A blog about government-to-citizen digital communication and engagement, Government 2.0, GovDelivery, and other e-government issues
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Email Finds New Life in Integrated Campaigns

May 3rd, 2013 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Analytics/Data | Cloud Computing | Email Communication | Integration | Mobile | Software as a Service (SaaS) | UK Government | Usability - (0 Comments)

There’s a school of thought that says email is outdated – that people are moving to social media channels (Facebook, Twitter) and mobile text messaging. Many think the generation entering the workforce today sees email as an ‘old-fashioned’ communication medium. phone-mobile email

So, should forward-looking government agencies focus their digital communication strategies on social media and mobile messaging rather than email?

Research suggests the opposite.

Reports of email’s death are greatly exaggerated

Research by Nielsen suggests that heavy social media users use more, not less, email. Even for the socially savvy “Gen Y” demographic, email is an essential part of life.

Email is a powerful communication channel for governments. It’s cost-effective and increasingly pervasive. And as more people have phones with email capabilities, it’s a very fast and efficient way to reach many citizens wherever they are.

In fact, combining email with other digital communications increases the reach of government agencies across all channels. Many agencies use email as part of integrated outreach and interaction strategies:

  • Letting citizens subscribe for email updates to current road conditions, new video postings, meeting announcements or new website resources.
  • Using email for emergency communications in conjunction with Twitter, text messages and other real-time channels.
  • Combining email with social media – such as emailing a daily digest of Twitter updates to citizens who subscribe.

In the white paper “Integrating Email in Government Communications,” industry analyst and blogger Liz Azyan profiles how the Driving Standards Agency in the U.K. uses email as an integral part of driving engagement along multiple digital channels.

For example, the agency sends email updates to subscribers about new videos it releases on YouTube. As a result, they have seen a 163% increase in video views, and their new video releases quickly become among the most popular on the YouTube Motoring channel.

Download the paper to read more about specific strategies and best practices for integrating email in digital government communications.

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When it matters most: reaching citizens and residents

April 16th, 2013 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Current Affairs | E-Government | Federal Government | Local Government | State Government - (0 Comments)

Yesterday, at just before 3 pm, bombs exploded near the finish line at Boston Marathon, often known as the world’s oldest annual marathon.

There are few words that can express the sorrow we here at GovDelivery are feeling – not just for Bostonians but for all the thousands of spectators from around the world who were in the crowd and city yesterday. While Boston may not be anywhere close to your city or town, the fact is that the Boston Marathon attracts runners from all around the world, in a spirit of sportsmanship similar to the Olympics. It’s likely you know someone who knows someone who was there. One of GovDelivery’s very own staff members was nearby during the explosion, with his daughter.

After reading about the explosions on a news website, I sent a text to my best friends in Boston to see if they were okay. Thankfully, as Bostonians, they had stayed home due to the normal disruptions of the marathon. They told me they were paying attention to television reports for updates on the developing situation, but they hadn’t received any other information. They were also following directions from the media to not use their cell phones for fear of cell phone detonation.

As a communications professional working for a communications software company focused on the public sector, I am acutely aware of how a situation like this disrupts our lives and yet, how critical it is for the public to be receiving important, official updates. Listening to the emergency responder calls on the news last night, one of the responders noted that someone needs to get on social media and let people know that the police were sweeping the area in search of other bombs and to stay inside.

In urgent and emergency situations like the Boston Marathon attack, reaching citizens and residents with information can be a matter of life and death. With clients like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we’ve seen and partnered with government organizations to get the word out when it’s most critical. Here are three communications tips to implement quickly in any emergency:

