Why Government should meddle in Social Media – it starts with listening THE 2012 Network of Public Sector Communicators ConferenceWellington

Nicholas O’Flaherty, Executive Director, Social@Ogilvy

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Listening gives you big earsUnderstand the needs and sentiment of the community

Listening helps you toKnow what the horizon looks like

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Listening makes social media your focus groupInsights from social media guide both policy development and implementation

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Social media insightsRelevant conversations aren’t always taking place where you think they are

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Listening helps to identify influencers who have the reach, power, authority to drive the actions of others

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Why identify your influencers?

Advocates – those individuals who may potentially be supportive

> We can then build a strategy for engaging these individuals. Their support can be critical during a crisis situation and they may help drive awareness and preference

Detractors – those who disagree with us

>We can pinpoint potential arguments and positions likely to be put forward against us

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Enhancing democracy in action and driving participation:1,200 #marriageequality Twitter posts with a reach of 800,000, drove additional last minute submissions

15,000 followers

5,500 followers

Reputations Are Built or Broken in Search

Get Your “House Rules” in Order

Add a Digital Chapter to Your Crisis Comms Plan

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Online Conver-sation

The volume of

talkIdentify

key influen-

cers

Core and new

audiences

Conversa-tion

drivers

Which platforms

?

Positive or

negative sentiment

Opportu-nities to engage

Obstacles to

success

Insights from social media which can impact on policy development

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Why paid listening tools?

If you’re going to listen – do it properlyConsiderations:• Real time• Dashboard• Comprehensiveness• Consistency over time

and platforms• Engagement tracking

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Engage earlierSM creates the ability to consult more informally and earlier in the policy development process

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Media relations online and offline are connected. One accelerates the other

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Integrate social media into your traditional media relations

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Transparency, always important – even more so in NZ

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In conclusion: Government should ‘meddle’ in social media because it enhances its ability to:

• Understand the needs of their communities• Collaborate more effectively internally and cross agency• Improve policy development, programme planning and

implementation• Consult earlier and more informally• Gauge the sentiment and attitude of the target audience• Identify and engage with key stakeholders and online influencers• Perceive and manage risk• Distribute information more widely via QR codes, Hashtag

conversations• Engage with younger and less accessible audiences• Improve service provision• Demonstrate responsiveness and transparency• Communicate with New Zealanders through their preferred

channels

About Social@Ogilvy

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550+ Social Specialists(over 4000 Digital Specialists)

35 Countries Worldwide

Awarded The 2011 Global SABRE for Outstanding Global Digital/Social Consultancy

Global Team

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Clients In New Zealand