Social media in government is a game changer.

After all, not many things have inverse the way the public interacts with governments more than social media.

On social, people can engage in straight dialogue with politicians, civic officials, and even entire government agencies. It likewise gives them a chance to engage back.

At Hootsuite, we've worked with local, land, and federal governments all over the world. Nosotros know the unique requirements for social communications at all levels of government.

We also know how of import it is for governments non but to adapt to a rapidly advancing earth but also how to accept advantage of new forms of communication.

That's why we desire to break down the benefits of using social media in regime—from edifice awareness to crisis communication. Nosotros'll also expect at some of the challenges governments face on social media and offer solutions on how to mitigate adventure.

Bonus: Download Hootsuite'south annual report on government social media trends . Find out how leading government agencies are using social media, our peak five recommended areas of opportunity, and more.

Primal benefits of social media in government

Social media isn't just a adept manner to share memes and proceed up with what'due south trending. It can also be a very powerful style for government agencies to interact with the public.

Below are six benefits of using social media in government.

Crisis communication

The spread of COVID-19 is unprecedented in almost every aspect for the public sector, including communications. Public information professionals, like you, are existence asked to provide regular updates in uncertain times to an anxious public.

How do you make certain you're using social media effectively during these times?

With many on people on edge and glued to their screens, the wrong bulletin could exacerbate things. The public is looking to regime not just for direction, but also to set the tone in how to cope. It'due south especially important for the public sector to get the message out in a clear, at-home, professional fashion. This means no overuse of assertion points or tweets in all-caps. Put officials forepart and center that can convey of import messages in a controlled and reassuring way—as the National Institute of Wellness does.

The Metropolis of Newark, New Jersey is using Facebook Alive to keep its citizens informed during the crisis. Lookout man one of Mayor Ras Baraka's daily video updates below and check out our guide to using Facebook Live for tips on how to starting time your own circulate.

For more on using social media for crisis communication we have a handy article with tons of actionable tips and a few helpful tools.

Denizen engagement

An engaged audition is a happy audience.

And when you keep the public engaged, you'll be able to keep them informed most the policy and issues that matter most to them.

This does double duty:

  • You build trust. Social media gives yous an opportunity to be more transparent. And when yous open up yourself up, the public volition trust you more (more on this below).
  • You lot humanize your brand. Too frequently people forget that there are actual people behind agencies and government offices. Social media gives you an opportunity to bear witness audiences that hey, y'all're homo too.

For example, take this video from the National Park Service's Instagram account. Even though information technology is merely 30 seconds long, the video was an appointment hitting garnering more than 25,000 views.

And so there's the Nextdoor app, which local governments use to organize boondocks halls, brainwash citizens on prophylactic issues, and engage community groups. Check out our coomplete guide to using the Nextdoor neighborhood app for more tips on how to apply it to connect with constituents.

Build public trust

Co-ordinate to a survey conducted by Open the Authorities, more than half of voters want to come across more actuality and transparency in their government.

And why wouldn't they? Only like a business, the ability to remain authentic and honest with your audience is crucial to building a good relationship with them. Social media provides a perfect avenue to remain transparent and articulate with your constituents as possible.

One great case of this is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who leverages Instagram to give her followers a behind-the-drapery look at how Congress operates.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Instagram Story

And the results are incredible. Not just does her social media engagement soar with each mail, but information technology's making her appear more authentic to people across the world.

Set up the record straight

The National Baby-sit arrested people for walking their dogs during the COVID-nineteen pandemic? The virus spreads through WhatsApp?

No and no.

Crunch + social media = a bully breeding ground for misinformation and disinformation. Utilize social media listening to place inaccuracies and answer accordingly. No need to address everything—some content may exist besides ridiculous to warrant a response. Merely if you encounter that a meaning number of people are falling for or spreading falsehoods, use official platforms to set the tape straight.

Exam messaging

Social media is a fantastic manner to test your message with the public.

It doesn't matter if you're a candidate looking for a cracking slogan or a government agency looking for a style to connect with your audience. Using social media is great because it'south:

  • Depression stakes
  • A bully way to give y'all instant feedback
  • Non only can yous test messaging, but you lot tin can besides leverage social media to arts and crafts effective messages too.
  • You'll be able to see what'southward trending with your audience and what captivates them. You can then apply this data to connect directly with them.

Let'southward take a wait at a elementary example: Campaign slogans.

You start by request yourself a few uncomplicated questions like, "What do my constituents intendance virtually? How will my entrada aid solve their bug?" And so you distill the answers down into a few slogans.

One time you have a few phrases y'all recall are stiff, y'all can brand social media posts containing each of the slogans every bit a phrase or hashtag. Do this for one to iii months. At the end, see which slogan garnered the most engagement and boom, you have a strong campaign slogan that resonates with people.

That's a simple case — but the truth is there: With social media, you can test unlike types of messaging to see what resonates the virtually with your constituents.

For more, exist sure to read our commodity on A/B testing on social media.

Now that yous know the benefits of combining social media and government, let's take a await at some of the best means you can utilize it to your advantage.

Relieve money

Traditional public outreach is expensive.

In fact, federal agencies in the United States spend roughly $1.5 billion per year on public relations and advertising alone. And that's just a drib in the saucepan compared to how much government agencies spend on answering questions and delivering services via call centers.

For instance, the U.Southward. Social Security administration spends about $275 million per year on phone call centers to answer questions and solve issues.

Social media can dramatically cut those costs.

Instead of spending on advertising, government entities tin at present leverage more than price-efficient social platforms to raise awareness almost problems the public needs to know most. Afterwards all, these are platforms their audience already uses.

seven social media tips for government agencies

At that place are two types of social media accounts out there: Soapboxes and dinner parties.