  1. Leverage your digital properties. Social media is a great way to get the word out about an emergency situation, as Boston emergency responders noted. There’s no denying the ripple effect of social media in reaching an amazing amount of people. But people have become increasingly aware of the rumor mill on Twitter and Facebook. People still want to hear directly from you, and they’ll visit your website to find out more. Your website can hold as much information as needed. Be sure to update your organization’s websites and blogs, with prominent news placement on the home page, as soon as you can when an emergency hits.
  2. Use every communication channel you can. Your organization’s website or blog should be the main hub for information on the emergency. You can post detailed information to these digital properties, from updates on the current situation to links to other organizations that are providing help, such as the American Red Cross, to contact information for key people – either to report a tip or to try and find a loved one. But this doesn’t mean that you should ignore your other channels. During an emergency, the broader your reach, the better. Be sure to use email updates, text messages/SMS alerts, voice messages, and social media postings along with more traditional methods, such as news releases, press conferences, or media interviews, to push your messages out to the public in as many ways as possible.
  3. Communicate whenever you have an update. This seems like common sense but the truth is that, in emergency situations, the public craves information, and you want to make sure that they are receiving official information. During Hurricane Sandy, false tweets pervaded Twitter, adding to the fear of an already chaotic situation. By communicating often, with updates to your organization’s website and alerts going out via email, SMS, and social media, your organization can help provide the news that’s needed to keep the public informed and safe.

To streamline the communications process for the three tips above, offer the public options to sign up to receive updates from your organization. These updates can be via email, SMS, voice, RSS, or social media. This puts your information directly in the hands of the public. A communications platform that supports multichannel distribution with automation can be extremely helpful in times like these. Below, you can see an example from the National Guard Bureau on multichannel communications regarding the Boston Marathon attack.

Beyond handling the immediate logistics of getting people to safety and securing an area during an emergency, consistent communications in the aftermath of an attack like yesterday’s can also provide a stabilizing force.

Today, our thoughts and prayers are with those who’ve been affected by the Boston Marathon attack while we work alongside our many government partners to communicate critical information to the public.

For more information on what’s happening in Boston, visit:

 

Photo Gallery: The National Guard Bureau responds to the Boston tragedy.

Website:

National Guard Bureau-Web-Boston-Marathon

Email bulletin:

National Guard Bureau-Bulletin-Boston Marathon

News Widget:National Guard Bureau-Widget-Boston-MarathonSocial Media (Twitter & Facebook):

National Guard Bureau-Twitter-Boston-MarathonNational Guard Bureau-FB-Boston-Marathon

 

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Top 10 Most Viewed Blog Posts on Reach the Public

January 9th, 2013 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Analytics/Data | Community Management/Engagement | Compelling Content | E-Government | Email Communication | Federal Government | Government 2.0 | Government Success Stories | GovLoop | Integration | Local Government | Social Media | State Government | UK Government - (0 Comments)

top 10 RTP blog postsI know 2013 started just over a week ago, but it already feels like it’s been weeks since I celebrated the holidays and New Year’s with my family and friends. I think part of this is jumping back into the work day after some time off, but part of it is probably due to the fact that 2012 “year-end” reviews started weeks ago. (Google posted their Zeitgeist 2012 video a month ago! If you haven’t watched it, take a look and note how many cool events were driven by government organizations like yours.)

So I may be a little late to the game in adding my 2012 “top viewed blog entries” list, but I console myself that it’s only been a week or so. And with the belief that this list contains good reading that’s timeless. For those who may have missed these along the way, here are the top ten most-viewed blog entries on Reach the Public in 2012 and why I think they’re worth revisiting:


number 1

In this post, Lauren Modeen, Engagement Strategist extraordinaire, answers a question she received in a Reddit chat: how can you use rewards to motivate your online community?

She highlights four different ways that rewards can spur conversation and keep a community engaged, from simply featuring a member’s activity (whether that’s a discussion, question, or profile) to sending thank you notes or swag.

Why do I think this post is worth revisiting now? As we moved through 2012, it was impossible to ignore the impact of social media in government. Not just because it was a “new” way of amplifying the reach of government communications but also because of the emphasis on social. At the end of the day, people want to be part of a community; they want to interact with others who are interested in things they’re interested in. And government organizations began to understand that creating, developing and managing communities could be one way to truly drive mission value in a way that had never been done before.

Using Rewards to Motivate Your Online Community

number 2

This post was written quickly as I sat in a hotel room near GovDelivery UK’s office, up late with jet lag; so please allow me a moment to be a bit proud that it’s in this top ten list.

