social media local gov2
DESCRIPTION
Learn how local governments around the world and in Cincinnati are using social media to successfully engage their residents.TRANSCRIPT
Who’s telling your story?
Engage your citizens…using Social Media
Issues important to you (gov’t officials)
Responsible spending of tax revenue
Infrastructure
Planning and development
Emergency services
Delivery of basic services
Disaster planning and recovery
Crisis management
Recreation
Events
Schools (maintenance, levies, staffing)
Road construction (potholes, orange barrels up too long, etc.)
City-sponsored efforts (recycling, smoke alarm day, safety training, CPR training)
Building codes (direction on installing fences, decks, electrical wiring, etc.)
Traffic updates / road closings
Emergency updates (snow storms, tornadoes, electrical outages, chem spills)
Policy research (what issues are on upcoming ballots?)
Issues important to your citizens
Benefits of engaging citizenry
Quicker and easier adoption of new services, policies, etc.
Community support (advocacy) for new initiatives
Immediate feedback on issues
Direction on what issues are most important to general population
Direction on how to promote community/ attract future residents and businesses
What is social media… to government? The use of Internet- and mobile-based tools
to engage residents, collect consumer data, share information and generate awareness…
Social Media is new form of Public Relations
What is social media? Internet- and mobile-based tools for
sharing and discussing information.
- Wikipedia
Reasons for government to use social media
Alternative to (“evolution of”) traditional PR Increasingly effective and growing
Multiple lines of communication Essential, especially in times of crisis
Inexpensive
Reach various demographics
Increase search engine rankings
Real time
Drive citizens to website
Communicate your message
Establish representative voice(s) for community If you don’t establish a voice, someone else will!
Crisis Management tool Follow same principles as with traditional media
Establish intelligent, skilled spokesperson(s) Tell your side of the story Gain empathy and advocacy Never say “No Comment”
Important points
You DO NOT need to be an active blogger
Leadership should embrace social media, not fear it
Establish social media policy and best practices
You DO need to communicate your message
You CAN measure impact of social media
If you don’t establish a representative voice for your community, someone else will!
Dissenting voices can easily become “de facto” voices for your community
Purpose is not to “control” message, but to “guide” message and engage citizens in message
It all starts with your website!
The tools!
Website. It all starts here! The basis for all PR, branding, social
media Dynamic, functional, user friendly The face…and often first
impression…of your community Content rich—to drive search
engine results
Social Media Policy Establishes best practices and
procedures Ensures that entire staff is on
message Empowers staff to be proactive Positions social media as “means to
engage” rather than “distraction” Encourages citizen participation
The tools!
E-newsletter Ensures regular contact Promotes/strengthens brand Delivers timely, relevant content Easy to monitor Measurable Call to action Entertains Can be self administered Inexpensive—no printing, nominal monthly fees
to manage (e.g., ConstantContact.com) Example: City of Sharonville (Ohio)
Implemented Fall 2008 to bridge gab b/t business and residential communities
Partnered with Chamber to get subscribers Doubled subscriber list in 6 months Receives e-mails thanking them for newsletter
The tools!
Blog Enable direct communication with and
feedback from citizenry Can be monitored and managed by community
staff
More personal and dynamic than typical website
Can be separate from or part of community website
Typically ties into overall marketing/PR strategy
Can allow comments from visitors; can monitor comments
Easy to create using free, downloadable blog software
Best used for sharing information of interest to or that specifically benefits targeted users
Serves as home page for many organizations—growing trend
May work best for elected officials, rather than appointed/hired staff
The tools!
Event Forum
Set up custom events online
Choose whom to invite
Allow others to join
Specific to topic, location, etc. Engages with niche
audiences (e.g., dog lovers re: plans for new dog park; bicyclists re: proposed bike lanes)
Can host actual events at popular community locations
The tools!
Microblog—Twitter
Limited to 140 characters per entry
Allows people to follow each other in real time from any location with Web/mobile access
Simple to use
Growing by 900%
Increasing usage among businesses, individuals, politicians and PR pros as news dissemination device
Bridging gap between traditional and social media
Growing number of reporters take story pitches from Twitter ONLY
The tools!
Podcast
Free video or audio series downloaded to and playable on iPods, computers, TVs, mobile phones, or similar mobile media devices
Enable users to view or listen to preferred content almost anywhere at anytime
Tool for sharing issues discussed at council meetings, community forums, etc.
The tools!
Social Networking Communities What are you doing?
Who do you know?
Fan pages
Groups of common interest
Photo/Video Sharing Sites Personalized albums
Share via invitation, e-mail
Showcase events, demonstrations
The tools!
Wiki Encyclopedic online profile of
community Anyone can contribute content Can be updated in real time Is preferred to be objective—not
self promotional
What’s next?
Google Wave Collaborative tool
Equal parts “conversation” and “document”
People communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more
Evolved from Google Maps Create a wave; add people Users pull text, graphics,
widgets, feeds from other Web sources
Concurrent rich-text editing Users can see instantly
when others are typing inside their wave
What makes social media valuable to you?
It’s the way people of all ages and demographics are communicating
Studies show consumers research products online before buying
True for government, as well
Why wouldn’t you build your online relationship with them…NOW?
Its usage is growing rapidly
Vital part of marketing mix, more search hits
Natural evolution of marketing and PR
Builds via “word of mouth”
Engages citizens like no other medium
Allows you to tell your story in your words
Why social media is relevant Facebook.com- Social Network Site
200+ Million Active UsersFastest growing Demo 30+
Flickr.com-Photo Sharing Apphosts more than two billion tagged images
Twitter.com- micro-blogging site32.1 million people answering the question “What are you doing now?” in 140 characters!
Wikipedia.com- Information Sharing Source684 Million visitors/ 9 million named accounts
Youtube.com- Video Sharing5 billion online US videos44% share of all online videos
Digg.com-Social News site#3 referring source of traffic to NY
Times.30K visitors/ month
Nielsen BuzzMetrics – created in 2006 by A.C. Nielsen to begin measuring social
media
Questions?
Dan O’KeeffeO’Keeffe Communications
513.221.1526
www.okeeffecom.com