Communicating for the 21st century. Social media and why it’s important in a communications mix. Tips on how to use it to promote your issues

1. Communicating in a connected world
Kevin Nellies
Head of Online Communications : International Energy Agency
www.iea.org
Twitter: @iea_oecd
Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalEnergyAgency

2. What are we going to talk about:
•Communicating with audiences in the 21st century
•Look at the new IEA website (launch summer)
•Writing for the Web

3. (I know that you know) Web 2.0 means

4. Why Social Media

5. That’s where everybody is

6. The social web in BIG numbers
• YouTube to serve 700 billion YouTube video views in 12 months
• Facebook 518 million users
• Twitter 200 million users
80% of UK online population visit social networking sites

7. The challenge:
“The boundaries of Government and
public sector organisations are
under assault by new patterns of
communication regardless of how
the individual technology pieces
change”

8. Social media provides an architecture for participation
not just a new channel for more of the same

10. Communications old style
• messages “pushed”
• press releases, reports etc
•one-way communication
• no feedback or dialogue

11. Press Release Old Style

12. Communication Today
• engaging with clients and the public
• two-way – feedback & listening

13. Press Release New Style

14. Markets are Conversations
But for government/public services & knowledge
organisations to be effective they must be as well

16. Understand who you are trying to reach

17. Develop clear goals and objectives

18. Set some social media policies

20. Integrating Social Media
•doesn’t “replace” your
communications strategy
•but also not add-on or “bauble”
•social media should be integrated
into strategy
•part of strategy DNA

21. Choose your tools carefully

22. As there are lots of tools

23. But don’t forget
To Connect we need good stories

24. 10 Top Tips

25. #1: Use a blog to tell your story
Treat your blog like the digital printing press that it is. Use text, photos and videos
to tell stories of the impact you’re having on the community or the world. Make it
personal, make it real, link it into you website and other social media streams.

26. #2: Make sure your stories/press releases are shareable
Use tools like the retweet button, Facebook like button, and Share This
to allow your visitors to quickly share your story with their networks.

27. #3: Make it easy to subscribe to your stories
Subscribe to our
news feed
Make your RSS feed impossible to miss by putting it “above
the fold” and highlighting it.

28. #4: Use video to tell your story
Informal videos can be incredibly persuasive in selling
your messages

29. #5 Create a Facebook Group for your cause
get involved with the half-billion–plus people currently using Facebook

30. #6 Post photos or videos on Facebook
and “tag” staff, volunteers or contacts
This will draw attention to their good work and spread your message to
their friends. Use this strategy judiciously.

31. #7: Use Facebook Events and
LinkedIn Events to spread the word
These powerful social networks allow you to promote your events for free and
make it easy for people to share events with friends and colleagues.

32. #8a: Use Twitter
• aggregate press releases
• use Twitter stream as live “message
center”
• Tweet to engage with followers with
links
• Twitter lists to follow journalists &
bloggers

33. #8b: Start conversations around
twitter hashtags
If your audience is active on Twitter, start a conversation around a hashtag
to get people talking,

34. #9: Improve conversations and collaboration with a wiki
By using a free or inexpensive wiki, colleagues can be kept up-to-date on
changes and work collaboratively from remote spots.

35. 10# Put your presentations online with SlideShare
If your organisation puts on presentations to raise awareness then make that work
go further by posting your slides to SlideShare, the “YouTube of presentations.”

37. Save time by cross posting

38. Breaking down the door
social media isn’t just external

39. Organisational dependency on hierarchy

42. So organisations should think about doing this
• Letting their people work socially rather than assume in advance
that none of it is of any use to you
• Making resources go further by encouraging employees to
embrace and develop their personal brands

43. I nearly forgot to achieve
this we need to start
thinking in terms more of
these...instead of our
traditional communications
roles

45. What’s the return on ignoring this?

47. Key Points Summary
ointegrate social media into
your strategy
ocross-promote platforms to
build traffic and aggregate
oengage with your target
audiences
omeasure results to fine-tune
your strategy

49. Life’s a Beta
Keeping trying new ideas, keeping improving, don’t be afraid of mistakes

50. So let’s make sure we are not still
partying like it’s 1999
And that we are communicating for this century

51. And in the end
The love you take is equal to the love you make
Why not follow us on twitter @iea_oecd