I logged onto my email to catch up on news in the communications world, and I saw the article on ReadWriteWeb detailing Mark Cuban’s opinion on Facebook. It was a fascinating read to me, mainly because of the very provocative but highly understandable situation Cuban faced with his basketball team (the Dallas Mavericks.) His organization had worked hard to gain Facebook fans, and they’d worked hard to engage that audience over a long period of time. So to come face-to-face with the knowledge that those connections aren’t actually available when you want them — or worse, that you have to pay Facebook to reach them — was jarring. For a government agency, that can mean a matter of life or death when you consider a situation like Hurricane Sandy.

Why is this post worth revisiting? It’s a good reminder that direct connections matter, especially in urgent situations. But it’s also good to remember that an integrated communications approach is still the key to ensuring that your government organization’s message is distributed as broadly as possible.

Abandoning Facebook

number 3

You’ll notice as you go through the rest of this list how much of these posts cover social media in government. Do you think it’s odd that the second most-viewed post was about abandoning Facebook but other posts in the top ten are about how to leverage or use social media? I think this is indicative of our society’s love/hate relationship with social media.

In this post, we summarize one of the most popular webinars I’ve ever hosted in my professional career (and I’ve hosted a lot of webinars). Our main speaker, Kristy Fifelski, also known as “GovGirl,” detailed her top 8 ways for government to engage citizens with social media – and boy, did we learn how hot a topic that was.

With nearly 1000 registrants, we had to expand our webinar contract (which had been limited to 250 “seats” to 1000 just in case everyone showed up.) And we had to expand our teleconference capability to ensure that everyone who attended could hear us. The experience gave myself and my IT team a mini heart attack – but it was all for a good cause, because this webinar was really amazing.

With concrete examples, in-the-field knowledge and expertise, and a fun presentation, Kristy/GovGirl gave our audience of government communicators key tips and tricks that could be implemented immediately to start using social media in more engaging ways. This is one post definitely worth revisiting.

8 Ways for Government to Engage Citizens with Social Media

number 4

Pinterest, another social networking site, launched in beta form in 2010 but didn’t start picking up more traction until mid-2011. By early 2012, it had become, as our post notes, “the hottest thing in social media.” By the end of 2012, the hotness had worn off a bit; but Pinterest remains a solid social networking site, with the most year-over-year growth for social desktop, web and app usage, according to Nielsen’s 2012 Social Media Report.

So take a look at this post on how government organizations can leverage Pinterest. As a site that stresses the social aspect of images, Pinterest can be a powerful storytelling social platform that extends beyond the capabilities of a social network like Twitter. This post reminds you of some ways to leverage this storytelling foundation to generate more interest and provide more value for your stakeholders.

Why Should Government be Interested in Pinterest?

number 5

That’s right, folks. The Internet and technology is no longer the sole purview of the young. In this post, we take on the idea that you can’t reach older demographics with digital means. That’s bollocks, as the British would say.

“Studies show that senior citizens are fast adopting email as one of their primary methods of digital interaction and communication. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 87% of senior citizens use email and search engines, while the Nielsen Company found that checking email was the primary online activity for 88.6% of seniors.”

If that’s not a prime reason to review your communications strategy and ensure that you’re using your digital communications to reach a broad spectrum of stakeholders, take a look at this post to find out which age group uses digital technology to do what (i.e. to get email, to use a search engine, to look for health information, etc.) The statistics will surprise you!

Tech-Savvy Senior Citizens on the Rise

number 6

The title says it all. Here’s a guide to help you with the best practices we’ve found in utilizing digital communications to reach your stakeholders and the public.

The post talks about why the guide is important and some of the strategies used by well-known public sector organizations. In fact, the guide’s been accessed more than 8,500 times since it was released last April.

The guide itself is a pretty deep dive into what works for digital communications, culled from over a decade of work with government organizations worldwide. If you don’t have the time to sit down to read it all, why not download it and try to tackle one tip or trick a week?

Digital Communication Best Practices Guide Now Available

number 7

Our friend and professional colleague, Steve Ressler, Founder of GovLoop, allowed us to share his thoughts on internal communications.

