Innovating With Social Media
In Government
Charlene Li
Altimeter Group
May 18, 2009
If you would like a copy of the slides,
please leave a business card with me.

3
Is this what social media is about?
3 Source: Wordle.net

4
It’s about the relationship
4

5
Government “with” the people
5

6
Focus on relationships, not technologies
What kind of relationship do you want?
Transactional Passionate
Occasional Constant
Impersonal Intimate
Short-term Loyal
6

7
But it’s hard to form relationships
7

8
What you need is a strategy
What will you do?
What won’t you do?
8

9
Goals define your strategy
Dialog
Learn Help
Innovate
9

10
Learn with monitoring tools
10

How Oracle encouraged feedback
11

12
MG Oates seeks feedback via a blog
12

13
The Engagement Pyramid dives deeper
• Edit a wiki – <1%*
• Moderate a forum – <1%
Curators
• Write in a blog – 21%
• Upload a video – 18%
Producers
• Write in a discussion forum – 47%*
• Rate a product or service – 32%**
Commenters • Comment on a blog post – 22%**
• Share online video – 37%
Sharers • Update profile – 35%
• Upload photos – 23%
• Watch online video – 59%
Watchers • Read blogs – 48%
• Download podcasts – 23%
Source: Universal McCann Social Media Tracker Wave 3, March 2008
*Source: Wiki data from Wetpaint, forum data from Lithium Technologies
**Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Tracking surveys
13

14
NSA dialogs and recruits on Facebook
14

Commenters give an opinion
15

Customer support by people
16

Who is Cheryl G.?
One of the top three
contributors on the
forum
An expert on mobile
devices
Has been active since
October 16, 2003
17

Support from Frank Eliason, Comcast
18

Starbucks innovates across the organization

20
Getting started
20

21
#1 Have the courage to engage
Start small
Experiment
21

22
Deal with different
social media mindsets
Fearful Cautious Realist Transparent
Skeptic Tester Optimist Evangelist
Find the “moments of faith” and
“moments of crisis” for each mindset
22

Convincing your curmudgeon
“It’s a fad and
waste of time.”
- Make it real.
“There’s no ROI.”
- Tie it to goals.
“It’s way too
risky.”
- Develop worst
case scenarios.
23

24
#2 Measure the right things
Your goals
determine your
metrics
Use the same
metrics as your
marketing goals
24

25
Example “micro” metrics
Goal Metric Value
Learn # of customer Impact of faster,
feedback better insights
Dialog # of comments Greater loyalty
# of referrals Faster, more closes
Help # of issues addressed Increased satisfaction
Innovate # of implemented Faster development
ideas
25

26
Higher order metrics to consider
Net Promoter Score
How likely are you to
recommend this to someone
you know?
Lifetime Value
Lifetime revenue
Cost of acquisition
Cost of retention
Customer referral value (CRV)
26

#4 Fail fast, fail smart
Identify the top 5-10 worst
case scenarios.
Develop mitigation and
contingency plans.
Prepare everyone for the
inevitable failures.
27

28
Wal-mart failed many, many times
28

29
Buyer blog hit the right note
29

30
#5 Give up the need to be in control
30 Photo: Kantor, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kantor

How open do you need to be?
• Audience demand for openness
▫ Service members/employees
▫ Outside public
▫ Partners
• Your goals
• The competition
31

32
An essential tool to have
32

Thank You
Charlene Li
Altimeter Group
charlene@altimetergroup.com
blog.altimetergroup.com
Twitter: @charleneli
If you would like a copy of the slides,
please leave a business card with me.
33 Copyright © 2009 Altimeter Group