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A social media 101 exploration into leveraging social media to engage with federal government audiences.
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Social Media in Government Ways to Engage with the Federal Community
Elizabeth Shea, CEO SpeakerBox Communications
@speakerbox @eliz2shea
Introductions…
§ SpeakerBox Communications is a
B2B/B2G technology PR firm (Competes with subwoofers and the Bud
Light Speaker Box tailgate toy).
Elizabeth Shea: President & CEO of SpeakerBox, founded in 1997
(Competes with Elizabeth Shea, country-western singer, for first page ranking)
For companies, resistance to social media is futile. Millions of people are creating content for the social
web. Your competitors are already there. Your customers have been there for a long time. If your
business isn’t putting itself out there, it ought to be.
- B.L. Ochman, BusinessWeek, February 2009
Buyers Used to Solve Problems:
§ Talking to Salespeople § Product Literature § Tradeshow attendance § Reading articles or ads, commercials
Now They Solve Problems:
§ Google searches § Online portals and news sites § User-generated content and opinions § Word of “mouse” § Direct to company websites
©2008 Online Marketing Connect Institute
Myths of B2G Social Media…
§ “The government isn’t on Facebook or Twitter.”
§ “I don’t have enough time or the resources to go down the social media path.”
§ “I have a limited marketing budget and need to focus on lead generation.”
§ “ I have no idea what I would even tweet about.”
§ “There are so many social networking options, where do I even start?”
B2G Communications Evolution YESTERDAY
Core set of print publications
Website optional
Golden reporter rolodex
Direct Mail
Printed “clip” books
Press Conference
TODAY
FedScoop, GovLoop, GovTwit, GovConWire,
OhMyGov, NextGov
SEO or No-Go
Followers with authority
Social Media Channels
Google analytics
Breaking stories on Twitter
THE GOOD NEWS: YOU ARE MORE IN CONTROL THAN EVER!
@WhiteHouse (3,038,034) @NASA (2,795,530) @USArmy (171,134) @USCoastGuard (38,882) @USAgov (104,259) @NASAGoddard (54,391) @USDOL (47,106) @FEMA (127,189) @USEdGov (138,430)
@Statedept (320,535)
“The Government Isn’t On Twitter…”
“The Government Isn’t On Facebook…”
Who’s On What? (http://govsm.com/w/Federal_Agencies)
Where Do They go?
What Do They Use?
Source: 2011 Social Media in the Public Sector Report, Market Connections, Inc.
Three Steps To Social Success
Listen/Learn
Create
Engage
LISTEN Audit yourself:
Google Search / Google Alerts
Technorati.com
Search.twitter.com
Tweetdeck.com / HootSuite.com
Compete.com
Klout
What Do You Hear?
At a minimum, the
expectation is that you are
listening
§ Social media listening posts help you learn what customers want
§ Open a channel to see who walks through
§ Incorporate into your product strategies, customer support procedures, communication strategies
LEARN
§ You need to either curate or create your stance, your value proposition, the reason your customers buy.
§ Social media is reliant on content. Plan a way to create content that is useful to your audience.
CREATE
The Most Valuable Thing You Can Do…
§ Highlight your SMEs! Help your customers realize: – You can solve their problems
– Save them valuable time
– You have the expertise they need
§ Syndicate your posts to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter automatically to help with SEO and engage.
Blog!
Content Curators/Aggregators
§ Scoop.it § Curated.by § Trunk.ly § Redux § Paper.li § PersonSpot § Snip.it
§ Storify.com § RebelMouse.com § Nextmags.com § Glos.si § Chime.in § Projectlimelight.com § Storylane.com
§ Social media tools enable you to engage with your audience in a meaningful way.
§ Not a one-size fits all approach. Determine which channel your customers use, and meet them there!
ENGAGE
Building Blocks to Your Profile
§ Complete your profile! Photo, logo, websites, Twitter handles, RSS feed etc.
§ Add keywords within specialty section. Under which words do you want to be found?
§ Give recommendations to get recommendations (Hint: recommend your customers!)
§ Invite others in. Triangulate with alumni, former coworkers, and let LinkedIn do the work.
§ Join and engage in Groups.
Settings
Follow Your Customers
Find Your Groups
The Power Of Groups
Engage in Groups
You can watch, and stalk…
Friendly Facebook: Listen and Learn
Engage and Triangulate
Build YOUR Page for Engagement
Best Practices
§ Content matters! Keep it relevant, informative, non-salesy, and max 1-2 posts a day.
§ Share blog posts if you have a blog.
§ Share relevant articles you find your audience would enjoy.
§ Twitter is a microblog, each post limited to 140 characters.
§ Twitter handle: your personalized id (@secafdc)
§ Hashtag: a “topic” identifier that is searchable on Twitter to monitor trending topics (#secaf)
§ List: a subsection of those you follow by your own defined category (HootSuite, TwitChimp)
§ Retweet: sharing someone else’s tweet on your Twitter handle. Show the love!
Twitter Terms
Twitter Engagement Best Practices
§ Follow your customers, their agencies, your partners.
§ Set up one tweet a day at the beginning of the week with articles, news, etc. your audience would find valuable.
§ Use a tool like HootSuite.com or TweetDeck to monitor your own company, as well as your customers’ key tweets.
§ Retweet your customers’ news with your own commentary.
Other Tools To Consider…
§ Flickr: Strong indexing in search engines and passes links and page rank.
§ YouTube: Good for building links back to your site because the videos rank very well.
§ Digg: Indexes your stories quickly (popular or not). Popular ones attract bloggers.
§ StumbleUpon: Large user base; many people can find stories and link to them.
§ Tumblr: high potential from a link-building perspective. Sites rank well in the search engines.
Don’t Try to Boil the Ocean
Engage with Government
Listen What does your
customer read and what do they say?
What does your customer need?
What is the one thing you provide that they
want the most?
Create Create content for
your expertise vis-à-vis customer needs
Address customer objections with strong
messaging
White papers, articles, speeches, videos, blogs, releases
Engage Write once, use 5X!
Work to make it two-way for high impact
Build plan/create channels for reaching
your target
Engage customers, partners to speak on
your behalf
Desired Results From a Social Media Effort
§ Google searches for your solution produce your name.
§ 3-5 pieces of content on your specialized skill or solution.
§ Awards honor you around your best practices.
§ Conferences seek you out for speaking engagements.
§ You have bylined articles in influential publications.
§ You are an influencer: the ecosystem follows your lead.
§ You are seen as an expert, and thus, business comes your
way.
Step-by-Step Social Media Outreach
1. Create your top 2-3 agency targets
2. Understand their mandate/agency objective
3. Understand the channels they use to learn about you
4. Know what they read, where they “live”
5. Engage with them on social media platforms
6. Build your content plan to engage the buyers
7. The government is made up of…social people!
When your prospect is ready to buy, make sure you are everywhere they look!
HELP!!!
§ Shoutlet – Social media marketing communications platform.
§ Sprout Social – Social media dashboard, monitoring, workflow, influencer and contact management.
§ Sendible – Social media marketing platform.
§ HootSuite - Social media dashboard for managing social content and engagement on multiple networks with team workflow.
§ Seesmic – Manage social marketing activity on Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, Google Buzz and LinkedIn.
Elizabeth Shea
SpeakerBox Communications
703-287-7810 [email protected]
Twitter: @speakerbox @eliz2shea
