technology | Reach The Public

Innovation & Government: Don’t Be Intimidated by the Big “I” Word (Edison Wasn’t)

As I thought about the subject of these two words thrown together, I thought about different analogies I could use in order to put a fun visual to the idea. One thought that came to mind was imagining that Innovation and Government were high school kids in the hierarchy of popularity. Government might very well be intimidated by Innovation, who seems worldly and magnetic. While Government may be very caring and intelligent with a lot to say, it doesn’t quite know how to communicate efficiently. From Government’s point of view, Innovation appears to be an elusive, more glamorous creature that everyone wants to be like.

Flashing back to reality: government may still have a reputation for being behind when it comes to innovation and technology, but innovation needn’t be intimidating. Innovation often comes in small waves at a time. It begins with a slight change, an observation that eventually turns into action.

The three things that are most essential to achievement are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness….. -Thomas Edison

Innovation comes from many a series of trial and error. Triumph and defeat. Triumph and defeat. Defeat. And more defeat. Pay attention to how your customer is using your “product” per se. Are they using it the way you would expect? Are they doing, or searching for, something that you already offer, but that your organization doesn’t clearly communicate?

The company IDEO understood this idea when they were asked to design a new cap for the Crest Neat Squeeze toothpaste tube. The goal was to design a cap that reduced the leftover toothpaste gunk. They came up with a plan to make a cap that was a pop-on, pop-off design. Both the team and client were excited about this design, but after conducting a focus group with prototypes, they discovered that people kept trying to screw off the caps, getting very frustrated in the process. So they decided to try a one-twist method approach, or “half” of their innovation. The new cap was a hit with Crest and its customers.

If you work in the public sector, your product may be license renewals, passport applications, hunting licenses, or critical information in times of emergencies.

Like with any goal setting structure, attacking your goal head-on might seem intimidating at first. Follow these steps as a starting point.

Look at the big picture. What is your organization’s mission? If you’re not sure, find out. Before you can begin to truly communicate effectively, you need to know where your organization stands and what they stand for.

Who do you want to reach? Do you have particular segments within a certain community that you’d like to reach? Take the time to really think about this one. Drivers between the ages of 18 and 24? Veterans and warfighters? Hunters and fishers? Take a cue from successful advertisers and develop personas of your customer. To use the above example, create one for the driver, the veteran, and the hunter. Read more in GovLoop’s recent blog, “Want to engage online? Put people first.”

Have you already tried reaching citizens via traditional methods, such as through paper mailings or by attempting to keep your website up-to-date, and found that it isn’t reaching the people you want to reach? Something to chew on: 94% of adults are using email for information (Pew Research, 2010) and “43% of email is now opened on a mobile device” (Litmus, Email Analytics, 2012). With these facts, it’s worth exploring the implementation of a comprehensive digital communications platform to maximize your organization’s reach. To find out more about GovDelivery’s Digital Communications Management (DCM), click here.

What do they want? Do the citizens you’re serving want more information on calendar events or news? Do they want the ability to sign up for direct alerts via their email or phones? Add a feature to your website that allows people to sign up for various topics as well as a feature that allows them to give you feedback on what other information or services they would like from you.

Don’t be afraid of a series of trial and error. Some of history’s best innovators seemingly “stumbled” upon an innovation after numerous failures.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. -Thomas Edison

Want to read more? Here are four great quick reads on innovation.

Citizen Engagement, communication, community, content, digital government, engagement, Facebook, GovDelivery, government, innovation, outreach, responsiveness, social media, technology

3 Ways Peer-to-Peer Services Will Rock Government’s World

Last week, I was able to attend the 2013 Personal Democracy Forum in New York City. This conference and community is about the present and future impact of digital technologies on our democracy. While listening to many of the thought-provoking and passionate presentations, there were a few different ideas that really spoke to me. Here are three that I wanted to share with you:

1) Yelp reviews will drive massive improvements in government customer service.

Luther Lowe, Director of Government Affairs & Business Outreach at Yelp, says that 85% of reviews on Yelp are positive. Yelp is already being used in a widespread manner to review consumer-facing government services. Reviews on your local library, your state’s Driver & Motor Vehicle (DMV) department, Social Security office, libraries, and parks at all levels already exist. This trend should be nurtured. When you visit a local newspaper website or blog, the comments are more than 75% negative or even rancid. On Yelp, users focus on government services rather than policy or politics and are often impressed with the competence and quality of the service providers. By calling attention to the positive and constructive comments, public sector managers can nurture the customer service mindset of citizen-facing staff and help connect staff to the impact of their work.

