Presented by
Tom D. Trimble, CIO
Tulsa County Government

 Why Social Media is important to you
 Today’s Social Toolset
 Understanding social trends
 Communicating with today’s public
 Benefits of launching a social media strategy
 First understand branding
 Don’t feel threatened of being exposed
 Blaze a trail for others to follow

 This is not (NOT) a session to encourage or endorse employee use of social media in the workplace.
 This is not (NOT) a session to suggest changing your existing social media policies. …Although… If you don’t already have a policy, you should.
 Proper policy controls message content and delivery.

 Be open to new ideas
 Tech Company, Finland – 2008
 Recognize that you are not the first to consider using online media to communicate with your constituents.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO8Mw
BZl-Vc

 Two-way communication
 Large target audience
 Build relationships
 Correct misinformation
 Spot opportunities and problems
 Supporting advocates
 Be relevant
 It is happening with or without you

 U.S. Earthquakes during 2011 reported within seconds on Twitter before news stations had the story
 Information in Middle East shifting opinions of younger generations
 High-speed train wreck – July 2011
Chinese Government vs. onsite witnesses with cameras and Twitter

 Away from media and toward direct interaction
 From ‘marketing to’ to ‘marketing with’
 Understand what is going on
 Influence your organization’s future using online social media tools

Today’s Preferred
Levels of Communication
 1. Twitter
 2. Facebook Status
 3. Facebook Messaging
 4. E-mail
 5. Text Messaging
 6. Instant Messaging
 7. Memo / Letter
 8. Phone
 9. Video Chat
 10.Face to Face Communication

 Control the message to your constituents
 Improve perception from the public
 Develop constant communication
 If you are not sharing your message online, someone else will do it for you
 Receive meaningful feedback
 Only 2 in 5 Americans today read the paper
 The next generation of worker prefers to get their information online
 Social Media is Free (only costs time)

 Use the P.O.S.T method:
P – People – Who are you trying to engage?
O – Objectives – What are you trying to achieve?
S – Strategies – What will it look like when done?
T – Technologies – What tools will you use?

 Establish policy on use
 Set goals
 Prepare for an online presence
 Create accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook
 Include photo/logo, links to website, content

Facebook walks you through the process

 There are four ways people can interact on your
Facebook Page that you should monitor
 Wall Posts
 Comments
 Likes
 News Feeds
 Create a cause and add it to your page
 Add your blog’s feed to your fan page
 Add your events to your Facebook fan page
 Ask your Facebook fans a question and participate in the conversation
 Use Facebook Insights to get activity and demographic data

 32% of Fortune 100 companies use blogs
 Immediately tell your own story
 Know the rules of the game
 Share and create great content
 Listen and Care
 must engage public
 Use people, not company logo, for a personal touch
 Give
 Speak using audiences language
 Be transparent
 Be consistent
 Be Yourself
 Blogs are not about trying to be cool

 Commit to one post per week
 Keep it to no more than a one hour effort:
 Research topic – 10 minutes
 Write 400-500 words – 40 minutes
 Use one photo – 5 minutes
 Post to blog site – 5 minutes
 Be consistent on the post date (for example, every Tuesday)
 Post in the morning

 Read other similar blogs
 Comment on other blogs
 Follow those who follow you
 Build relationships
 Be aware of what others say about you
 Blog content can be more important than news coverage

 Use a provider like wordpress.org for a more professional site
 Bloggers can tell the difference
 Create a professional image
 Tools like Google Blogs can help you find articles online

 Create a custom Twitter background that reflects your organization’s mission or brand
 List the Twitter handle of anyone contributing to your organization’s feed
 Create a Twitter list of your organizations staff, partners, or supporters
 Use Twitterholic.com to connect with the top tweeters in your county
 Monitor hashtags for relevant information
 (#chs #nyc #dc)

 Relevant questions about you
 Relevant questions about government
 Requests for support
 Complaints and feedback
 Praise
 Competitor Mentions
 Tweets limited to 140 characters

 Recruit new staff and volunteers via Twitter
 Build real relationships by replying, retweeting and joining discussions
 Make your tweets retweetable
 Monitor your organization’s name on search.twitter.com
 Piggyback on Twitter’s trending topics if related to your cause
 Promote an event, campaign, movement with twitter hashtags (#beatcancer
#memorywalk)

 The business version of Facebook minus the games
 Professional networking site
 Showcases expertise
 Request information
 Give advice
 Group discussions
 Link back to website, blog content, etc. whenever possible

: Best Practices
Next: YouTube

 Think of YouTube as a public service announcement
 A powerful tool to spread your message
 Use as a guide or ‘how to’
 Link content back to blog, website,
Facebook, etc.
 Create short content that can be used again annually

 Make interesting or compelling video, not sad or negative
 Funny videos tend to get more airplay
 Use the YouTube Nonprofit Program for advocacy
 Consider partnering with a local nonprofit to help get their message out
Next: Best Practices

 10 minute maintenance – listen
 Check Twitter for chatter about your company – 3 minutes
 Scan Google News and Blogs Alerts for important articles – 2 minutes
 Filter and flag relevant industry-related
LinkedIn questions – 3 minutes
 Log in to Facebook and scan your wall and comments – 2 minutes

 20 minute routine – engage
 Add content and current events
 Answer questions
 Build good-will
 Respond to relevant blog articles
 Thank those posting positive tweets
 Handle negative feedback quickly and turn them into your best advocates
Next: Case Study

Case Study - Consider Barack
Obama’s Social Media Plan
 More than 5 million supporters across all social networking sites
 Utilized 15 different social networks
 Facebook
 3.3 million friends
 More than 500 groups
 300+ applications
 A centralized database of every invested voter
 2,379,102 supporters via Facebook
 Source: http://www.viralblog.com/social-media/case-study-the-full-barackobama-strategy/

Case Study - Consider Barack
Obama’s Social Media Plan
 YouTube
 139,000 different Obama related clips
 1,800 official clips uploaded
 More than 14.7 million hours of Obama clips have been viewed
 ‘Yes We Can’ Music Video viewed more than 14.2 million times

 15 Obama videos viewed more than 1 million times
Source: http://www.viralblog.com/social-media/case-study-the-full-barack-obamastrategy/

Case Study - Consider Barack
Obama’s Social Media Plan
 Twitter
 Follows 145,836
 141,044 followers
 263 updates
 The Obama Blog
 Creates an image of expertise when properly executed
 Source: http://www.viralblog.com/social-media/case-study-the-full-barack-obamastrategy/

Case Study - Consider Barack
Obama’s Social Media Plan
 Built a Vested Audience
 3 million online donors
 6.5 million online donations adding up to more than 500 million
 Of the 6.5 million donations, 6 million were in amounts of $100.00 or less
 The average online donation was $80.00 and gave more than once.

Next: Closing Summary
Source: http://www.viralblog.com/social-media/case-study-the-full-barack-obamastrategy/

 80% of success online is simply participation
 Build a presence and treat it as a extension of yourself – Build Trust
 Promote your social media channels via websites, e-mails, footers, etc.
 You will get out of social media what you put into it
 Use staff familiar with the technology for optimal results
 Have fun!