In the world of Gov 2.0 and Web 2.0, he tackles the next version of internal communications, drawing on current technologies used to communicate with the public to help facilitate internal communications. For instance, Human Resources could use text messages/SMS to remind employees of form deadlines.

As one of the top ten most popular posts of 2012, I think this post speaks to the need not only to reach the public to drive mission value but to reach our own internal audiences to help ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same big goals.

Internal Communications 2.0

number 8

I have to be honest: this was one of my favorite posts from 2012. Why? Because it brought something virtual and often “abstract” or conceptual into something physical that I understood: a shining example of how great communications can be.

In this post, our resident community management expert, Lauren, addresses the question, “How do I design an online community? What’s it supposed to look like?” And her answer is, in my opinion, pretty awesome.

If your government organization has an online community or is even thinking about starting one, take a look at this post. It’s a critical piece to consider when developing a community. Oftentimes, when we think about communities, we consider finding people who are going to be the community managers and hype people; how to keep an online community going; or how to generate discussion – all of which is important. But a clean, easy, and structured online community helps with all of that, and Lauren gives you an easy-to-read road map here.

How to Design an Online Community

number 9

Just a few days ago, Joseph Marks posted a short note about content on government websites, noting that most “dot-govs fail on content, not technology.”

That makes this post increasingly relevant. As a communications person myself, the power of content is becoming more and more apparent. It’s what drives connections between an organization and its audience.

In this post, our Digital Marketing Manager/Guru, Mike Bernard, tackles the idea of content marketing for government and provides ten tips that your organization can start using immediately to leverage the power of content to help meet your agency’s goals and drive mission value. From repurposing content to curation to making content easily shareable, these tactics can help you see an uptick in your outreach programs.

Content Marketing – Government Style

number 10

If you’re remotely interested in government technology, you probably already know the acronym “APIs”. It was hard to miss Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel’s tweet about it.

That’s why I think this post was one of the most-viewed from 2012. In 2013, I’d be surprised if APIs weren’t a continuing hot topic. The integrations available with this technology make it a critical component of the Federal Digital Government Strategy, but even more than that, it allows connections in ways that make government more efficient. What’s not to love?

In this post, Richard Fong, a (master) Technical Implementation Consultant, discusses his work in helping the US National Weather Service (NWS) implement APIs to help get the word out with tsunami warnings. Their API integration with their digital communications tool allows NWS to send out tsunami warning communications more quickly than ever before, helping to save lives in situations where seconds really matter.

It’s a good post to end the list, too, because it’s a great reminder of the crucially important work that government organizations do and how critical communications are in helping organizations meet their mission in serving the public.

National Weather Service Using APIs for Tsunami Alerts

 

So that’s our top ten list of most-viewed blog entries on Reach the Public. Was there one that you found especially insightful that I’ve missed here? Did you find these posts useful? Let me know in the comments!

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Abandoning Facebook

November 14th, 2012 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in Community Management/Engagement | Compelling Content | E-Government | Federal Government | Government 2.0 | Local Government | Social Media | State Government | UK Government - (4 Comments)

Yesterday, ReadWriteWeb posted an article detailing why Dallas Mavericks owner and tech billionaire, Mark Cuban, is taking his social media engagement elsewhere, effectively abandoning Facebook as the Dallas Mavericks’ primary social media tool for connecting with fans. Why?

The short version: “He’s sick of getting hit with huge fees to send messages to his team’s fans and followers.” In fact, Mark tweeted a screenshot of the Mavericks’ Facebook page, showing the option to pay $3,000 to reach 1 million people.

First, some background. If you’re not steeped in social media news (and who really is these days?), Facebook recently changed their algorithm, also known as EdgeRank, which is a formula used to manage which users receive messages on their News Feed. In news stories around the release about a month ago, the changes were noted more as “tweaks,” which were supposed to simply make it “more likely that posts from brands with high engagement get priority placement in feeds over posts with little engagement.”