Check out these awesome Yelp reviews of the DMV (called Driver and Vehicle Services here in Minnesota) near my house.

What your organization can do: Start posting “Find and review us on Yelp” stickers at customer service counters, as many restaurants are doing. Encourage staff to monitor Yelp reviews to learn how users perceive service and to help identify ways to improve service.

Extra tip: Look at the LIVES approach on Yelp as a way to incorporate data government creates on restaurants into online reviews.

Digital outreach: Reflect and respond. You can write short blog entries and send out messages to the public promoting your Yelp reviews, how you’ve reacted to them and encourage residents to provide feedback either directly to your organization or through Yelp.

2) Waze (soon to be acquired by Google) and other travel efficiency services will reduce traffic, saving billions in lost productivity, lowering green house gases, and reducing road construction costs.

Waze provides a mobile app that allows users to “Outsmart traffic, together.” It’s an amazing system that combines route optimization, user reports of traffic and obstacles, location-based analysis of traffic flow, along with many other sources of data to suggest the most efficient way to move from Point A to Point B. Imagine if every user improves commuting efficiency by just 5%. This is a potentially stunning impact.

What your organization can do: Make sure traffic and road construction data is easily accessible to third party services like Waze, either through open data or application programming interfaces (APIs), and encourage the public to embrace these new technologies.

Digital outreach: Consider ways to connect email and SMS alerts to these third party services so that your customers can get alerts directly or within these applications. In addition, consider certifying and promoting traffic services that use government data effectively.

3) Kickstarter will launch thousands of new business ideas yearly.

As someone who has had to run through hundreds of meetings under the old school funding model for new ideas, I truly appreciate Kickstarter. I have watched friends raise money to help launch a new restaurant and a new children’s toy using Kickstarter. Not only does Kickstarter provide much-needed funding, it also provides a direct connection to potential customers rather than the previous models of having a bank or investor make guesses at whether an entrepreneur’s business plan has potential to attract paying customers.

What your organization can do: Add training about crowdfunding to small business courses at the public library and career center to ensure more people know about and can access these opportunities. Consider using crowdfunding to support government projects using government-focused services such as Citizinvestor (see this awesome presentation from founder, Jordan Raynor here).

Digital outreach: Use existing outreach channels such as email, SMS, and social media to promote any nonprofit or government-sponsored crowdfunding projects and look for ways to support and promote local entrepreneurs and artists running Kickstarter projects without picking favorites.

Andrew Rasiej, Founder, and Micah Sifry, co-Founder, of Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) along with many others at PDF, do a brilliant job of bringing together some of the biggest thinkers on these issues, and I’m thankful to have been able to attend the conference. Look for more posts by me on some of the insights gained from this conference. In the meantime, find all PDF videos here, including this awesome presentation on Powered by Us: Architecting Policy for a Connected from Nick Grossman.

APIs, CEO GovDelivery, Citizen Engagement, citizinvestor, communication, community, customer service, engagement, government services, innovation, kickstarter, local government, nick grossman, outreach, responsiveness, Scott Burns, technology, waze, yelp

What’s Next In Digital Communications- Upcoming Webinar

Among the vast majority of choices that are available to us on a recurring daily basis, the idea of choosing “correctly” can seem exhausting and never-ending. “Sushi or that amazing taco salad at that one place around the corner?” “Should I send the kids to public or private school?” “When is the best time to send that email so that I can actually reach a group of 30,000 stakeholders?”

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little help in making the right decision?

Working as a communications professional in a government organization can be a challenge. With ongoing budget constraints and often seemingly limited digital resources, you may not be quite sure how you can most efficiently and effectively reach specific citizens when you need to. There may be situations where you want to reach a large number of community members, and there may be other situations where you need to reach a specific area that will be affected by a tornado, for example. Particularly in the latter instance, you want to have a system in place that allows your organization to get the necessary information out as quickly as possible, and to as many people who will be affected as possible.

