Blog post graphic: Is social media a public record? FOIA compliance for US government agencies.

Blog post highlights: FOIA compliance, public records, social media risks, and social archiving. Includes Orlo logo.

Read the blog and become FOIA compliant

For US government agencies, social media is the new "townhall", so it's more important than ever to be asking yourselves "is my organisation truly FOIA-compliant?"

Our latest blog outlines why this is so important and what you can do about it: https://orlo.uk/BVV3Q

New Blog. How Northumbria Healthcare is turning patient voices into better services. Image of an NHS worker caring for a patient.

Recently we sat down with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to chat about how they turn patient voices into better services. We came away with 7 brilliant top tips on patient engagement and have put them all in one place for you to catch up on in your own time here: https://orlo.uk/ZSpF6

New blog. Why should public sector comms teams be listening on Nextdoor?

Why listen on Nextdoor? More than 10 million neighbours are on the platform in the UK. 1 in 4 households are on Nextdoor. 87% of Neighbours aren't on Snapchat, 75% aren't on Pinterest and 35% aren't on Instagram. Nextdoor is the place where important conversations happen, and you need to be able to hear them.

Nextdoor listening with Orlo. Pick a keyword - something that you want to listen to. Drop a pin - pick a point on a map where you want to hear from. Set your radius - choose how many kilometers you want to listen across.

Read the blog and book a chat about Nextdoor social listening today.

We're excited to be evolving our long-standing Nextdoor integration to bring you Social Listening for Nextdoor!

Read our latest blog for more information and get in touch to chat: https://orlo.uk/HGYiD

Great question - we've seen hyper local messaging work really well - if the audience knows you're speaking directly to them that always helps. We also see a 'you said, we did' structure work well - if they know what they say is acted on, they're more likely to speak up!

New Blog. Why co-creation is the new consultation for local government. Image of a man walking through a busy street wearing a backpack.

Is your social media strategy reaching the "silent majority," or just the same 10% of your followers? We spoke to Manchester City Council to discover how they go about dealing with this challenge: https://orlo.uk/EetYY

New Blog. Top social media tips for public sector engagement that actually work. Orlo logo.

Read the blog to discover: What the biggest shift in social media engagement has been over the past few years, how to share engaging content when dealing with guarded leadership, how to stay on top of trends, how to define success on social media.

Read the blog to strengthen your social media engagement

We sat down with social media experts Ariana Donley and Kristy Dalton to chat through your most asked questions around how public sector organisations can effectively engage with their audience. Read the full blog here: https://orlo.uk/0N4k9

Customer story. How South Wales Police used genuine storytelling to tackle coercive control. South Wales Police and Orlo logo.

Customer story. Objective: To educate their audience on the early warning signs of coercive control by using authentic storytelling that cuts through the noise. Themed around Valentines Day. Targeted towards women. Orlo logo.

Customer story. 3.4 million impressions. Image of Instagram story from the campaign with images of romantic flowers and gestures. The caption reads 'not all abuse is physical'.

Customer story. Read the full story by clicking the link. South Wales Police and Orlo logo.

Last month, South Wales Police produced an incredibly engaging campaign around the signs of coercive control by skipping 'slick' design tools and creating a realistic Instagram campaign that cut through the noise so much that it got 3.4 million impressions. Read it here: https://orlo.uk/JtVum

Guest Blog. How Waltham Forest use the power of storytelling to empower marginalised communities.

In our latest guest blog, Harshil Shah, Senior Communications and Campaigns Officer at the London Borough of Waltham Forest tells us how they used storytelling to give a voice to migrants, refugees, people seeking asylum, and the community that supports them: https://orlo.uk/lbzk3

"Your content is now your customer service". Our Chief Technology Officer, Hardeep has written a really insightful blog all around how all around how changing expectation have turned social media into the new 'front door' for the public sector: https://orlo.uk/N9917

New webinar. Is your patient engagement a 'must do' or just a 'tick box'? Orlo logo. NHS staff member caring for a patient in the background.

Calling NHS comms pros!

In our upcoming webinar, we'll be joined by Ross Wigham and Joanne Mackintosh from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundations Trust to discuss how they gather and use patient feedback to shape their communications strategies: it's free to sign up, here: https://orlo.uk/PnBQd

Calling all local government Comms, Insights, Strategy, Transformation and Data professionals!

