Please join us at GovDelivery’s event on Wednesday, October 19th, Social Media’s Role In Cost Effective Solutions.
As we get closer to GovDelivery’s event next week, Social Media’s Role In Cost Effective Solutions, here a five strategies from my favorite social networks and some cool examples from Federal agencies.
FourSquare/Location Based
FourSquare takes a lot of creativity for an agency. One of the keys here is to understand that just because a social network exists, you are under no obligation to take part in the network. In fact, you should only be using social media if there is a clear link to your mission and a clear value for your agency. Many agencies have done some cool initiatives using location based services. Check out NASA and their partnership with FourSquare, NASA has a great initiative going to encourage engagement with the agency through FourSquare.
Facebook
Facebook seems to be changing by the week, new features are being released and the design is changing frequently. Through all the changes, it is important to remember not to change your basic strategy Facebook strategy. Make sure you spend the time working to understand the changes on Facebook and how they can help out your agency. Although Facebook changes, your core strategy should not. One of my favorite agencies using Facebook comes from the State Department, take a look.
YouTube
YouTube takes a lot of work to get right, but done correctly, it is a great vehicle to showcase your agency’s mission. One of my favorite examples from YouTube comes from the EPA and their challenge to Fabio. Engaging with cultural icons or community leaders is a great way to get some attention to your agency. Jeff Leavy from the EPA shared the story how the EPA connected with Fabio on GovLoop a few weeks ago, you can find it here.
Twitter
The hardest part about Twitter is finding the right balance between self promoting your work and sharing content. The best way to find the balance is to avoid only pushing out information from your twitter handle. Engage, keep up beat and let people know you are listening. Take a look at the Department of the Interior Twitter account, a good Twitter example.
WordPress/Blogging
I was recently at a social media conference and learned about a blog developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, VAntage Point. VAntage Point has a guest blogging series, in which vets can submit stories which the VA then posts. This was a great engagement strategy. This is also a clever way to help you think about what kind of content is important, as you may see some themes emerging in the blog post submissions.
I was recently at a social media conference and learned about a blog developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, VAntage Point. VAntage Point has a guest blogging series, in which vets can submit stories which the VA then posts. This was a great engagement strategy. This is also a clever way to help you think about what kind of content is important, as you may see some themes emerging in the blog post submissions.
If you are interested in learning more about social media and bringing some great lessons back to your agency, please join us at GovDelivery’s event on Wednesday, October 19th, Social Media’s Role In Cost Effective Solutions. You will be able to connect with others who are working on social media strategies and learn a lot of great lessons to bring back to your agency. You also won’t want to miss the opportunity to hear David Kirkpatrick speak, author of The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World.