With technology constantly evolving and so many options in social media platforms, you may be wondering, “How can I find what methods will work best for my organization?”

Jennifer Kaplan, Product Marketing Manager of GovDelivery, is hoping to help with tips on what’s next in digital communications, and how you can use technology to leverage resources and data you already have to better communicate with your stakeholders. During this upcoming webinar, she will discuss how you can use social media as a tool kit and the multiple benefits of cross-promotion, with examples from other government organizations who have found ways to effectively use digital communications as a means to save both time and organizational costs.

Featured Speaker: Jennifer Kaplan
Product Marketing Manager, GovDelivery

Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Time: 2:00pm Eastern, 11:00am Pacific
Length: 60 minutes
Cost: Free

Citizen Engagement, communications, digital government, engagement, GovDelivery, Jennifer Kaplan, local government, outreach, responsiveness, social media, technology, what's next in digital communications, when is the best time to send an email

Insights for Government Organizations: Responding to Public Opinion with 2013 Trends

The results of a national survey recently released by the Pew Research Center reveals that favorable approval ratings for state and local government continued this year while opinions of the federal government hit a new low. The survey conducted this March with 1,501 adults from all 50 states resulted in positive ratings across party lines for state and local governments overall, but the lowest percentage ever of favorable opinions for the federal government. Just 28% rated the federal government favorably, down five points from last year’s survey, while 63% had a favorable opinion of local government and 57% looked well on their state government.

The survey provides detailed breakdowns on approval ratings across levels of government, including how a decrease in approval from both Democratic and Republican citizens has hurt public opinion of the federal government. Other ratings centered around the state and local level, where partisan makeup of state government matters but governments get similarly positive ratings across party lines for politically divided state governments. How can government agencies and organizations respond to new information and sometimes-critical public opinion?

Improving public opinion and customer service to citizens at all levels hinges on improving communication and collaboration both within party lines and across them, and within government and externally with the public. The federal government can answer negative feedback by placing a renewed focus on citizen customer service, responsiveness and collaboration. For government organizations at all levels, improving visibility to citizen needs and leveraging new tools and technologies to respond to those opportunities can assist in getting a handle on citizen perception and delivering real-time solutions in today’s world.

While the Pew research sheds light on citizen opinions, a recent GovDelivery survey identifies trends within government including collaboration, customer service, mobile government, big data and cybersecurity at the local, state and federal levels. Over 400 individuals in U.S. state and local government organizations and over 200 individuals in U.S. federal agencies and departments were surveyed, and the results are enlightening for any government organization looking to enhance their work with the public. The top trends that will impact government organizations at every level include mobile government, customer service and collaboration:

Mobile Government and Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD)

For government organizations, mobile access to government information and services has become more important than ever on both internal and external fronts. Internal access to applications and data through employee’s own devices can improve responsiveness to citizen needs and reduce costs to provide devices to government employees. External information distribution through mobile technologies and applications is on the rise, too.

A survey by Foresee in 2012 reported that one-third of citizens accessing federal government website are logging in from phones or tablets, and utilizing mobile technology can be critical for communicating time-sensitive messages and alerts. While more than half of GovDelivery’s survey respondents listed mobile/BYOD as a top trend, only 39 percent at the federal level said their agencies were currently addressing the issue. Especially in light of a new mandate from the Digital Government Strategy for federal agencies to enable mobile access to priority customer-facing services, federal government needs to find new ways to engage with both citizens and internal employees to maximize collaboration and improve customer satisfaction.

At the state and local level, organizations face similar challenges in implementing internal mobile access through platforms like BYOD and cloud computing and sharing information with mobile-enabled external channels like SMS and mobile apps. Mobile technologies are being embraced by government employees and citizens at a fast pace, creating opportunities for communication and generating new requirements for processes and policies just as quickly. Getting a handle on mobile and personal devices is becoming a requirement for all types of government organizations that prioritize customer service and collaboration.

Renewed Focus on Citizen Customer Service

As citizens’ perspectives shift on the federal government, the federal organizations have felt the pressure to prioritize quality citizen customer service. Focus around customer service has led to the Digital Government Strategy mandate around improving customer service through digital technologies; however, only half of the surveyed federal government workers reported using social media to communicate with the public. Meanwhile, over 60% county and state employees and almost 80% of city employees are using social media to share information. The federal government can capitalize on this untapped opportunity by turning to social media, SMS, email and apps to deliver integrated communications and customer service in the coming year.

