Guidelines for incorporating social media into your outreach strategy

Todd McGee, NACIO PresidentN.C. Association of County Commissioners Director of Public Relations

Social Media – Who is using it?•More than 76% of U.S. households have Internet Access•More than two-thirds of Internet users report using at least one social media site•Americans spend more time on-line on Social Media sites than any other activity•Facebook and YouTube attract more than 100M unique users per month in U.S.•Demographics skew to a younger audience, but don’t forget the geezers.

Social Media – What sites should you use?

•There are a lot of sites out there•Concentrate on the big three – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube•Don’t forget about your county website

Social Media – Why should you use it?

•Allows you to control your message•Gives you instant access to your citizens•Enables you to receive feedback easily•Gives you access to people who don’t consume traditional media•Easy

Social Media – How do you do it?

• Plan• Branding• Content

How to develop a policy

•Internal resources County manager County attorney IT Public Information Officer Emergency Management

• External Resources• www.nacio.org

What the policy should address

•Guidelines for use of sites• Who will update sites• What will go on sites• Archiving sites to comply with public records laws

Issues to consider

• Social Media rapidly evolving• Departments vs. County• Public Comments• Social media sites place restrictions on accepted posts• Local governments can adopt even stricter rules for posts

Social Media – It ain’t free, but it’s pretty darn close

•Sites are free•Do require dedicated resources•Integration is key (and easy)•Equipment and software not expensive

Social Media – It ain’t free, but it’s pretty darn close

•Webcam - $50•Handheld HD movie camera (Kodak ZI8) - $100•Accessories – tripod, camera bag, memory card, microphone - $150•Video editing software - $100•Microphone for computer ($25)•Skype account (free) or gmail

Can you become the next media mogul?

Steps to becoming a multimedia sensation

• Sign up for all the various accounts:• www.facebook.com• www.twitter.com• www.youtube.com

• Link your Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts through your YouTube account – automatic video updates

• Link Facebook and Twitter accounts – status updates

Content is key• Update sites regularly (at least 2-3 times per week, but more –

especially if you are allowing comments)

• Twitter – aim for daily updates, but no more than 3x per day

• Links to news articles or TV reports, press releases, etc.

• Drive traffic to county Web site whenever possible

• Post Twitter feed on Web site

• Post links to YouTube and Facebook on Web site

• Get creative

• No PIO? No problem.

Additional Resources

• Use Picasa Web Albums (Google photo-sharing albums)

• BSR Screen Recorder (www.thesilver.net)

• Skype (www.skype.com)

• Gmail (www.gmail.com)

• Slideshare (www.slideshare.net)