Understanding the Changing Role of Government Social Media

Before the pandemic, social media was one of many channels we used to communicate with friends, family, brands and even our governments. And then suddenly it became the channel.

For government agencies, social media became vital for distributing public health information and guidance, and for understanding citizen sentiment during a rapidly changing and traumatic time — but this rapid reprioritization of social media wasn’t without its challenges.

As the leader in social media management, Hootsuite wanted to better understand those challenges and share how agencies are successfully evolving their strategies to overcome them. To do that, we collaborated with GovLoop on a survey of almost 300 government officials at the federal, state and local levels, and then compared the results with those from a similar survey conducted in 2018. Our findings reveal a clear picture of how agencies are changing their social media strategies to deliver on their mission goals and communicate with the public in new, meaningful ways.

Let’s take a look at three of the headline changes in detail. The full results and analysis are available in the new report, Finding Your Voice: Social Media in Government, along with strategic tips on critical topics including tone of voice, security and measuring the impact of social media programs and initiatives.

Rising demands from citizens on social media

When asked what changes they had seen in constituent engagement on social media over the past two years, 77 percent of the agencies we surveyed said it had increased. Half of that number reported a dramatic increase in engagement.

This correlates with the rising use of social media across all age demographics. Research by Hootsuite and We Are Social found that baby boomers are the fastest growing audience segments on both Instagram and Facebook. Our latest Social Media Trends Report noted that older generations are increasingly using social media to discover new brands and products, as well as to communicate with friends and family.

Why does this matter to governments? Well, those commercial brands are investing big in customer care through social media and messaging platforms. This became paramount in 2020 when physical store locations closed, and it’s still a rising trend. Forrester predicts that digital customer service will jump by another 40 percent this year.

People’s experiences with brands naturally influence their expectations from government agencies, especially at a time when face-to-face interactions are severely limited. The huge rise in citizen expectations our survey revealed is just the tip of the iceberg as social media becomes ever more crucial for agencies to interact with and serve their constituents online.

A growing challenge for agencies to keep pace

Our survey dug a little deeper into citizen expectations to reveal that agencies are already noticing the pressure of increased expectations. When we asked respondents in 2018 whether citizen expectations on social were a real challenge, only 13 percent agreed. Today, that figure has almost doubled.

In many cases, the struggle is trying to do more with the same investment. There’s a higher volume of interactions online and not enough people or tools to understand and respond. As part of the strategic advice we give to government agencies, we stress the need for social listening alongside traditional monitoring and engagement. With social listening, agencies can better understand what is being said about them online, gain near real-time feedback, and proactively address concerns before they escalate.

For that, you need expertise, and our survey found that 39 percent of agencies lack the human resources to manage social media programs effectively — up from 28 percent in 2018.

Investment from leadership presents an opportunity

There are reasons for optimism. An impressive 94 percent of respondents told us that their agency leadership was willing or somewhat willing to invest money in social media. Across the board, skepticism of social media at the leadership level is on the wane. Instead, executive teams are increasingly seeing social media as a strategic focus and one that aligns with agency priorities like citizen engagement, service delivery, crisis communications and recruitment.

One reason for this is that more leaders are on social media themselves. For example, Bloomberg reported on how Francis Suarez, mayor of the city of Miami, skillfully uses his Twitter account to court tech leaders and entrepreneurs to put down roots and invest in the city. Ever since responding “How can I help?” to a question about moving a venture capitalist firm from Silicon Valley to Miami, his profile as a brand ambassador for the city has gone from strength to strength — he was even invited to the White House in February of this year.

Not only do activities like this help to deliver on an agency’s mission (in this case, bringing jobs and investment to the city), they also help those who hold the purse strings understand how effective social media is at helping agencies connect with and understand citizens. In short, they help stakeholders see the strategic importance of social media firsthand.

So with leadership interest on the rise and a new willingness to invest in strategic tools and human resources, we think agencies are in a strong position. And it couldn’t come at a better time. The move to a digital-first world was accelerated by the pandemic; the number of social media users has increased by 13 percent since the start of 2020. That shift, combined with the funding opportunities recently opened up by the federal stimulus package, creates a perfect opportunity for agencies to build the case for a new, citizen-centric social media strategy.

Where to start? Our new benchmark report, Finding Your Voice: Social Media in Government, features metrics and insights to help you understand how your agency’s current performance compares to your peers, where the biggest opportunities lie and how you can use social media to build community, deliver on the mission and engage with the public in meaningful ways.