State and local agencies working with lean budgets and close relationships with constituents and taxpayers need to put communication with customers first. Prioritizing customer service through digital channels like social media, email and text messaging facilitates broad communication with citizens and helps these organizations zero in on “low hanging fruit” to improve service levels. All types of government organizations benefit from improvements in collaboration when determining how to best deliver customer service.

Heightened Levels of Collaboration Fueled by Tools and Technology

New digital tools and technologies; increased demand for productivity and efficiency improvements from government organizations; and a new generation of individuals entering the workforce have converged to enable new levels of collaboration in government. Federal government agencies are now driving collaboration both internally with other agencies and externally with citizens through new tools, policies and processes.

Collaboration for local government employees can involve working between local, state and federal organizations to implement programs and drive critical priorities like public safety and public health. While most individuals at the state or local level feel that collaboration is being addressed by their organizations already, there is still room for improvement in utilizing new technologies like social media and other digital channels.

Inter-agency collaboration is expanding to include internal communications, working behind-the-scenes with other agencies and combined efforts on communication with the public. External collaboration is now taking place on social media channels, interactive communities and public forums. To take advantage of many of these new technologies, government organizations need to identify and implement new technologies while establishing policies and processes to manage communication and interactions with the public. These efforts will ultimately enhance and enable broad collaboration with stakeholders in the digital age and help increase customer satisfaction.

The good news for government organizations at every level is that information about citizen concerns and industry trends is more available than ever. The most recent news on public opinion and trends affecting government work reveal that these issues are all tightly related. Implementing mobile solutions for government; focusing technology and social media implementations around customer service; and improving internal, inter-agency, and public collaboration are all part of the solution for government organizations working on initiatives to better serve the public.

To view the complete list of survey categories and rankings and to learn more how the public sector can act on the top trends in government, download GovDelivery’s white papers below:

Top 2013 Trends for Federal Agencies

2013 Trends for State and Local Government

BYOD, collaboration, communication, community, data, digital government, foresee, GovDelivery, innovation, local government, mobile, outreach, Pew Research Center, technology

Insights on Successful Emergency Communication Plans from Adelaide O’Brien, Smart Government Strategies Research Director

In today’s world, government agencies need to leverage digital platforms to provide better customer service to citizens, especially in times of emergency. Organizations with more responsive emergency communications reach the public quickly and effectively during natural disasters and other threats to citizens and property. GovDelivery recently interviewed Adelaide O’Brien, research director of Smart Government Strategies for IDC Government Insights, about the importance of sophisticated emergency communications. Her research on innovative government services delivery gives her deep experience in the strategies agencies can use to develop effective emergency communication plans.

Adelaide answered questions about how consistent use of government communications systems enables organizations to react quickly and effectively in the face of emergencies. Emergency scenarios provide challenges to government agencies that need to provide timely and key information during times of risk and unpredictable network availability. Without effective communications tools, governments are limited in utilizing their vast resources to benefit citizens. Many emergency notification systems are only used once or twice a year, but need to be available, capable and reliable during those emergencies.

An integrated digital communications system including Web, email, SMS, voice, video and social media support is the best way government agencies can prepare for sharing information and monitoring public response during a crisis. Communication tools like social media and email have the power to extend the reach of official government information and in the case of emergencies, ensure citizen safety and aid in community recovery. Instead of one-way information streams and rapid dissemination of incorrect information typical of traditional communication methods, a multichannel emergency communication approach enables interactivity between the public and official information sources.

To find out more about the latest digital strategy and technology solutions necessary for next-generation government agency emergency communications, read the full interview here.

Adelaide O'Brien, better customer service, communications, community, digital communications system, digital government, emergency communication plans, engagement, GovDelivery, innovative government, mobile, outreach, reach the public, responsive emergency communications, responsiveness, Smart Government Strategies for IDC Government Insights, social media, technology

Integrating Government Social Media and Email Communications

In previous blogs you’ve heard about how government organizations are embracing digital communication channels – replacing traditional face-to-face and paper-based methods – to share information with citizens and other stakeholders. In fact, Britain’s coalition government announced last month that it would be providing ‘Twitter exclusives’ to journalists to bolster its social media image and help prevent the spread of negative stories. But is Twitter alone the most effective way for the government to communicate with citizens and the media?

