Social Media for Municipal Government

Social Media for Municipal Government

City of La GrangeDecember 16, 2013

Get these slides here::http://sarahtpage.com/CityOfLaGrange/

Today We’ll Cover …

• Why social media?• Daily management• Common social media platforms• Best practices and Examples• Q&A

Why Social Media?

Keep It Simple• Remember: It’s just a conversation• We can either engage in the conversation with

our customer, or they will have the conversation without us.

Flickr: Search Engine People Blog

Primary Functions of Social Media in Government

• Share – inform citizens of public services and activities

• Listen – observe, analyze, and understand what citizens are sharing to improve public services

• Engage – respond, collaborate, and create with citizens to improve public services.

Source: http: //www.howto.gov

What Are Your Goals?

• Provide additional channels for citizen input and other potentially affected interests

• Increase the transparency of the City’s decision-making process

• Facilitate a sense of community• Reach new audiences with City messages and

information

These are the City of Round Rock’s social media goals. What are yours?

Why Is Social Media Scary?

Someone could say something BAD about you!

Flickr: andyaldridge

2011 Fels Institute Social Media Report

2011 Fels Institute Social Media Report

Daily Management

Centralized vs. Departmental Management

Centralized• Single page = bigger

audience• Professionally managed

pages/channels• Control over

content/messaging• Small cities may lack

resources/staff

Departmental• Niche channels for niche

content• Enthusiastic content

experts• Central office should

guide & teach – not control content

• Small cities may have younger/geekier staff (due to lower pay grades)

Things To Consider

• Records retention• Legal issues/constraints• Transparency• Terms of use• Social media policies

Assessing New Social Media

• Clearly identify objectives• Determine a strategy for its use• “Listen” to the social media conversation for

new potential channels• Realistically assess resources• Reach out to peer cities for advice

Common Social Media PlatformsFacebook, Twitter, and YouTube

What Is Facebook?

• Social networking service that allows users to connect to friends and businesses

• Share content, links, photos, and videos• Comment on others’ activity• Remember: Personal profiles are for people,

not businesses. Develop a fan page instead.

Facebook Stats

• Over 1.1 billion active users• Average user is connected to 40 pages• Smartphone mobile users check Facebook an

average of 13.8 times a day• 751 million users access Facebook from a

mobile device

Source: IDC; expandedramblings.com

What Is Facebook?

Facebook Benefits

• Low cost• Engage with fans of your page• Fans receive your updates and can upload

comments, photos, and video• When fans engage you on your page, their

activity shows up in their friends’ streams– This can prompt others to check out the City of

La Grange pages too!

Facebook Benefits

• Can incorporate content from other social media platforms– Ex: blog posts, updates from Twitter, pictures from

Instagram, videos from YouTube, location-based apps (FourSquare), etc.

• Targeted advertising opportunities (cheap too!)

Know Your Audience

Photo: stijnbokhove

Facebook Insights

Facebook Insights

What Is Twitter?

• Free social networking and micro-blogging site that allows users to send and read messages known as “tweets”

• Tweets can have no more than 140 characters & are delivered to the author’s subscribers, known as “followers”

Twitter Stats

• 500 million users• 60% of active users use their mobile phone to

tweet• Average number of followers per Twitter user is

208• Twitter engagement rates for brands are 17%

higher on Saturdays and Sundays

Source: Linchpin SEO; expandedramblings.com

What Is Twitter?

Twitter Benefits

• Low cost• Speed of feedback• Potential reach of message• Customer engagement/service• Track what people are saying about you• Create buzz around upcoming events• Promote the city and other content you create

What Is YouTube?

• Allows people to discover, watch, and share originally-created videos

YouTube Stats

• More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube every month

• 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute• 6+ billion hours of video are watched each

month• YouTube reaches more adults ages 18-34 than

any cable network

Source: http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics

Best Practices and Examples

#1

Have a Great Bio

#2

Share Information

#3

Use Cover Photos As Advertising

#4

Use Hashtags

#5

Be Human

#6

Ask Questions

#7

Be Helpful

#8

Show, Don’t Tell

#9

Use Local Experts

#10

Try Instagram

Brought to you on behalf of Pedernales Electric Cooperative

#11

Start Pinning

Resources

• Social Media Policy– http://www.portlandoregon.gov/auditor/article/372781

• Portland social media directory– http://www.portlandonline.com/?c=51425&a=468696

• Louisville social media directory– http://www.louisvilleky.gov/socialmediacenter

• Social media policy database– http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

• Fels Institute study– https://www.fels.upenn.edu/sites/www.fels.upenn.edu/fil

es/fels_promising_practices_the_rise_of_social_media_website_final.pdf

Can I Help?

Call Me!

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Sarah Page, PrincipalSarah T. Page Consulting, LLC

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