Facebook Edgerank, Tim SandersImage from Sanders Says

But Mark Cuban, along with many other users, has seen a distinct change in their Facebook activities. A private company designed to help brands manage their EdgeRank score commented on this change, saying,

Over time we’ve seen Reach slowly decrease as more Pages, and more users, create content. The more content that is posted to the news feed, the less likely your Page’s content will reach your fans. Facebook has also been rumored to provide 80% organic content, and “20% paid content in the form of sponsored stories” for Pages. So, tweaks in EdgeRank can cause fluctuations in metrics for brands on Facebook.

And daily Web magazine, Slate, reported yesterday that there was a workaround, detailed in a Washington Post article, but that the workaround was quickly shut down by Facebook after it started gaining buzz.

Facebook Edgerank Promote Story

But aside from all this Facebook-changing-its-algorithm-to-drive-revenue drama, Mark hits on a key point that is critical for government organizations:

The big negative for Facebook is that we will no longer push for likes or subscribers because we can’t reach them all…Brands have invested in getting consumers to like their Facebook page with the presumption that every like is created equal, that the brand can reach the user easily. That is not the case…Facebook has never allowed 100% reach. I think the disconnect is that not everyone realized that they didn’t allow 100% reach. I bet if you asked anyone who has subscribers if their posts reached 100% of their subscribers, they would say yes unless they have seen the dollar box for promoted posts show up. (emphases mine)

reach

Mark makes an incredible point here that is as relevant for the owner of a multimillion-dollar franchise as it is for a government organization.

It’s impossible to ignore Facebook as a communications channel: if you are hoping to connect with citizens where they are, it’s almost a necessity for your organization to have a Facebook presence. But if your communications strategy is built upon the number of likes you receive or number of comments you get on posts, you should rethink what it means to connect with your stakeholders – and the budget you have to do so.

Mark’s decision to move to the Mavericks’ communication efforts to Twitter or Tumblr or even MySpace is based on the realization that, through Facebook, he doesn’t have the kind of direct connections that lead to the incredible reach that he feels is critical to the success of his business and the franchise.

How does this translate into public sector?

Direct connections matter. The breadth of your reach is critical. Again, if your audience is participating in social media, it may be important for you to be there. But fighting through all the noise on social media also means that there are people you want to reach who aren’t getting your messages. What you need are true direct connections with citizens and stakeholders to help meet your organization’s program goals and initiatives.

Mark makes it known that he isn’t removing the Mavericks’ page from Facebook but that he’s going to start driving Facebook fans to Twitter while looking to build out a Mavericks’ brand page on other social media sites. At the end of the day, he knows that reaching those people who’ve already raised their hands to say that they like a brand or an organization is only the start – the true worth of that action is in how easily and directly an organization can communicate and engage with its fans.

What do you think? If your organization is on Facebook, have you seen a decrease in the reach you have with your posts? Would you follow in Mark’s footsteps or rethink your outreach and social media strategy? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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Email vs. Social Media

November 12th, 2012 | Posted by GovDelivery in E-Government | Email Communication | Government 2.0 | Social Media - (1 Comments)

Although email traces its history all the way back to the university system in the late 1960s, it wasn’t until the early 1990s that this simple way of communicating literally changed our lives.

Just as snail mail was eventually superseded by faxes for the highest priority communications in the 1980s, email came roaring into popular use in the 1990s as a way to communicate with others in the fastest way possible.

Suddenly, two or more people could almost instantly pose questions to others, share information (or jokes) and seek consensus on almost any topic. In fact, email was so transformative in the business and personal sphere that it sparked its own set of problems—including spam and the “information overload” that occurred when people could over-share anything at the touch of a button.

Today, in the age of Twitter, Facebook, texting and numerous other information-sharing tools, email may seem quaint. Some people believe email gets lost in the glitz and glamor of other types of information delivery, but in reality, it remains one of the most important ways to share information effectively, in part because of the powerful tools that can be used in conjunction with it.

MediaBistro recently posted an infographic declaring email still the smartest way for savvy marketers to communicate with their audiences.