Social Media Use = More Email Communication

While Twitter may be an extremely useful tool in relaying updates to a wide group of people instantaneously, it has limitations. The pace at which Twitter updates occur means that updates could disappear from the top position in feeds within seconds, depending on the number of individuals and organizations citizens and media outlets follow. How can government organizations create a more lasting impression? A Nielsen study revealed that social media use actually makes people consume email more, not less – particularly for the highest social media users. That means social media users are looking for information that supplements what they see on Twitter, and email can help meet this need by providing enhanced content.

Multiple Channels – One Message

Instead of relying solely on Twitter, governments should utilize a comprehensive digital communications strategy that incorporates multiple channels to get the word out as quickly and broadly as possible. Email, with its broad user base and ease of accessibility, needs to be a vital component in this comprehensive strategy. Email also delivers the greatest value when it’s part of an integrated platform of communication tools. That means organizations should link outbound email with Twitter and other social media channels to provide a consistent and effective experience. Accordingly, the growth in available social media outlets has only reinforced the importance of email’s role as a reliable and foundational communications channel.

Seamless Communication Vehicles, Multiple Benefits

Implementing an integrated digital communications strategy can provide government organizations with a number of benefits, such as reduced costs and improved delivery to citizens and other stakeholders. Most importantly, by using a variety of communication channels, the public gets the information they want, when they want it and how they want it.

To learn more about how to effectively integrate email with social media, download the following two white papers written by Liz Azyan, an independent researcher and blogger specializing in government communication and online engagement:

The best practices and case studies outlined in these white papers will demonstrate how utilizing a comprehensive set of digital communication solutions will help enhance government interaction with the public – whether citizens or the media.

Britain's coalition, communication, communications, content, email, engagement, Integrating Email in Government Communications, Integrating Social Media in Government Communications, Liz Azyan, multiple channels, Nielsen study, outreach, responsiveness, social media, technology, Twitter, UK Government

2013 Best Practices in Digital Communications- Upcoming Webinar

Keeping up with the latest in digital communication tools and strategies can be a challenge in any organization. As a government communications professional, you probably face additional unique challenges as well. Being able to effectively reach particular groups of people in emergencies, for example, is one situation that can mean the difference between life and death.

How do you keep up? Learning and collaborating with other agencies who are successfully handling some of the same challenges is one way. Recently, we were fortunate to have some of the most innovative and successful government communicators from around the country share their tips on best practices in digital communications at our 2013 Digital Communications Tour.

As a result of the positive response, we’re bringing back some of the most popular panelists, plus a couple new ones, to the last webinar event for the tour on Wednesday. With a open question and answer format, these government communicators will be on hand to answer your questions, from best practices for maximizing direct connections with the public to using communications to drive mission value to what social media strategies have been successful.

“We’re excited to have these government digital communications visionaries share their deep expertise, as well as their most successful tactics for reaching more people than ever before, streamlining complex communications and engaging the public to create lasting value.”
(Scott Burns, CEO and co-founder of GovDelivery)

Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Time: 12:00pm Eastern, 9:00am Pacific
Length: 90 minutes
Cost: Free

This event is open to all government employees and contractors. To register for this complimentary event, click here.

2013 Digital Communications Tour, Andrew Hoff, communication, communications, community, content, digital government, engagement, GovDelivery, innovation, Jenna Covey, Jeremy Bertrand, Melissa Jordan, responsiveness, Sara VonBargen, technology, Webinar

Vine: Government’s 6 Seconds to Shine

May 24th, 2013 | Posted by Anna Stroncek for GovDelivery in Community Management/Engagement | Social Media | Tech | Usability - (1 Comments)

It’s likely that you have heard of Vine in recent months. For those of you who haven’t (or who have, but aren’t exactly sure what it is) Vine is a mobile app by Twitter that allows users to create and post short, 6 second video clips. In turn, the videos can be uploaded, shared and embedded into a variety of social networking channels like Twitter and Facebook.

