[PODCAST] How to Develop a Social Media Strategy for Government Agencies

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JSB Talks Digital Podcast - Public Sector Marketing Pros #2

Hello and welcome to JSB Talks Digital. I’m Joanne Sweeney-Burke and this podcast is brought to you by Public Sector Marketing Pros. This podcast series is for those of you working in Government, a public sector body, a publicly funded programme or a semi-state organisation. You are most likely working in a marketing, communications, digital, social media or a senior leadership role and are passionate about digital communications.

SUBSCRIBE HERE

Coming up in the second episode of the Public Sector Marketing Pros series:

* Why you need to expand social media across your organisation to get results

* I interview David Bailey, Social Media Project Lead with the National Police Chiefs Council in the UK

* I’ve also got JSB’s live coaching column, where I map out the key elements of a social media strategy for a public sector or Government body

* The Diploma Deep Dive provides insights into what I’m teaching public sector marketing pros about auditing your social media profiles

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* The digital product from this show is my Social Media Strategy Checklist. Download it for free here:

Public Sector Marketing Pros Challenge

In episode #2, I’m discussing how to make your social media channels deliver better results for you!

In my experience there are a number of reasons why social media is challenging for Government bodies:

1. Social media is predominantly being done manually and many departments aren’t leveraging software to maximise time spent publishing and moderating social media channels

2. Role creep means that social media may have been given as an extra task to a communications professional who’s working days are already demanding

3. There hasn’t been an investment in upskilling staff in strategic social media tactics

4. Some organisations don’t even have a social media strategy

5. Staff feel overwhelmed and under-resourced

If any of this resonates with you, stay tuned. Use this episode to help give you a new perspective on your social media activity.

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INTERVIEW

David Bailey
In each episode, I interview a public sector marketing pro that is stepping up to the challenges facing their organisations in the Digital Age.

This episode’s public sector marketing pro is David Bailey, Social Media Lead with the UK’s National Police Chiefs Council.

NPCC is the body that brings together all the chief officers in the UK. David works within the Digital Policing Portfolio which is designed to develop and deliver the digital elements of the Vision 2025 strategy which all police chiefs are signed up to.

By 2025 UK policing intends to make it easier and more consistent for the public to make digital contact with any police department; they are improving their use of digital intelligence and evidence.

In this interview, David and I discuss scaling social media knowledge in a conservative and large organisation and how social media lends itself to policing communications.

Subscribe to David’s blog: www.policemediablog.com

Follow David on Twitter @bailey9799

Follow the NPCC on Twitter @UKDigitalPol

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JSB’s Live Coaching Column

In JSB’s Live Coaching Column this week, I tackle the issue of social media scalability and getting results for your valiant efforts.

So, the big question is:

How do we get results from social media with a relatively small team?

JSB Response:

The playing field of social media keeps changing. Facebook and YouTube are dominant channels however Instagram is the fastest growing social network. Its evolution as a behind-the-scenes, story and video channel has satisfied the masses with its ability to provide a feast for the visual senses.

There’s always a danger for public sector organisations to jump into social media with a sense of “we must be everywhere” however take some time to take a look at the types of audiences using each social network and the factors you should consider when deciding which to focus on and grow.

Social media for public sector and Government agencies is all about trust and transparency by sharing useful information and providing responsive customer service.

With this in mind you need to provide timely updates and share valuable information that will let citizens know that you're working for them, while also encouraging them to respond to your calls to action.

Here are four key steps to take to ensure your social media strategy is on the right track:

Step 1: Establish Tone of Voice

One of the critical parts of designing a social media strategy is establishing your voice. Visitors to your page want consistency. They want to know that they can trust your page to provide them with consistently accurate information--and they want to have the same experience with your office no matter where they're dealing

with you. On social media, that means establishing a clear voice and guidelines for posting that will be used by anyone who posts through your social media accounts.

Step 2: Define Your Goals

You know that you need a social media presence in order to effectively reach out to people in your country, state, county or region. In order to understand how well your social media accounts are working for you, you need to define your goals. Consider how, as a government agency, you need to measure social media success.

Step 3: Create a Posting Schedule

Like any Government body, you need a solid posting schedule to help ensure that your social media profiles remain active and engaging. Citizens don't want to follow government agencies that rarely provide them with the information they need. So, a failure to provide that information can lead to a lack of trust or concerns over transparency.

Step 4: Prepare a Policy for Social Media

Set standards for your channels. While you want to give all of your followers a voice, there may come a point when need to remove comments from your profiles.

For example, you might want to remove comments that are filled with profanity or that deliberately attacks another member of your community. Public sector staff are often personally attacked on social media and this is never acceptable and should not be tolerated.

As a government agency, keeping your social media channels current is a critical part of ensuring that your citizens have all the information they need, and will help you build trust and transparency for your office. Take time to review your strategy now, it will be time well spent.

Submit Your Challenge

If you have a particular marketing or digital communications challenge right now, get in touch and I’ll create a podcast around the topic.

You don’t have to come on the show or give me specific internal details, simply outline what the challenge is and what your objectives are to achieve success. Then leave the rest to JSB!

Send me your challenge to info@publicsectormarketingpros.com or tweet me to @tweetsbyjsb.

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Diploma Deep Dive

In this part of the show I take you behind the scenes of the Diploma in Digital Communicati0ns for Public Sector.

Today’s Diploma Deep Dive focuses on Module #2 How to Develop a Social Media Strategy for a Government Agency.

Module Aim:

The aim of this module is to help you audit your existing social media strategy and activities, develop a 12-month plan and assess what new features and content you will start producing.

Module Description:

By auditing your social media strategy and refining what you are doing well, you can cancel out tasks that don’t provide any results. It is also an opportunity to re-visit social media priorities for the year ahead and set out how you will achieve them by developing a 12-month roadmap.

Learning Outcomes:

2.1 Social media global landscape

2.2 Audit of your social media strategy and channels

2.3 Setting 12-month social media goals

2.4 Tone of voice

2.5 Channels, content and frequency

2.6 Social media management including community management

2.7 Social media metrics that matter

2.8 Social media trends for Government and public sector bodies

2.9 Social media use policy

Social Media Strategy for Government

TOP TAKEAWAY

Without a strategy you won’t be able to measure success or achieve your goals.

Revisiting how you approach social media and reviewing your existing strategy is necessary before you jump into channel specific strategies. Learners taking my Diploma review their social media strategy before been given mini strategies for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and the other social networks.

www.publicsectormarketingpros.com/diploma

Buy the modules individually

Start at any time of the year

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Digital Take Away

The digital product from this show is my Social Media Strategy Checklist eBook. Download it for free at: www.publicsectormarketingpros.com/socialmediastrategy

I’m also offering loyal podcast listeners a 10% discount to the Diploma in Digital Communications for Public Sector. Use promo code PublicSectorPro101 on registration.

Find out more at https://publicsectormarketingpros.com/diploma/.

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Thanks For Listening!

Thank you for tuning into episode #2 of JSB Talks Digital for Public Sector Marketing Pros.

If you think you have a case study to share from your organisation, then please get in touch. Simply drop me an email to info@publicsectormarketingpros.com

If you want to continue the discussion with your peers, then join our Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/publicsectormarketingpros. You’ll be asked to answer a few questions to make sure you are right for the Group.

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