MediaBistro Infographic: Email vs. Social Media

In an accompanying blog post, “Email Vs. Social Media Marketing—Which One Deserves Your Dollars?” the authors wrote, “Email marketing spend increased by 60 percent in 2012, and that’s because email marketing delivered a return on investment (ROI) of 4,000 percent over that same period.”

How is this possible? Well, in the first place, email has not been superseded by any of the other new social marketing tools. People have not abandoned their email accounts in favor of Twitter or Facebook, but instead, have simply added those new tools to their personal information arsenal. And while the enforced brevity of Twitter’s 140-character limit may prove adequate for some uses, email’s ability to provide more substantive communication remains undimmed.

Add to that the fact that numerous tools exist with which to measure and track the true impact of email communication. Email lists can be easily compiled, and then segregated by users, for instance. With email, users are able to pick and choose among topics in which they have a specific interest. This also allows organizations that use email to communicate to segment their audiences into specific groups based on factors such as location, income, demographics and more.

Organizations that use email to communicate with their respective audiences also have several tangible ways to gauge how successful their communications are. They can track delivery (or bounce) rates; monitor “open” rates, test subject line and from line variants against each other, and finally, definitively see whether or not recipients took action in response to the email blast, such as visiting a web site, signing up for a program or simply clicking through to another forum such as Facebook to learn more.

By being able to tightly control who receives specific information (such as by neighborhood, in the case of city or county organizations, for instance), senders can greatly increase the chance that their emails will be welcome to recipients. Recipients who want email communications on various subjects are receptive to these messages because of their immediacy and relevance to their lives.

Coupling an email strategy with tools such as GovDelivery Digital Communication Management, provides organizations with a powerful one-two punch to effectively communicate with their audiences and also to measure the impact of their email campaigns.

Integrated Platform

In fact, a recent study examining the impact of email in various industries and market segments showed that government-originated email communications maintain the highest level of effectiveness for both opens and click-throughs.

Using email as part of an integrated communications plan that also includes other social media marketing remains central to a powerful, cost-effective communications strategy that delivers information to users in the way that’s most efficient for them.

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Curbing Future Terrorists with Online Engagement

September 26th, 2012 | Posted by GovDelivery in Community Management/Engagement | E-Government | Federal Government | Government 2.0 - (0 Comments)

By John Simpson, Federal Consultant, GovDelivery

LaptopOver the weekend,  Politico published an opinion article on how the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) within the U.S. Department of State uses social media and web forums to engage with potential radical groups to help influence them against violence or becoming a part of terrorist organizations. Unlike commercial marketing teams that use social media to convince potential customers to buy a product, the CSCC doesn’t try to convince its audience the virtue of U.S. policies and Western values. It reaches out to this small minority of mostly young men “who are vulnerable to the enticements of terror organizations or easily mobilized by the acts of marginal players.” Instead of focusing on countries or religious ideology, the CSCC pushes the conversation to the tangible consequences of terrorism and the victims of these acts. By creating doubt about its effectiveness and relevancy, the CSCC hopes to shrink the number of terrorists.

Ultimately, the CSCC pushes for a proactive approach instead of a reactive response, “to change behaviors before they reach the point of violence.” While not every government organization is interacting with radical and borderline violent audiences, most have at some point dealt with a dissatisfied constituent or stakeholder and know that simply filing away complaint emails don’t solve the root problem. If the State Department can use social media and web forums to reach out to agitated foreigners, surely other government organizations can do the same with American citizens and interact with stakeholders where they live and through tools they’re already using before they become disillusioned with the government’s role in our lives.

Although many do not have the staff or time to connect with their stakeholders individually, agencies can use solutions that allow for the public to sign up for email or SMS alerts on topics that are important to them, allowing agencies to actively communicate to that unique group of subscribers. Allowing this self-subscription option allows for offices to target their audience in the digital channel of their choice with personalized messages on the topics they’re most interested in. This kind of personalized messaging and communication can be and should be done in conjunction with social media channels like Facebook or Twitter to cast a wider net and increase the likelihood of a more engaged audience.

While the process of engagement through inventive online avenues is still evolving in many agencies, the CSCC’s work shines as an example of how putting your organization’s mission online and implementing initiatives through the tools your audience uses can help change the conversation from blind animosity to constructive conversations.

