Presentation to the mayor, governing body and department heads of Byram Township NJ about getting started with the use of social media for effective constituent communications

1. Effectively Utilizing aEffectively Utilizing a
GovernmentGovernment
Social Media PresenceSocial Media Presence

2. We’re social.
We’re mobile.

3. The World has Changed

4. We’re Social
Percent of online adults who use:
• Facebook: 71%
– 1.26 Billion users worldwide
– 128 Million visit daily (in the US alone)
– Fairly gender neutral
• LinkedIn: 22%
– 227+ Million users
• Pinterest: 21%
– 70+ Million users
– 80% women
• Twitter: 18%
– 645 Million users
– 243 Million monthly active users
• Instagram: 17%
– 150+ Million users
Source: www.expandedramblings.com

5. We’re Mobile
• Smartphone growth has been in double
digit percentages for several years.
Anticipate single digit in ‘14.
– 55% of US citizens have a smartphone
– 42% of US citizens have a tablet
– 189 Million Facebook users are mobile only
• Tablet growth, year over year, 2012 to
2013 was 87.1%
• Yankee Group predicts 1 billion tablets to
ship in 2017.
Source: www.expandedramblings.com and www.pewinternet.org/three-technology-revolutions/

6. Age Impact
• Gen-X (in 2014, age 38-48)
– Best educated: 29% have college degrees
– 41+- million
• Millenials (in 2014, age 20-32)
– Digital natives: never lived w/o techology
– 71+- million
• Gen-X and Millenials don’t read email. They
text and chat online.
• Fastest growing demographics
– Age 55-64 on Twitter
– Age 45-55 on Facebook and Google+
Source: http://www.socialmarketing.org/newsletter/features/generation3.htm

7. How do you get started?
• Plan
• Implement
• Monitor

8. General Challenges
– Commenting Policies:
• What others can say on your sites
• What you can say and how to say it on
your own sites
• What your representatives can / should
say on other sites
• See Facebook.com/MorrisCountyNJ for
our Commenting Policy
– Terms of Service Agreements
– Copyright Infringement
– Credit Cards / Purchasing

9. Develop, Draw & Write a Plan
• Discuss & Decide
– Where the information will originate
– Who may speak for your agency
– Which social channels you will use
– How many pages to have on Facebook (2)
– What will be the process, the flow
– What your policies will include
– How social media will be marketed
– How you will engage visitors
– Will you post other than government information
– Employee use; Content; Commenting
– Archiving (Backupify, Archive Social, Frostbox, & more)
• Start small and build

10. Add Value
• Content Suggestions
– Road Closures
– Severe weather alerts
– Recreation events including field closures
– Pets for adoption with photos
– Election information
– Reminders: recycling, garbage, tax payments,
utility payments
– Bike safety checks, child safety seat checks
– Community policing: “while you are away”
– Little known township services
– Notable residents
– Interesting historical information

11. Publishing Productively
• Use a dashboard
SocialMedia.biz 2013 top dashboards
http://socialmedia.biz/2013/07/11/top-social-media-dashboards-for-small-business/
Hootsuite.com
• Free for one user; Pro plan (2 users) $10/mo.
• One-click messaging to multiple channels
• Schedule messages
• Connect to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
Instagram, Flickr and many more social
channels and apps
• Hootsuite University for training

12. The Dashboard: Everything in one place

13. Monitor your social channels
• The public expects to be heard on social media.
• Using a dashboard makes monitoring easy.
• Watch mentions, private messages.
• Social media is not a “push” technology. It’s a
conversation.
• Not monitoring your channels is talking at your
constituents, not talking with them.
• Respond as quickly as possible. If you’re researching an
answer, let people know that.
• People know there’s a real person posting and are quite
understanding of silly slips.
• Be honest. Social media is about trust.

14. Elected Officials
• Don’t use personal email for public business.
• Township websites, Facebook pages, blogs or
Twitter accounts are for township business.
– Post facts not opinions
– Do not post links to newspaper articles.
• Facebook profile: for personal activity.
• Facebook pages: create one for political activity
• Share township posts on your personal profile or
political page.
• Share political posts on your personal profile.
• DO NOT share political posts on your gov’t page(s)

15. It all ties back to your profile…
Personal Facebook Profile
Carol A Spencer
Facebook page: GoWProNJ
Facebook page: NJ Federation of Rep Women
Facebook page: Bates College Class of ‘74
Facebook page: Candidate Carol A Spencer
Facebook group: Highland Lake PA (closed)
Facebook group: Fenway Dirt Dogs (closed)

16. Elected Officials

17. •Why use social media
Because citizens live in this space
•Know your audience
Communicate by age group
Be everywhere: newspaper, web, email,
Facebook, Twitter
•What should be posted
Anything going on in town.
Anything that adds value to people’s lives
•Plan. Plan. Plan.
Design, staff, training, voice, policies
•Implement. Enjoy.
In Summary

18. Is it worth the work?

19. The Public’s OpinionThe Public’s Opinion

20. Contact Information
National Association of Government Web Professionals
Website NAGW.org
Twitter Twitter.com/NAGW
Facebook Facebook.com/NAGW.org
GovLoop Govloop.com/group/NAGW
Email FinanceDirector@NAGW.org
Carol A Spencer
Website About.me/CarolSpencerNJ
Twitter Twitter.com/CarolSpencerNJ
Facebook Facebook.com/CarolSpencerNJ
Flickr Flickr.com/CASpencer15
Email CarolSpencerNJ@gmail.com
About.me About.me/Carol.Spencer

21. Effectively Utilizing aEffectively Utilizing a
GovernmentGovernment
Social Media PresenceSocial Media Presence

22. Morris County Social Media Management Policy