- Photography
- Film making
Matthew Smart
Wolverhampton,West Midlands
Summary
Insightful customer engagement and communications professional with over 15 years' experience enhancing housing services through customer research and behavioural science. Translates customer feedback into actionable improvements that shape strategy and elevate customer experience. Utilises data and customer insights to guide leaders in making informed decisions that prioritise customer needs.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Content Designer & Communications Peer Leader
Stonewater
04.2021 - Current
- Influenced senior leaders by translating customer insight, behavioural science and campaign analytics into evidence-based recommendations that shaped communication strategy, improved customer journeys and supported organisation-wide decision-making.
- Led team of four communications professionals, mentoring colleagues and enhancing communication standards to improve quality, consistency, and impact of customer communications across organisation.
- Transformed customer recruitment campaigns using behavioural science techniques, increasing email open rates from 12% to 65%, growing the Scrutiny Panel from 7 to 12 members in just over a week, creating a reserve pool of engaged customers and attracting seven Community Champion applications within 24 hours.
- Designed and delivered engagement strategies for initiatives including MyHome, Building Safety, Section 20 consultations, Direct Debit campaigns, and neighbourhood improvement projects, enabling customer influence on service design through workshops and consultation events.
- Established a Building Safety engagement model by creating a single customer group representing three high-rise residential schemes, helping meet new regulatory requirements while giving residents a stronger voice in building safety decisions.
- Delivered the customer-facing Energy Hub, attracting more than 5,000 unique visitors and generating over 11,500 video views, providing accessible support during the cost of living crisis.
- Received the Unlock Net Zero Engagement Campaign of the Year Award (2023) for delivering an innovative customer engagement campaign that demonstrated the impact of insight-led communications, collaboration and customer-centred service design.
Strategic Communications Lead
Stonewater
04.2019 - 04.2021
- Delivered strategic communication campaigns across multiple business areas, enhancing customer understanding and engagement while supporting successful organisational change initiatives.
- Advised senior stakeholders on communication strategy, utilising customer insight, behavioural science, and campaign performance to enhance decision-making and drive customer engagement across the organisation.
- Created Stonewater's Customer Hubb, building a digital engagement platform with approximately 1,400 active customers, giving residents meaningful opportunities to shape policies, services and organisational priorities.
- Launched and grew dedicated Facebook community of approximately 1,000 members, extending customer engagement through social media and facilitating greater participation in consultations.
Digital Customer Involvement Officer
Stonewater
11.2016 - 04.2019
- Established digital customer involvement programmes, embedding customer voice in service design and organisational decision-making to enhance relevance of services.
- Presented customer insight, research findings and recommendations to senior managers, influencing service improvements and strengthening customer-centred decision-making.
- Facilitated customer workshops and online consultations, enabling customer influence on new services and digital improvements prior to implementation.
- Built trusted relationships across operational teams, empowering colleagues to leverage customer insight for improved communications and increased participation.
Communications Specialist
Bromford
06.2014 - 11.2016
- Led the organisation's digital communications strategy, becoming the subject matter expert for social media, online communities and digital engagement, while advising senior leaders on channel strategy and customer communications.
- Developed insight-led digital campaigns using customer research, audience analysis and behavioural principles, increasing meaningful engagement and strengthening Bromford's digital presence.
- Partnered with customer experience, marketing and internal communications teams to deliver consistent, customer-focused messaging across digital channels, enhancing customer engagement and reinforcing employer brand.
- Built thriving online communities through engaging content creation, coaching colleagues as digital ambassadors, and fostering authentic conversations between customers and the organisation.
- Produced diverse digital content, including video, animation, podcasts, social media, and written communications, to make complex information accessible and engaging for customers.
- Reported campaign success using meaningful customer outcomes rather than vanity metrics, enabling stakeholders to make evidence-based decisions and continually refine communication strategies.
Customer Feedback & Insight Manager
Bromford
09.2013 - 06.2014
- Pioneered customer insight framework integrating performance data, complaints, surveys, frontline feedback, social media, and digital insight into a single evidence base, embedding customer voice within strategic decision-making processes. This approach later became the foundation of my work at Stonewater.
- Led a team of five customer insight professionals, establishing a high-performing function that provided senior leaders with meaningful customer intelligence to drive service improvements.
- Redesigned Bromford's executive customer performance reporting, replacing traditional KPI dashboards with an insight-led model that combined operational trends with authentic customer stories, transforming leader understanding of customer experience and establishing a new standard for performance reporting.
- Presented evidence-based recommendations to directors and senior leaders, using customer stories to bring data to life, challenge assumptions and influence operational priorities, service design and business planning.
- Embedded customer feedback into performance management and continuous improvement, fostering a culture where customer insight became integral to organisational decision-making.
Digital Content Manager
Bromford
11.2012 - 09.2013
- Managed Bromford's digital content platforms and external web agency, improving accessibility, content quality and the overall online customer experience.
- Developed editorial strategies and content plans that aligned customer needs with organisational priorities, increasing engagement across digital channels.
- Collaborated with colleagues to identify opportunities for digital content that enhanced customer experience, increased engagement and supported service transformation.
- Created customer-focused digital content that fostered employment, financial wellbeing, community participation and digital inclusion, enabling customers to build confidence and independence.
- Produced accessible self-service content to support Bromford's transition to digital services and promote increased digital participation among customers.
Education
Nano MBA - Behavioural Science - Messaging
Ogilvy
Online04-2024
Diploma - Digital Marketing
Institute of Commercial Management
Online01-2018
Advanced Course - COMMUNICATION, JOURNALISM, AND RELATED PROGRAMS
CIPR Qualifications
London01-2015
Skills
- Customer Insight & Voice
- Behavioural Science
- Customer research
- Service design
- Digital engagement
- Content Strategy
- Strategic Communications
- Insight Reporting & Data Storytelling
- Executive Stakeholder Engagement
- Leadership & Team Development
- Customer co-production
Interests
Timeline
Content Designer & Communications Peer Leader
Stonewater
04.2021 - Current
Strategic Communications Lead
Stonewater
04.2019 - 04.2021
Digital Customer Involvement Officer
Stonewater
11.2016 - 04.2019
Communications Specialist
Bromford
06.2014 - 11.2016
Customer Feedback & Insight Manager
Bromford
09.2013 - 06.2014
Digital Content Manager
Bromford
11.2012 - 09.2013
Nano MBA - Behavioural Science - Messaging
Ogilvy
Diploma - Digital Marketing
Institute of Commercial Management
Advanced Course - COMMUNICATION, JOURNALISM, AND RELATED PROGRAMS
CIPR Qualifications