Leadership Now Project: Comms Opportunity & Strategy

Leadership Now Project: Comms Opportunity & Strategy
There is no trusted advisor currently providing segmented, state and industry-specific guidance to business leaders on the intersection of political instability and enterprise risk.
While some think tanks and advocacy groups publish reports, and coalitions (like the Business & Democracy Initiative) convene occasional briefings, no one consistently occupies this role across sectors and states.
This leaves a clear space for LNP to act as the trusted advisor for U.S. business leaders, expanding and scaling its audience and influence without diluting its internal team bandwidth or its curated membership.
30K Foot View to Accomplish This
We keep our existing layer of comms for unified Org-level announcements, but when it comes to audience attraction and growth we expand our strategy outreach using segmented state + sector + seniority communications, starting with swing states and industries with the most leverage. 
So long-term, instead of one-announcement, one-size-fits-all messaging in email and LinkedIn communications, we can begin sending both tailored, compelling comms based on their segment as well as "org-level larger, broader comms.
Segments for Audience Comms & Growth
1
State / Geographic
State-specific content that resonates with local business leaders
2
Industry 
Sector-tailored communications that speak their language
3
Seniority / Role
CTA's that are relevant and tailored to their position
4
(Eventually) Psychographic 
Seeing where people are at on their level of engagement and creating a journey to convert (where possible) bystanders into active participants.
Current Comms Structure for LNP:
(And most organizations)
New Comms Structure for Audience Growth & Retention:
2025 McKenzie / Bloomberg Stats on personalization:
Segmented campaigns generate 760% more revenue / conversions than generic sends. Our multi-layered segmentation strategy (State × Industry × Seniority × Psychographic) positions us to capture this level of improvement—or potentially exceed it.
Automated personalized emails see 2,361% better conversion rates. This suggests building our automated welcome sequences will be significantly more effective than adding people to one-off campaigns, making automation essential for a resource-conscious organization.
Smaller, targeted campaigns outperform at scale: 5.8% vs 2.1% response rates. Lists under 50 recipients achieve nearly 3x the engagement of 1,000+ sends. This data supports our focus on specific personas like "Wisconsin Manufacturing CEO" rather than broad-based outreach.
52% of recipients churn / disengage without personalization. For business leaders who are already selective about political communications, generic messaging doesn't just underperform—it erodes trust we can't afford to lose.
46% of people open every email from trusted sources. Once we establish credibility through consistent relevance, we earn reliable access to our audience's attention—a valuable asset for sustained engagement.
Automated Segmentation / Personalization with AI 
Segmenting at Scale with AI
How is it possible to segment all of this at scale? With a lean team?

We will use AI-powered data enrichment to strengthen our segmentation capabilities. We will create an automated system by whcih we enrich specific contacts' data and profiles on entry. 

We will automatically append firmographic data (company size, industry, revenue) and predictable behavior / engagement patterns to basic email addresses. This enrichment allows us to segment more precisely without manual research—identifying, for example, which Wisconsin manufacturers are already using ESG reporting tools (suggesting receptivity to civic responsibility messaging) or which Arizona tech founders have previously engaged with democracy-focused content. 

We will also leverage AI to help us identify behavioral patterns that predict engagement: which combination of industry, role, and geographic factors correlate with higher response rates to specific message types. 

