Itโs estimated thatย 82%ย of the US populationย uses at least one form of social media,ย and there are many benefits to connecting with this large swathe of the population.ย Onlineย social media platformsย give governments the opportunity to be moreย transparent with citizens, get a better read on citizen needs and concerns, and increase trust.ย
Unfortunately,ย manyย governmentsโย social media campaigns areย lagging behindย the rest of theย digital government transformation. Furthermore, governments may not even be aware of the benefits that can come with social media marketingย byย government agencies.ย
Here areย ourย tipsย for government agenciesย toย developย successful social media marketing campaigns:ย
Identify whichย platforms your social mediaย campaigns should focus on
Chances are,ย you wonโt have the time or resources to launch government social media campaigns on every social media platform, so you need to choose which ones to focus on. This will depend on your goals, as the objective of social media marketingย forย government agencies will differ by agency.ย To get started, we recommend you define the goals of your government social media campaigns andย identifyย key stakeholders you want to target,ย and then align the campaign accordingly.ย ย
Understand your audience
After identifying the stakeholdersย thatย you want to target in your government social media campaigns,ย you need to figure out what interests them and what kind of content theyย wouldย want to see. For example, if youโre marketing a land and wildlife government agency,ย you can provide better service andย createย more relevant content by identifying what kinds ofย mediaย wildlife usersย areย mostย interested in seeing.ย
Optimize the length of video content
Different lengths of video will work better on different social media platforms. For example, the ideal video length for an app like Snapchat or Instagram will be anywhere from 6 to 30 seconds, while videos should be 7 to 15 minutes in length on YouTube.ย LinkedIn videos, on the other hand,ย should be anywhereย fromย 30 secondsย toย 5 minutesย long.ย If your government agency is small and doesnโt have a full media production team, itโs a good idea to focus the video aspect of your government social media campaigns on platforms where shorter videos are more popular.
Identify the best times to post on each platform
Justย asย there are different optimal video lengths to post on each platform, eachย platformย alsoย has different optimal times to post. For example, the optimal time to post on Instagram is typicallyย weekdays from 11amย toย 2pmย Centralย Time, whereas Facebook is usually 1pm to 3pm weekdays and Saturday.ย Still, we recommend experimenting with different posting times and posting schedules to find what works best forย yourย government agencyโs social media campaigns.ย ย
Understand when to use social media as a communication channel
Althoughย muchย of the population uses social media daily, it should not be a government agencyโs primary means of communication withย itsย citizens. This is especially true for emergencies, as government social media campaigns will only reach those with internet access who are checking theirย socialย media accounts. Social media should be used as aย complementaryย form of communicationย inย addition to email, text, and more traditional means of communication,ย like press conferences and press releases.ย ย
Check outย what other successful government agencies are doing
One of the best ways to improve your government social media campaigns is to see whatโs working for others and adapt it to your needs. For example, Marin County, CA makes their social media policyย andย playbookย freely available onlineย and thisย can be a useful tool and a source of inspirationย to helpย all kinds of government agenciesย get started.ย
