you’d like to join our community to access future workshops or our ready-to-go comms resources, we’d love to hear from you. Together, we can help more residents get the support they need - with the right message, at the right time.

Get in touch at partnerships@lightningreach.org