This will augment our capacity to deliver the right message to the right leader at the right moment.
Geographic Segmentation — 
Tier 1: Swing States
We will lead with targeted state-level messaging where business influence can move the needle, then expand to broader business hubs.
Tier 1: Critical Swing States
North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia
These states are consistently contested, facing legal/political fights over gerrymandering, election administration, and voting rights. Business leaders speaking out here have outsized influence.
Tier 2: Expanding Geographic Audience Reach
1
Business-Dense States with National Ripples
Texas, Florida, Ohio
Headquarters for Fortune 100/500 companies; even if politically tilted, corporate action here sends national signals.
2
Anchor States for Demonstrating Best Practices
California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Colorado
More stable politically, but house influential corporate leaders and innovation clusters. Great places to model and amplify civic playbooks.
Audience Engagement: Personalize with Sector Specific Language
Different sectors perceive democracy risk differently. Tailoring our messaging increases engagement and retention.
Finance & Private Equity: “Political instability is market risk. Predictable rules = predictable returns.”
Tech & Innovation: “Talent attraction depends on open, inclusive societies where people want to live and work.”
Healthcare & Life Sciences: “A functioning democracy is public health infrastructure.”
Consumer & Retail: “Fair competition in markets depends on fair competition in elections.
Manufacturing & Energy: “Stable, bipartisan institutions ensure supply chain and energy security.”
Audience Expansion: Leadership-Level: Match Role to Call-to-Action
C-Suite (CEOs, Chairs, Founders):
Message: Democracy as enterprise risk + brand reputation.
CTA: Public statements, op-eds, coalition pledges, joining state briefings.
Corporate Affairs / ESG / Government Relations Leaders:
Message: Democracy as governance + stakeholder management.
CTA: Adopt LNP playbooks (Corporate Civic Action Plan, risk dashboards), lead internal policy audits.
Functional Execs (CFOs, CHROs, COOs):
Message: “This isn’t just PR — it’s operations.” (cost of instability, workforce morale, talent pipeline).
CTA: Embed civic health into risk assessments, DEI, and employee engagement.
Emerging Leaders / Founder-Operators:
Message: “You may not be Fortune 100 yet, but your voice still shapes civic norms in your state.”
CTA: Participate in roundtables, amplify state-level insights on LinkedIn, integrate civic policies early.
Persona Examples - NC
The North Carolina Biotech Innovator
State/Region Focus: NC (Research Triangle)
Industry Focus: Biotech, Pharma, Life Sciences
Top 3 Business Concerns
STEM talent pipeline (UNC, Duke, NC State)
FDA/regulatory predictability
Federal & state R&D funding stability
Civic Intersection: Polarization threatens research funding and university independence; political interference in science could slow investment.
The North Carolina Banking Executive
State/Region Focus: NC (Charlotte)
Industry Focus: Banking, Financial Services
Top 3 Business Concerns:
Regulatory stability
Talent attraction & retention (competing with NYC, SF)
Reputation of NC as a stable HQ base
Civic Intersection: Concerned that national perception of NC politics (e.g., polarization, restrictive laws) could harm the state’s financial hub status.
The Wisconsin Manufacturing CEO
Industry Focus: Advanced Manufacturing, Converting
Top 3 Business Concerns:
Labor Shortages
Supply Chain Volatility
Tariff Impacts
Civic Intersection: Sees political gridlock as a barrier to stable industrial policy; supports anti-gerrymandering as a means to reduce polarization.

The Arizona Tech Founder
Industry Focus: Semiconductors, Health Tech, SaaS
Top 3 Business Concerns:
Talent Attraction & Retention
Housing Affordability
U.S. Innovation Pipeline
Civic Intersection: Views attacks on universities and restrictive immigration policies as direct threats to U.S. competitiveness and his talent pool.
The Pennsylvania “Eds & Meds” Exec
Industry Focus: Healthcare, Higher Education, Life Sciences
Top 3 Business Concerns:
Workforce Management (Unions)
Regulatory Complexity
Securing Public/Private Funding
Civic Intersection: Worries that political polarization threatens bipartisan support for scientific research and evidence-based policymaking..
Sample Persona Based Email on the March 25 Broadcast:
Google Docs
Example Peronsa-Based Email Rewrites
Email 1 — North Carolina Biotech Innovator (Research Triangle) [First Name], My father was born in Madrid in 1926 to American parents—his father a journalist, and his mother a budding novelist who had immigrated to the U.S. from what is now Ukraine. A decade later, the family returned to the U.S....
Original Broadcast March 25
mailchi.mp
Nine Weeks In: Where We Stand & What We Do Next
My father was born in Madrid in 1926 to American parents—his father a journalist, and his mother a budding novelist who had immigrated to the U.S. as a child from what is now Ukraine. A decade later, the family returned to the U.S., and she published her first novel, A Spanish Prelude, capturing the atmosphere in Madrid just before the Spanish Civil War engulfed the country.