Come along to our free webinar on 19 March at 12pm to hear all about how Manchester City Council are using co-creation to listen to the voice of their community. See you there: https://orlo.uk/IiiW6

New guide. How to manage mis/disinformation and manage your organisation's reputation. Orlo logol

How can public sector organisations manage their reputation in a world of mis and disinformation? Our latest guide is designed to help you do exactly that: https://orlo.uk/Y8p4f

New blog. Reputation management for public sector comms teams.

Reputation isn't all crisis comms. It's in the little day to day things that you and your team do. Here's why it matters more than you think...

Reputation = results. Compliance: people are more likely to follow advice if they believe and trust you. Cost: High trust leads to better use of digital tools, increasing self serve. Crisis buffer: A good reputation can give you a bit of wiggle room when things go wrong.

New blog. Read the full blog for more reputation top tips.

Reputation management is often in the small, every day things, rather than in the huge headline grabbing crisis.

Our latest blog outlines how to build a good reputation, and the impact this can have on how much your communities trust (and therefore listen to) you: https://orlo.uk/1URXD

Webinar. How can local government organisations use resident feedback to inform strategies, and help turn noise into intelligence? 19 March, 12pm

Join us for our latest webinar where we go behind the scenes with Manchester City Council to see how they built the Our Manchester Strategy 2025–2035 with their residents in mind.

Sign up: https://orlo.uk/eF0yH

New Guide. Public sector social media benchmarks. Compare your content to real stats from your sector. Orlo logo.

How does your social media content compare to the rest of your sector?

We've used real data from the Orlo platform to work out the average benchmarks for each part of the public sector.

Get started here: https://orlo.uk/9O2oh

New blog. Stop guessing, start benchmarking. Orlo logo.

500 impressions. Win or flog? Without context, numbers are just noise. For the public sector, knowing your impact isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. And, that's where benchmarking comes in. Orlo logo.

Why does it matter? Get instant context. Learn from organisations who are doing it well. Make evidence-based decisions. Prove in no uncertain terms that your social media is amazing to senior leaders! Orlo logo.

New blog. Ready to master your metrics? Read our blog. Orlo logo.

Is 500 impressions on social media actually good? If you aren't benchmarking your performance you're missing the full picture.

Our latest blog looks at the four levels of benchmarking and why context is key for public sector comms teams: https://orlo.uk/h4Hna

"Being an apprentice at Orlo has been a great experience so far, this position is allowing me to develop my passion for IT into a career which I could not be more thankful for. Over the past few months I have been supporting Orlo's IT operations while learning all the ins and outs that go into it, and while doing so I have gotten to meet all the great people at Orlo which has been the highlight of this apprenticeship so far. I am excited to continue working at Orlo and seeing what the future will bring!" Aman Bhadala, IT Apprentice. National Apprenticeship Week 2026

It’s National Apprenticeship Week, and we couldn’t let it pass without celebrating our fantastic IT Apprentice, Aman!

Aman has been such a fantastic addition to the Orlo team, supporting our IT operations, so here's what Aman has to say about his apprenticeship so far...

What makes a good story and how do you get people invested? As always, our brilliant storytelling expert, James Morton has the answers!

New blog. The under 16s social media debate. Orlo logo. Young girl on laptop looking at social media.

Possible social media ban? With Australia’s under 16 social ban now in place, The House of Lords have recently passed a vote in support of a ban in the UK as well. So, how can public sector comms and marketing teams start thinking about this?

Channels and reach What specific social media content was made for young people? How can you transfer this messaging to the places they actually are e.g. sports venues, shops, cinema etc?

New blog. Read the full blog for more information and top tips. Young girl on laptop looking at social media.

Do you think social media should be banned for under 16s?

Our latest blog, written by our brilliant community partner, Rebecca Roberts, isn’t about whether a ban should happen, but it is about what the debate means for public sector comms teams right now: https://orlo.uk/cWL4T

New guide. How to co-create in the public sector. Orlo logo. Alongside image of a team working together in a creative way.

Our top tips: Use small breakout groups - don't let the loudest voice take over. Try anonymous feedback for more honesty. Use facilitators to keep things fair. Orlo logo.

New guide. Download our guide for FREE. Orlo.

Have you ever launched a new service or campaign you’re proud of, only to find the people it was built for are struggling to use it? It's time to stop guessing and start co-creating. But how?

Click the link to download our FREE guide: https://orlo.uk/E2GyN

New blog. Co-creation. What is it and why is it so important?

Why it works: It saves you money. Nothing is more expensive than a service that nobody wants or uses. Get it right from day one.

