©2011 GovDelivery

Measuring and Capturing the

Value of Digital Communications

GovDelivery Event

February 3, 2011

What Matters to Your Agency?

Mission

ResultsClicks, Opens,

Subscribers, P

age Views

2

“You can’t manage

what you don’t

measure.”

You can’t measure

everything in $

3

“Our ROI is more lives saved and less property

and fewer homes destroyed or damaged.”

Eugene Luke, Emergency Management

Specialist, FEMA

"Most people I've known in the private sector

are just much too accustomed to linear

processes where they're clear decision makers

and they make a decision and things more or

less then happen. In government, the

decisions you make very often are much less

direct in their effect."

Robert Rubin

Former U.S. Secretary of Treasury

The Scientific Formula for Measuring

Mission Value from Digital Communications

4

Where to Start?

Effectiveness:What is our total

reach?

Engagement:What is the value of

each connection we’re

making?

Value Created

Efficiency:What was the total cost

of the communication?Net Value

5

What is that we’re trying to do here?

What matters most to my agency and the public?

What are the specific outcomes this program is looking for?

What are realistic contributions that communication can make to

the outcomes?

Improve public health

Provide for secure

retirement

More people get flu

shots

More people apply for

benefits online

Awareness of benefits

of flu shots, clinic

locations, and free shot

programs

Awareness of benefit

application form online

6

The Impact of Better Communication

Translates to Real Value for Agency & Public

Better health

More flu shots

More exercise

Less smoking

Better screening

More efficient and consistent

compliance with regulations

Lower administrative costs

Higher revenue

Lower compliance costs

for business / public

Lower costs

Fewer inbound calls

Lower enforcement costs

Citizen involvement in

building mobile apps

Better mission results

Catch criminals

Get more grant

applications so funds go to

higher quality applicants

Improve recruitment

And more…7

Upstream MetricsEasy to measure, but only

the communications and

Web team care…

clicks, opens, subscribers, fo

llowers, friends, visits, etc.

Downstream MetricsThese really matter, but they

are super hard to measure.

Connecting Upstream to Downstream…

Start with Logic

More Rain Upstream…

Means Deeper Water Downstream

8

Private Sector, Non-Profits,

Politicians use Simple $ Metrics

9

“The value of an email address

to a knowledgeable marketer

is $118. ”

-Stan Rapp, former CEO of McCann

Relationship Marketing

“ Online revenue per usable email

address for a non-profit is $3.36 -

$27.56.”Source: Convio Benchmarking Study

Mission (im)Possible in Public Sector

10

• Use targeted surveys online:

– “Did you take a flu shot after visiting our website?”

– “Did your experience on our website impact your decision to get a flu shot?”

• Use them offline:

“What sources of information caused you to get a flu shot?”

• Find other points of correlation. Example: “Do you trust the information

you see on Healthagency.gov?”

• Use logic!

Why?

Judge outreach in real-time based on upstream metrics that can be tracked

because you know they impact downstream metrics that drive mission value.

Go Back to Real Objectives in Everything

You Report and Share

11

Page Views are Up

Subscriber #s Just Passed

100,000

We have 5,000 Followers on

Twitter and 2,000 Fans in

Facebook

We are increasing flu vaccinations by

getting >25,000 people/day to view flu

information online

We are improving regulatory compliance

by directly reaching 100,000

stakeholders with each new regulation

We responded directly to comments

through social media and redirected

responders to where they were most

needed

To Mission ResultsFrom Nerd Metrics

Homework: Move the Needle Now

• Collaborate with others to reach more people

• Promote opportunities for stakeholders to signup (through every interaction on website, call center, etc.)

Effectiveness

• Evaluate all outreach and comms spend (offline & online)

• Connect channels and content management processes

• Automate outreach, where it makes sense

Efficiency

• Engage your programs and other users internally to identify opportunities for communication to drive value

• Ensure that high-value services are promoted and can be started (or completed) online

• Track high-value activities to understand where impacted

Engagement

12

Example:

Promote Signups to Increase Effectiveness

13

Questions?

Contact me:

Scott BurnsCEO & co-Founder, GovDelivery, Inc.

scott.burns@govdelivery.com866-276-5583 Ext 303 651-726-7303

GovLoop: http://www.govloop.com/profile/ScottBurnsTwitter: http://twitter.com/smburns

Blog:www.reachthepublic.com

www.govdelivery.com

Questions

14

Using Communication and

Engagement to Solve Snowpocalype

GovDelivery Event

February 3, 2011

Problem:Why

?

Millions of government employees

working on similar issues but no safe

place to connect and share best

practices.

Solution:

Online community.

Hub to connect disparate conversations/events.

New technology leveraged to collaborate.

