Strategies for Making Government Social Media Awesome in 2016

It’s official: 2016 has entered the building. And with the new year comes a flurry of resolutions to help jump-start the year, setting things on the right tract. So why not throw some social media resolutions into the mix?

In this month’s Social Strategy, I’m joined by my GovTech Social Podcast Co-Host Dustin Haisler to bring you six government social media resolutions to make note of as you kick off the new year with your agency. 

1. Study Where Your Audience Is

With the increasing emergence of new social media platforms, it’s a good idea to reevaluate your agency’s social media presence to ensure it is reaching your constituents where they're active and engaged today.

2. Conduct A Social Media Inventory

Do some detective work and take an inventory of your agency’s social media accounts. Using tools like Google Search and Alerts, you can identify and stay on top your departments social media accounts. You might find some surprises!

3. Educate Your Employees on Social Media Use

Use the new year to refresh social media training for your employees -- or to start new training. Boost engagement by training your employees on the latest social media platforms and most importantly, how to balance personal and professional use.

4. Reevaluate Your Social Media Policy

Revisit your agency’s social media policy to ensure it's still relevant for the new platforms, trends and behaviors of 2016. (Use this template if you need a starting point.)

5. Conduct A Social Media Survey

Launch a survey to collect feedback on your agency’s current social media utilization and explore new ideas on how to adapt its use. You can use something as simple as a Twitter Poll to collect quick, actionable feedback directly from your constituents.

6. Establish A Social Media Goal For 2016

Don’t be afraid to set goals for your agency’s social media usage this year. Whether you are seeking to increase your followers or launch on a new channel, goals provide an optimal mechanism to benchmark your agency’s progress as the year progresses.
 
I’d love to know what you think of this six pack of ideas for starting the new year -- and what else you are doing to make your social media presence awesome in 2016.  Please leave a comment below or contact me at anil@archivesocial.com.
 
And join us for the first GovTech Social podcast episode in the new year, which extends the conversation about Social Strategy for 2016, touches on the return of Politwoops and discusses Twitter’s plan to break the 140 character limit. You can listen here, or download on iTunes and Stitcher to the device of your choice so you can take it with you.