Vine made its debut in January of 2013 and was met with mixed reviews. While some were excited about the potential that Vine presented, others were skeptical of what could truly be accomplished in 6 seconds and what types of videos would be created. However, as of April 2013, Vine became the most downloaded free app in Apple’s IOS App Store.

The way Vine works is simple. Videos are recorded and created with Vine’s in-app camera (the camera on one’s mobile device or smartphone). The camera only records while the screen is being touched, allowing various shots or snippets to be mashed together for up to six seconds. The video & audio are then looped together, forming a Vine that plays continuously. These Videos are able to be instantly uploaded to Twitter or Facebook and posted on Vine for followers to see.

As adaption to Vine continues, many people are attempting to figure out what the best use of Vine is. While the six second maximum presents a challenge to some, it also cultivates creativity and allows for messages to extend beyond Twitter’s 140 characters.

Government and Vine

As of April 1^st the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) new media office announced that it had officially created government-friendly terms of service with Vine. As agencies and organizations create Vine profiles, they will be added to the Federal Social Media Registry, verifying official government social media accounts and distinguishing them from any fake ones.

So just because government can Vine, should it? I believe they should. While it may not be the most efficient way to send out important data and information, Vine opens a new door of communication and engagement with the public. While most communication between government and citizens is information focused, filled with text, data and some images, Vine allows citizens to engage with government in a completely different way and to see what is actually happening in government.

Vine takes a more “fun” approach to engaging with citizens and enables organizations to showcase their inner workings and share footage of things we would normally be unable to see, such as NASA’s visual tracking of Hurricane Sandy across the East Coast.

Since its release in January, various government agencies and employees have taken to Vine and have begun to experiment with it. Health.Data.gov posted a series of Vines during the 2013 Health and Human Services Innovates Awards and used Vine to promote and invite people to the Health DataPalooza in June.

My personal favorite government Vine was posted by California Congressman, Mark Takano, back in February. Takano chose Vine to offer up an inside look into his work in the House, featuring a Vine of him submitting his first bill.

The six second video showcases Takano’s steps from his initial signing of the bill to riding the Capitol subway, and concludes with him handing the bill in.

For government, the biggest struggle I see is similar to what other businesses are facing- deciding what to Vine. Six seconds is short and it can be a challenge to creatively think of things citizens would actually want to see or what messages could successfully be shared in six seconds. However, I think this is perfect for government communicators, who are constantly striving to simplify their organization’s message and share its most important points of information. To help begin the brainstorming process, I have come up with a few ideas of how government could begin to use Vine.

Introductions. So often citizens think of government as a compilation of organizations and agencies or entities. Rarely do we directly associate with individuals within organizations or think about what their office may be like. By taking to Vine, organizations can post 6-second introduction videos of various leaders and employees throughout the organization, putting faces to the organization’s name and making government a little more “personable”. You can also create Vine shots of any fun happenings taking place at your office. This allows citizens to see inside the organization and an opportunity to witness a more “fun” side to government.

Ceremonies and Events. Government is engaged with a multitude of events at every level. Ribbon cuttings, national nights out, electoral events- these are all great opportunities to Vine and let those who aren’t in attendance in on the action. These Vines also promote what organizations are doing and draw attention to the various causes being celebrated or acknowledged.

Introducing new products. Government can also use Vine to promote their new products, such as mobile apps or online services. Vine allows multiple screen shots to be shown in one video. Showing what the app looks like, where it can be downloaded, and showcasing product hightlights provides promotional opportunities for your organization and learning opportunities for your audience.

How-to Videos. While six seconds may not seem like much, it’s long enough to provide some great how-to information if enough thought has been put into it. In fact, just the other day I watched a Vine and learned how to make a latte, complete with the fancy design on top! Government can use this as an opportunity to show citizens how to do things like sign up for an event, pay a bill online, download an app or use a new online resource. Taking quick 1-2 second shots of each step in the process allows for up to 6 steps to be shown, enough to get a basic how-to instructional across.

Promote Initiatives and Events. Government has lots of initiatives and events to promote. Using Vine to create videos and spread awareness is yet another way to use Vine. Whether it’s national night out or a reminder that tornado sirens will be tested, creating a short video and sharing it on your social networks can bring even more attention to it. You can also use Vine to share public announcements. People need to be kept up to date and Vine videos are both to the point and entertaining. A 6 second vine featuring short clips of various public beaches could be used to announce the official opening of local beaches and lakes and may even inspire some viewers to go.