A lather box social media account focuses on themselves. They employ social to circulate their messages and problems without engaging their audience.

A dinner party, on the other paw, invites audiences in and creates a dialogue with them. They encourage discussion and engagement between the host (you lot) and the guests (your audience).

At the end of the 24-hour interval, yous want to be a dinner party. Hither are five tips on how you can practise exactly that.

1. Listen for relevant conversations

The get-go thing you should focus on as a social media manager is listening to your audition.

Why? Simple: Your audience will tell you what they want to hear.

Before you fifty-fifty write upwards that tweet or Facebook post, you need to know your audience and constituents meliorate than they know themselves.

A lot of social media marketers—private or public—make the error of making posts before they even know what their audience wants to meet from them. This results in low engagement and a very ineffective social media account.

That'southward why you need to swoop deep into your audience. Observe out what they want. Dig into their hurting points. Aid solve their problems.

Also, social media tin exist a cracking opportunity for government agencies to answer any questions the public might take.

The Chicago Transit Dominance does a fantastic job of this. If there are delays, construction, or route changes to the subway or charabanc lines, y'all can rest assured that the CTA's social media accounts will be ready to talk and answer questions about it.

Not simply that, merely they also accept a team of people who read and respond to every tweet.

They know exactly what their audience wants from them: No nonsense data about transit delays and disruptions. They're and then able to evangelize on that and run across massive engagement. So spend some time immersing yourself in your constituents' mindset. What do they want? What are they struggling with? And how is your social media account going to engage with them?

To help, check out our guide to conducting audition research.

2. Brainwash your audition with valuable content

I edge government social media accounts have on private ones is the fact that you have admission to a massive amount of information such as environmental, scientific, and civic data. Every bit such, people instantly recognize your account every bit apparent and trustworthy.

That means they're going to be much more willing to come to you as a source of knowledge and educational activity.

For instance, take NASA's social media accounts. Each is filled with educational posts about space exploration and physics.

Bonus: Download Hootsuite's annual report on government social media trends . Observe out how leading authorities agencies are using social media, our pinnacle five recommended areas of opportunity, and more.

Become the free report now!

They besides have ane of the most pop social media presence of any regime agency because they a) know their audience and, b) can provide credible, educational posts that interest that audition.

Lesser line: Yous can leverage your credibility as a government agency by educating your audience.

iii. Keep it simple

Remember that the majority of your audience is looking at your posts while scrolling through hundreds of others. In crisis y'all may demand extra attention, but you're still "competing" with other messages—so make your content as easy to eat and share equally possible.

Use simple graphics, avoid large blocks of text, and try to get your main point across without asking people to click on a link or watch a lengthy video.

The World Health Arrangement (WHO) has been doing an fantabulous chore communicating clearly on social media as the COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve, their updates are informative and to-the-indicate.

iv. Engage

During his fourth dimension as mayor, current New Jersey Senator was legendary for his usage of social media to appoint directly with his constituents.

From filling potholes:

Cory Brooker tweet

To fighting crime (seriously):

Cory Brooker tweet

To even helping people across the bounding main (kind of):

Cory Brooker tweet

In doing so, he brought the citizens closer to their regime.

"When nosotros embraced social media, we took more control of the Newark narrative," Booker said. "We increased responsiveness toward residents. We drew more than of our constituents in to participate in authorities."

Practise you see what happened? By engaging with his constituents on social, he was able to improve service commitment and citizen satisfaction. Social media tin do the aforementioned for yous.

And while it might be tempting to pause social media engagement in times of crunch in order to focus on urgent messaging—don't! Being responsive is critical when many services are suspended and people can't communicate in person with public agencies.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Center for Disease Control took time to host a Twitter chat.

And the NYC Subway squad patiently responds to their 1 million followers whenever they tin.

v. Post regularly

While a crisis may interrupt regular scheduled programming, in times of relative normalcy you should make every effort to consistently share content and engage with the public.

And don't shy away from posts that might brand people grinning. If you can exist funny without beingness offensive or crass, you may hit the Twitter jackpot like the National Cowboy Museum.

Governments and their agencies don't have to be boring outside of times of crisis.

6. Stay secure

Simple measures can safeguard government organizations against security breaches. A social media management platform, for case, is a great tool for managing all your social media accounts and activity across multiple teams or people.

Review and approve messages, log all activeness and interactions, secure login access, and gear up mail review and approvals.

Hither's a quick overview of Hootsuite'south permission capabilities for organizations with multiple people—or teams—who are responsible for social media.

Check out our step-past-pace guide to social media security for more tips on how to protect your organisation online.

7. Remain compliant

Remaining compliant with privacy requirements is critical for whatever government body. For big organizations with multiple social media practitioners, establishing best practices for social media use can assist ensure the collective compliance of all users.

Guidelines towards adequate and forbidden content, data handling, denizen date, and even tone are a few best practice examples organizations tin can implement to go on their team compliant.

If you lot manage social for a authorities or agency using Hootsuite, our partners' social media archiving integrations make it like shooting fish in a barrel to stay compliant with Liberty of Information Act (FOIA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other public records laws.

In recent years, government bodies and their employees have had to answer to dramatic shifts in public expectations to political and government discourse.

Innovative policymakers and their staff are quickly adapting by creating highly engaging social content to rally follower support—while as well remaining fully compliant and secure. For any government torso wanting to capture and maintain public sentiment and date, embracing the new era of social media discourse is disquisitional.

Better inform and appoint on social media with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish content to every network, monitor relevant conversations, and measure public sentiment effectually programs and policies with real-fourth dimension social listening and analytics. Try it costless today.

Try it for Costless

Volume a personalized, no-pressure level demo to see how Hootsuite helps governments and agencies:

→ Engage citizens
→ Manage crisis communications
→ Deliver services efficiently

Volume your demo now