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4 Ways Your Organization Can Use Facebook’s New Page Features

August 14th, 2012 | Posted by GovDelivery in E-Government | Government 2.0 | Social Media - (0 Comments)

This summer, Facebook has released several new features for Facebook Pages that allow organizations more control over creating, releasing and managing content and messages. The newest features include scheduled page posts, unpublished page posts, and page admin permissions for third-party apps.

  • Scheduling posts is a feature previously available to Page administrators using third-party solutions, like HootSuite, to create a post and designate a date and time for publication. The new scheduling feature allows post scheduling to be centrally managed within Facebook.
  • “Unpublished Page Posts” are posts released on a limited basis to a target segment of the Page’s audience, such as a specific age demographic.
  • Page admin permissions allow your Page administrator to grant levels of access for managing the Page, which can now be applied to third-party apps.

For government agencies, these new features can be leveraged to connect with citizens on topics they are most interested in and reach them when they are most likely to be online. Here are four specific ways your government org can try out the new Pages features today.

Manage Posts Up to Six Months in Advance

Facebook’s scheduling tool allows you to create and schedule posts for future times between ten minutes from the time of creation up to six months in advance. These posts can later be rescheduled or deleted. Government organizations can take advantage of this feature by strategically creating “inventory” of content ahead of time. Writing and scheduling these posts can be a regular task outside of urgent projects, especially for organizations that work around a “busy season” or a seasonal increase in projects.

The scheduled content can be scheduled and re-scheduled to ensure timely and relevant content is consistently released to citizens, even during times when your communications staff may be strapped for time or content. For example, a post linking to summer safety tips could be created in advance and scheduled for the week after the Fourth of July, when you know most of your staff will be out on vacation. The post could then be rescheduled for another date if additional content becomes available.

Schedule Posts at Times that Maximize Reach of Your Organization’s Message

The ability to schedule Page posts allows you to release a post at the time when you expect the most citizens to be online and looking for the information you are providing. For example, perhaps you have noticed that more users “Like” and comment on your organization’s posts about weekend community events when they are shared on Thursday afternoons, but you usually have time to work on Facebook content on Mondays. You could create and schedule event-related Page posts during Monday mornings, and use Facebook’s features to reschedule or delete the posts as-needed as the weekend approaches.

Run Segmented Message Campaigns with Sponsored “Unpublished Page Posts”

Facebook’s new “Unpublished Page Posts” allow organizations to create posts that, instead of being shared widely and publicly, are shared via the sponsored post feature on Facebook that allows targeting of specific market segments. Organizations willing to pay Facebook’s fee for sponsored posts can now share information with citizens that is tailored to their specific interests, making the organization more approachable to the target audience. For example, your organization could sponsor a post on your area’s fall-time tourist information campaign and “advertise” to individuals who do not live in the area.

Create Roles and Permissions for Page Admins

Roles and permissions for Page admins are more of a “behind the scenes” feature than those previously mentioned. They allow you to share the responsibility of your agency’s Facebook Page for better engagement and improved content. Given the resources, your organization could enlist resources to manage certain aspects of your Page. For example, an intern could take on the responsibility of managing comments and reporting on insights, while another member of your communications department focuses on creating and scheduling content in order to maximize interaction with the public based on the intern’s feedback. Third-party apps can also be granted limited permissions in order to gain monitoring or content management without giving up too much access.

The new Facebook Page features give government agencies powerful tools for reaching the public and starting meaningful conversations. Has your organization tried out scheduling posts, creating segmented message campaigns, or adding Page Admin roles? We would love to hear all about your experience in the comments!

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3 Not-So-Obvious Email Tips for Government to Effectively Reach Citizens

May 24th, 2012 | Posted by Lauren Modeen for GovDelivery in Email Communication | Social Media - (1 Comments)

I’d venture to say that for most of us working in or with government, the more people we can reach effectively, the better off we are. Here are three not-so-obvious ways to do this. For additional best practices like this, be sure to download our newly released guide: Public Sector Digital Management Communication: The Critical Role of Email. And for real-time tips we invite you to join our upcoming Public Sector Communication Best Practices webinar on June 7. Reserve your complimentary seat now!