Why it works: It builds trust. People support what they helped to create. Co-creation helps turn your community into actual partners.

New blog. Ready to co-create? Read our blog for more, and look out for our guide on how to co-create coming soon!

We’ve all been there: you launch a new service or campaign you're proud of, only to find the people it was built for are struggling to use it. It’s frustrating for them, and a waste of resources for you.

That’s where co-creation comes in. Read our blog here: https://orlo.uk/W7j4u

'The year of the Storyteller'. We're sure you've heard this phrase a fair amount over the last few weeks, but what does it mean for comms team? Our fab community partner, James Morton is here to explain in his latest episode of The Storyboard.

Guides. Crisis comms in 2026. Social strategy in light of scaremongering.

Global politics and tabloid headlines about "emergency prep," are unsettling. Whether it’s scaremongering or not, the impact on public sector comms is the same, and we know you'll be looking at your crisis comms plans.

Read our crisis comms guide here: https://orlo.uk/9V0Vg

Priority Access - From Feedback to Future-Proofing: How can housing associations leverage the voice of their communities to drive customer engagement in 2026? | Orlo Join us for a candid chat with representatives from Accent’s engagement team, as we strip away the corporate jargon to discuss the importance and real-world challenges of resident engagement in 2026, and beyond.

https://orlo.uk/582ta

Image of Orlo employees dressed in purple London Bridge Walk t-shirts and woolly hats.

Tomorrow is the big day!

Some of our brilliant team will be completing the 15km London Bridges Walk to raise money for two amazing charities - Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and British Heart Foundation. Good luck everyone, we can't wait to see how you get on 🙌

Donate here: https://orlo.uk/Lm0ZA

Carmen Proctor from Staffordshire County Council was the very deserving winner of the Unsung Hero Award at the #OrloSpotlightAwards last month.

Carmen's impact has been massive and we'd like to wish her a huge congratulations!

Read more here: https://orlo.uk/reLV7

New blog. 5 messy truths about campaign planning - and the tools to fix them. Orlo logo. All of this is in front of an image of smiling colleagues who are in the midst of planning. They are putting post-it notes on a board.

The brief. The truth: We all know a 'brief' can be anywhere between 200 pages and a 'vague feeling'. The solution: Cut the waffle and get specific with the 'know, feel and do' method.' Orlo logo.

The curveball. The truth: We've all been there. The crisis that hits just before launch, or the reason that a campaign has to change. The solution: Work 'wriggle room' into your timeline - it's the most important element! Orlo logo.

New blog. Read the full blog. Comment 'campaign' or search 'Orlo blogs'. Orlo logo. In front of an image of people planning a campaign with post-it notes.

If your current campaign plan feels less polished, and more like a chaotic jumble of thoughts - take a breath.

Our Community Partner, James Morton, has stripped away the gloss of public sector campaigns, and is here with the 5 Truths of Campaign Planning: https://hubs.la/Q03-pzpn0

New blog. Why AI should support comms teams, not replace them.

The 'messy middle'. Most of the real work happens in the chaos between your first idea and the final message. AI can tidy up that chaos but can't replace the human who can find meaning in the mess.

Empathy and accountability Trust is built through empathy and accountability. Your audience can spot an ungenuine, AI voice from a mile away.

AI can make mistakes A lot of people treat AI as a writing tool, but if you only use it to speed up production, you aren't working smarter -you’re just making mistakes faster.

'Speed won't move an audience. Depth will.'

Everyone treats Generative AI as a writing tool, but if you only use it for speed, you’re just stuck in a faster cycle of churn.

So, here's why AI should help comms teams, not replace them: https://hubs.la/Q03-8FSs0

How to work with young people (according to young people). Orlo logo.

Think beyond school. When you work with students at school, they'll expect their collaboration with you to be more formal, and therefore could be less honest with you.

Let them see people like them. If young people can't see people like them in your organisation, it'll be difficult for them to engage with you.

Get in touch for more advice on how to engage the whole of your community.

What's the secret to effective comms? Ask the experts: young people.

Antonia Dixey and her young people from Participation People shared some fab advice for comms teams looking to make a real impact.

Want to chat more about effective youth engagement? Comment below!

London Bridges Walk 2026

On Saturday 17 January, some of our team will be completing the 15km London Bridges Walk to raise money for two amazing charities - Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.

Steps? Counted. Water bottles? Filled. Motivation? High!

Donate here: https://orlo.uk/565W7