Here is an expanded version of my post from this morning 10 Ways to Optimize Facebook – Notes from Adam Conner. The presentation slides from Adam’s presentation can be found below.
Adam started his presentation by providing an overview of how the world has gone social and traditional borders are no replaced by connections of people. The speed at which information is exchanged and transmitted how revolutionized communications, and in today’s world, the web as we know it is being transformed. The web is now being built around people and is structured on discovering new ideas, through social interaction. Information is surrounding all of us, and the challenge for all agencies is capatializing on the knowledge and driving action. Adam mentioned that agencies have the responsibility to look beyond any government mandates and focus on sharing and distributing information. He mentioned that the most trusted source of news comes from family and friends, and that 66% of all government is using some form of social networking.
Adam spent a significant amount of time speaking on engagement, and the importance of measuring engagement. One statistic that Adam shared was remarkable, one degree of seperation on Facebook provides access to 27 million people.
Adam then launched into 10 tips for the Federal government optimizing Facebook
1. Speak with an authentic voice
Adam recommended that agencies should think careful about voice and what the voice broadcast to constituents.
2. Think about delivering your message
This was an interesting observation, as Adam mentioned to think of clicks on links as a bonus. Agencies should think careful about what content is presented in a newsfeed, so the key information can be seen without a click.
3. Be timely and informative
This idea ties very closely to customer service, agencies should responded promptly and appropriately to a citizens concerns. This also means that the agency needs to know quickly who the right point of contact is. Adam briefly mentioned how this is part of the change needed in management for social media to be effective, all levels of an organization need to be engaged.
4. Comments
Comment policies are key, make sure you have one lined up and ready to go on your Facebook policy. You never know when you may need one, but will be happy to have one if you do.
5. Multimedia
Adam identified how videos and photo are typically successful on Facebook and recommended agencies should incorporate videos and photos when applicable. Adam also noted that these materials do not always have to be timely, agencies could use photos of past successful projects, events or key supporters of the agency as a way to increase engagement on their Facebook page.
6. Words can have power too
Adam identified that some people are champions for the organization, and having the champions tell a compelling story, engagement will improve on your Facebook page.
7. Importance of using Facebook Insights
Facebook insights is important because this will give you some perspective on your audience. Seeing what kind of content spikes traffic and what times of day are great insights to help you develop a more engaged Facebook page.
8. Facebook is more than just Facebook.com
Three tools that show that Facebook is more than Facebook.com are social plugins, mobile and application integration – these tools can add a lot of value to your communications strategy.
9. Secure you accounts
Adam provided some great tips for agencies to use to keep their accounts safe. First, Adam suggested that agencies use multiple passwords for social media platforms, so if one account is hacked, the hacker cannot gain access to numerous accounts. Adam also mentioned some of the services that Facebook provides to help agencies stay secure. Three services that Adam mentioned are:
- Secure browsing
- Log-in notification
- Log-in approvals
10. Other Government Issues
Adam identified that 2009 Directive Memo from the Deputy Secretary of Defense. He also recommended that the best resource for finding social media tips are your colleagues in the field, working in the trenches.
Overall this was a great presentation, with a lot of great information for Federal agencies. The slides can be found below, so you can view the complete presentation.