1. Capture Subscribers at Exciting or Critical Times

One of the best times to capture subscribers is during an exciting or critical time for your organization. For example, in early 2012, Seattle experienced four straight days of snow and ice. Citizens in King County poured onto the county’s metro transit home page to get the critical information they needed about the storm. The takeaway? At a time where there is a huge increase of citizens on your site, make sure you seize the opportunity to sign up as many as you can. Once you are connected to them, you can proactively communicate in the future.

How about a baby Wild Black Bear just born in a den in Maine? While this exciting event was happening, the Wildlife Research Foundation live-streamed the event. As excited users came to their page to view the live-streaming, the Foundation encouraged visitors to subscribe to their bulletins.

2. Drive Sign-ups through Your Social Channels by Just Asking

Sometimes we get so caught up in thinking of the perfect tweet, Facebook post, or subject line, we forget that sometimes the easiest way to ask citizens to subscribe to emails is simply to just remind them and ask. Check out this very simple but effective tweet sent out by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton.

Oh, and when trying to spread your message even further, it’s not a bad idea to add to your (tweet) — “Please Retweet.” While there is some debate around this in terms of data versus “gut,” this Hubspot data does point to the fact that “Please retweet” is the 11th most retweetable word.

3. Hook Your Subscribers Where They Are

When considering where to place subscription sign-up links on your website, always remember to review your website analytics first. For the pages that have the most popular and vital content – place your sign-up link on that page, in the top left. Take a look at the great example of a sign-up box on the LouisvilleKy.gov site below.

 

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Email Communications for Government in the Era of Social Media

May 15th, 2012 | Posted by Mary Yang for GovDelivery in E-Government | Email Communication | Government 2.0 | Social Media - (3 Comments)

It’s hard to dispute that 2011 was the year of social media. The average number of tweets on Twitter rose from 50 million to 140 million. LinkedIn set records as the largest Internet IPO since Google. And over half of Facebook’s 845 million users logged in daily. Some headlines even claimed that “email is dead.”

But the truth is, even in the midst of a social media revolution, email communications is more important than ever. In the private sector, email marketing continues to provide a relatively high ROI, with an expected $44.25 average return on a dollar by the end of 2011 according to the Direct Marketing Association. A majority of companies expect to increase their email marketing budget this year, and for many companies, email delivers more traffic to their website than any other traffic source. And while you don’t work in the private sector, your goal to communicate your organization’s message is similar.

Email remains and will remain popular as a source to receive information that’s easily searchable. Plus, email works across platforms – a user on Gmail can send a message to Hotmail or Yahoo Mail. In contrast, content on social media may remain more isolated with no universal sharing or searching.

For government organizations, the smart response to the changing face of digital communications is to recognize that while social media will not result in the “death of email” anytime soon, it has certainly changed the way people use it. Your organization must adapt to the new ways your audience seeks out, consumes and responds to online content. Key trends in email and social media that will impact your organization’s communications efforts include:

  • Social media users are significantly more likely to frequently check their email. What are you doing to encourage your social media followers to subscribe to your emails, and vice versa? How are you targeting your communications for this group of users?
  • Younger users are leaving web-based email but simultaneously driving the growth of email usage on smart phones and tablets. How are you updating your communications to reach mobile users?
  • Email will continue to be popular with users who appreciate predictability and reliability. Consider what your audience expects from your communication outreach campaigns and preserve the elements that work.

What is your government organization trying to accomplish with their digital communications efforts? Reach a wider audience? Keep citizens informed? Consider the topics that will spark interest with your readers, how readers will be most likely to respond, and what delivery method will provide messages that are both relevant and timely. Will your message be best received through email, social media or both?

For more information on why government organizations should consider an integrated email and social media marketing approach, check out all of GovDelivery’s blog posts on email communication and social media.

What is your agency doing to strengthen email communications in the social media era?

 

 

Inspiration for blog post from “Why Social Shouldn’t Scare Email Marketers“.

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