2 Questions I Think About

• How to Grow GovLoop – Reach & Engage

– Reach More People (More Active Members)

– Increase Engagement (More Activity)

– Solve more problems every day

My Last Year of Research

Studied How Others Increased Audience & Engagement

• For-profit communities (Dogster, ITToolbox, Sermo, change.org)

• For-profit vendors (GroupOn, Hubspot, Priceline,)

• Non-profit campaigns (Causes, Charity: Water, NeighborsForNeighbors)

• Political sector (Presidential and local elections)

What I’ve Learned

• It’s REALLY REALLY Hard

• There’s a talent/skill

• There’s a methodology and rigor

• Difference between Doing it and Doing it Well

• Lots of optimization opportunities

• Hard to be consistent

Great communication key to driving real results for organizations

THE ENGAGEMENT FORMULA

FIND OUT + SIGN-UP + LEARN + ACT

=RESULTS

(get flu shot, fill out census, apply for job)

Results met now = bigger base = more results later

Engagement Formula Example

Big Cat Rescue – Animal Rescue in Tampa, FL

• Get lots of people aware

• Get them to Subscribe

• Provide compelling content

• Ask to Give $ or Visit Park

• 23k fans, 100+ Likes per post

= RESULTS – funding/volunteers/rescues

What are Your Goals?

What are the Goals of Your Agency Communication?

REACH and ENGAGE MORE CITIZENS to solve Problems

Government Engagement Funnel

• Reach large number of stakeholders

• Build on-going relationships with them

• Provide clear, timely, actionable information

• Stakeholders take action with your information

Let’s Walk Through an

Example

23

RULE 1

Identify Problem

What is the problem you want to solve?

SnowpocalypseProblem Example

Mayor wants to increase citizen satisfaction with

snow removal• Citizens are informed with timely information

• Citizens take safe actions

RULE 2

Defining Success

What is success?

What is the result – is it a specific action?

How many take action?

What was their experience taking action?

Snowpocalypse

Success Example

Activate citizens towards healthy behaviors

• Decrease number of accidents

• Decrease number of in-bound phone calls

• Increase satisfaction and trust

RULE 3Logistics

What is the time frame?

What can we learn from and leverage?

What is our budget and resources are available?

Who is going to staff it and what do they need?

SnowpocalypseLogistics Example

Time frame = On-going + Winter

Funded = Public Works

Staff = Neighborhood division

RULE 4Define the Audience

Who are our stakeholders?

Where is the target audience currently?

What else exists?

SnowpocalypseAudience Examples

• All citizens in city

• Media & journalists

• Elderly & special

needs

• Responders/

volunteers who can

help

RULE 5Build the Audience

How do we build the audience before we need it?

How do we get people to sign up?

How do we market/outreach what we are doing?

How can we leverage partner audiences?

SnowpocalypseAudience Examples

Email signups on website

Social media and shares

Promotion during events and media

Cross-promotion with other agencies

Engage them where they are

RULE 6Engage by Content

What content do stakeholders need and want?

What format (text, video, pictures)?

Frequency – how often?

How do we staff, moderate, and amplify?

SnowpocalypseContent Examples

•Road updates

•School closings

•Blog posts

•Pictures/videos

•High frequency

•Trusted resources

RULE 7Engage by Channel

What channels do we have?

What channels are our stakeholders using?

How do we cross-promote?

How do we measure?

SnowpocalypseChannel Examples

Email updates

Text updates

Facebook, Twitter

Traditional media

Robo-calls, conference calls, citizen-to-citizen

RULE 8Engage by Activating

What are the calls to action?

Is the action targeted?

Is the call to action repeated?

Is the call to action optimized?

SnowpocalypseActivate Example

RULE 9Measure

What is working?

What is best for sign-ups conversions?

What type of content popular?

What type of frequency popular?

What are our key problems?

Measure Example

Daily/Weekly/Monthly Reports

Web Analytics

Community Analytics

Snowpocalypse

TO HELP ADDRESS THESE

ISSUES WE LAUNCHED ……

GovEngage, a division of GovDelivery, leveraging insights from

GovLoop, helps federal, state, and local government and their partner

increase engagement to solve problems.

42

Type of Projects Currently Working On

We’ve been working on exciting solutions to:

• Increase sensitive collaboration between federal

agencies

• Help mobile workers share tips and updates in real time

• Help an agency build an online community with the public

• Use collaboration to enhance mentoring process

• Create increased public participation and feedback

• Recruit citizens to help shovel neighbors in need

What Problem Are You Trying to Solve?

SEND US YOUR PROBLEM AND WE’LL SEND YOU THREE IDEAS

Introducing Joseph

• First Citizen Engagement Network for City of Boston

• Award-winning Neighborhood Watch 2.0

• Digital Lead for Service Nation in passing SERVE America ACT

• DHS Community Engagement Strategist

• Snow Crew 2.0

• Mug Club & Nametag Guy

45

Steve Ressler

Founder, GovLoop

Founder@GovLoop.com

@GovLoop

Reach out

Joseph Porcelli

Director, GovEngage

Joseph@govengage.com

@GovEngage