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Newsletter | June 2009 Leveraging Email and Social Media in the UK to Reach a Larger Audience Social media usage is taking off in the UK. According to a recent study, it is estimated that 39% of UK Internet users-more than 15.4 million people-will use social networks at least once per month in 2009 (source: eMarketer). Leveraging Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter®, Facebook®, YouTube®, and Flickr® allow government agencies to reach an expanded audience with news and important information, for a more effective and transparent government, and to engage the public. While the popularity of social media is growing, email is the #1 use of the Internet (Pew Internet & American Life Project). GovDelivery's Web 2.0 and Social Media capabilities enable government agencies to integrate email and social media communication channels in multiple ways. Updates to social media sites such as Twitter® or YouTube® are automatically sent to an existing email subscriber base. A direct link to the social media website with the updated content is provided in each email, driving more traffic back to the agency's website, increasing awareness of agency content and its Web 2.0 presence! Share This Email allows anyone viewing a government email to post interesting and relevant information to their social networking sites, for their family, friends and colleagues to view. Anyone who views this information through a social media site can easily enter their email address to receive future updates from the agency. GovDelivery Information Sharing Widgets is another way for the public to share government information virally, as stakeholders can post a dynamic widget, containing all information updates sent through email, to their own webpage. For more information on the features mentioned above, follow these links:
UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change Communicates Official Information Through Email and Social Media
DECC is the latest UK government client set to offer email alerts to citizens and stakeholders through the GovDelivery platform. The department plans to deliver important updates on legislation, speeches, statistics, energy markets, and emerging technologies. DECC also sees the value of social media as a communication channel and plans on notifying its subscribers of new media content availability - a new video to the DECC YouTube® Channel, for instance. The email notification will include a link back to the YouTube page, thus increasing awareness of DECC's social media presence. Through GovDelivery's Collaboration Network, DECC will team up with GovDelivery clients, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Parliament, to cross-promote content and dramatically increase its reach. To receive free email updates from DECC, visit www.decc.gov.uk.
Event Summary: "Connecting Web 1.0 with Web 2.0" Featuring Health & Human Services and Government Printing Office The Proactive Public Communication Roundtable featuring HHS & GPO was held Thursday, May 28th at the National Business Center, Department of Interior. Featured speakers included Kathryn Hambleton from U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) and Jeffrey Turner from U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). Kathryn Hambleton's (from HHS) presentation focused on the outreach during the H1N1 flu emergency, specifically how HHS utilised GovDelivery's EDSM and the first GovDelivery Information Sharing Widget, PandemicFlu.gov News, to increase awareness and reach a larger audience. At the on-set of the pandemic flu crisis (April 27-May 1, 2009) HHS saw a surge in the number of individuals interested in receiving email and text message alerts; average new subscribers exceeded 3,000 per day versus the previously established average of approximately 215. Jeffrey Turner from GPO presented a case study on using a creative marketing campaign and email to generate interest in government publications. GPO's "Sweet 16" campaign was developed around the March Madness theme and had very impressive results: over 139,000 votes were received during the 11 day promotion and sales of the winning publication (Black Americans in Congress) increased by 231% in the four weeks following the promotion. For more information on how these federal agencies are using GovDelivery, read the HHS and GPO case studies. For more information on the event and to view all presentations, click here.
Upcoming Event: Building Better Council Websites
One key trend will be for council sites to work more closely with national public service and information portals such as Local DirectGov, NHS Choice and businesslink.gov.uk. Elsewhere on the programme leading experts and analysts will offer insights and practical advice into many other important trends including the rise of Web 2.0; how to make sure your CEO and councillors will support your web projects; accessibility; usability; and managing the website improvement process. "Building Perfect Council Websites" is the annual meeting for local authority web professionals to meet-up to get the latest updates on creating easy to use, compelling and engaging web sites. "Puzzled" by how you can more effectively engage with the public, utilise the most powerful communication channels, and lower communication costs? Visit GovDelivery (Booth #5) for the "Solution." |
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