Engage with Citizens. This is my final idea and a new way to expand the dialogue between citizens and government. Post a Vine that poses a question or promotes a trend and ask citizens to respond with a Vine post of their own. Going back to national night out, ask citizens to vine videos of their neighborhood gatherings and tag it with a special hashtag. Vines can also be useful for citizens to communicate problems with government. If a citizen sees a problem or situation they are unhappy with, they could create a Vine and share it with you via a tag on Facebook or mention on Twitter.

Hopefully the above list inspires some thought around the adaption and use of Vine. I would love to hear any additional ideas you might have or how organizations are already using Vine today. Let us know what you think.

analytics, communication, communications, community, digital government, engagement, Facebook, Gov 2.0, government, GSA, Health.Data.gov, local government, Mark Takano, NASA, outreach, responsiveness, social media, technology, Twitter, U.S. General Services Administration, Vine

How to Gain Subscribers During Special Events

Many government organizations and agency departments plan and promote special events or seasonal occasions that relate to the constituency they serve and support. Highlighting these events through communications and digital content provides a fun and timely way to interact with the public, and can even serve as a platform for gaining subscribers and engaging citizens long-term.

The Environmental Protection Agency replaced its normal home page with specially designed interactive presentations to commemorate Earth Day. The overlay, which included a stunning photo of Earth from space, was a visually pleasing way to inform the public about Earth Day and related events the EPA was sponsoring. The special home page provided slide shows, links to events for volunteers, and an invitation to send in photos from home.

While the EPA’s Earth Day home page is a great example of tailoring digital content to inform and educate stakeholders on issues that impact an organization’s mission, the organization missed a prime opportunity to offer an easy opt-in for email alerts. An out-of-the-ordinary web element like a special home page or highlighted overlay is one of the best ways government communicators can spark interest from a visitor and subsequently call attention to the proactive digital communications offered by the organization. Techniques such as these can even double or triple sign-ups to subscriber lists.

A sign-up form or link is easy to add on to a specially designed event home page and offers a convenient call-to-action for visitors attracted by special event information. This approach leverages the additional traffic that might result from a special event and also maximizes the long-term impact of the short-term custom content by offering ongoing email updates to visitors with specific interests.

On special days or events such as Earth Day, agencies like the EPA can turn new visitors looking for event-specific information into stakeholders by asking them to subscribe. Be sure to offer updates on a variety of topics, and consider a category of updates for subscribers interested in special events or holiday-related information in particular. Taking advantage of times of peak interest in your department or agency’s website can result in big wins in subscriber numbers and stakeholder engagement.

Has your department tied subscription sign-up opportunities into promotions for special events going on in the community? Share your tips on turning one-time special event visitors into lifetime stakeholders in the comments.

Citizen Engagement, communication, digital government, Earth Day, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Gov 2.0, GovDelivery, outreach, responsiveness, special events, technology

Top 10 Email Don’ts

May 20th, 2013 | Posted by Mike Bernard for GovDelivery in Compelling Content | Email Communication | Mobile | Usability - (1 Comments)

Recently, I wrote an article on how to create mobile-optimized emails. That blog post provided tips on how to improve the experience of reading email on a mobile device, which led me to think about what you shouldn’t do when creating emails.

So, here are some things to keep in mind when putting together your next email:

Don’t copy and paste from a word processing program.
Most word processing programs (such as Microsoft Word) will actually insert a lot of unnecessary, and unseen, code into an HTML email if you cut and paste it into your email software. Oftentimes, this will cause your email to look strange, and you won’t know why. A better solution for cutting and pasting is to paste your text into a basic text editor such as Notepad or the code portion of Dreamweaver. Then copy from the text editor and paste into your email solution. Taking this extra step will strip out unwanted code and make your emails display better in the various clients’ email.
Don’t forget to include “alt image” text.
I know how it goes. We’re all busy. It’s easy to drop an image into an email and move on to the next task without pausing to fill in extra details like the “alt text” on your images. This is a bad habit, so make the effort to break it now. When you skip this important step, your emails will not encourage people to accept images from your organization as well as making it difficult for people with vision problems to decipher your email. Take the extra 5 seconds it takes to enter in alt text. It’s worth it in the long run.
Don’t make your emails too wide.
As I mentioned in my previous post, we are rapidly headed toward the time where the majority of emails will be viewed on a mobile device. To ignore this trend could be the difference between highly engaged readers and a digital ghost town. The old standard for email widths was 600px – 750px. Given the rise in popularity of mobile devices, I would suggest shooting for a standard width in the 350px – 500px range. They will display on mobile devices a lot better and will still look good on a larger desktop screen.
Don’t assume your email will render the same for everyone.
Did you know that, with the number of email clients, browsers and operating systems available, there are literally thousands of ways one individual email can look? Thousands! What can be done about this? First, try to find designs, layouts, fonts, and color schemes that will render well on some of the most common email/OS/browser combinations. For example, how does your email look in Outlook 2007 while running on Windows 7, or in Gmail running on Chrome? If it looks good for the most common possibilities, you can assume it will look OK on the rest. To find out how it will look across multiple combinations, use an email testing service such as Litmus or Email on Acid. These services are inexpensive ways to see how your message will look without spending a lot of time trying to cobble together lots of different systems to test on your own. Also, some email sending systems provide this type of testing as part of the platform.
Don’t use long URLs in the text version of your email.
When you’re creating HTML emails it’s fine to use a long URL, because the link gets hidden in the attribute tag. But, when you check out the text version of your email (you are sending a text version with every HTML version, right??), you may discover that a nice looking “click here” becomes “http://www.youragencyname.gov/files/05012013/web/stories/new/this-is-your-story-that-you-want-to-share99477546.html.”For readers who see the text version of your email, this is not visually appealing or informative. I suggest you go in and edit the text version of your message and use a link shortener, such as Bit.ly or Goo.gl to create something that looks like this: “To learn more about this story, click here: http://goo.gl/n3ZTe.” It will be a much cleaner read for your readers.
Don’t embed video.
Videos are a great way to engage your audience, and I highly recommend that you find creative ways to present your content in a video format. But, please don’t embed a video inside of an email. This will likely get your email to be marked as spam. A better approach is to use an image of one part of your video, such as the title page, and link the image to the video.
Don’t use ALL CAPS.
This one continues to baffle me. Writing in ALL CAPS is internet code for yelling or spam. I thought everyone knew that by now, but I still get at least one email a week where some portion of the email is written in ALL CAPS. If you need to highlight something exciting, choose a larger font, a different color, bold the font. Please don’t capitalize all the letters.
Don’t use monster pictures.
This is related to tip 7. While a nice, high-resolution image will look great when you display it on your 36 inch monitor, it probably doesn’t need to be in your email. Remember to shrink the image to something that’s web-ready. Leaving large images in your email could make them undeliverable if the email bumps up against file size limits. If it does make it into the inbox, the email will still take a long time to load. This can be annoying for people viewing your message on a mobile device. If you do want to offer the large, high-res version of your image, that’s great. Just create a thumbnail for your email and link to a spot where people can download the large version. That way those who want the big picture can still get it.
Don’t use unprofessional fonts.
There really is no place for Comic Sans or Papyrus fonts in professional emails. They just look silly and, depending on if people have that font installed, they may not display correctly. Personally, I prefer a nice sans serif font for emails. Something like Calibri, Arial or Verdana. But you can determine what you think looks professional and matches your brand. This also applies to using more than two different font types in one email, or using multiple colors and sizes. You want people to read your email, so make it easy on their eyes.
Don’t forget etiquette.
It doesn’t matter if it’s an email to your boss or a message you are sending to 75,000 people; following basic email etiquette will go a long way. Here is a great article that lists 25 tips for ensuring you aren’t creating an email faux pas with your messages.

I know some of you are thinking these items are pretty obvious, but you would be amazed at how many emails I get every day that violate one or more of these ‘don’ts’. If this list is basic stuff for you, then you’re probably well on your way to designing compelling emails. If you realized you violated one or more of these principles, then take some of these tips to start improving how you’re communicating with your audience. It’s never too late to start getting better. Remember, as Thomas Edison once said, “There’s a way to do it better – find it.”

communications, digital government, e-gov, email, engagement, mobile, outreach, responsiveness, technology

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