Digital and social media in Public Affairs

Digital and social media*June 2012 @

*Making it work for you in Public Affairs

Me

>Steffen Thejll-Moller>Work at Fleishman-Hillard>Digital and Public Affairs

Five items today

1. Supporting traditional PA activities2. Public Affairs +3. 20254. Concerns and stumbling blocks5. Some other interesting things (if we have

time)

1. Supporting traditional

Public Affairsactivities

What type of issue?

“We’ve only got an audience of 1,000”

“Only some policy-makers and a few of other stakeholders care about our issue”

“This issue isn’t on the public radar and frankly we don’t want it to get there”

DOESN’T MAKE DIGITAL IRRELEVANT

Fact: 96% of MEPs visit interest group websites*

Insight: A top-quality, relevant, informative

website is an absolute must-have

* Fleishman Hillard’s EP Digital Trends Survey, 2011

Fact: 92% of MEPs use a search engine every day

Insight: Website needs to be made visible to target audiences in search engines

(note: via search engine marketing)

* Fleishman Hillard’s EP Digital Trends Survey, 2011

Fact: 80% of MEPs read some form of blog

Insight: Value may be attained from presenting one’s material in blog form i.e. frequently updated, less formal, more personal – or engaging on other blogs

* Fleishman Hillard’s EP Digital Trends Survey, 2011

Fact: 78% of MEPs use Wikipedia weekly

Insight: It is worth reviewing all relevant pages on Wikipedia to determine if and how to edit

* Fleishman Hillard’s EP Digital Trends Survey, 2011

Fact: 34% of MEPs are on Twitter

Insight: Value in assessing how targets are using Twitter and whether it is a channel with which to potentially connect with them

* Fleishman Hillard’s EP Digital Trends Survey, 2011

IN ADDITION..

Fact: MEPs look for simple content that explains complex issues as much as detailed content like position papers (96% vs. 95%)*

Insight: It’s imperative to present an array of content types from the simple to

the complex

* Fleishman Hillard’s EP Digital Trends Survey, 2011

Fact: EP ENVI committee members’ degree courses

Insight: Target audiences are probably not all subject-matter experts so different complexity levels need to be addressed

Fact: MEPs, Commission officials etc. get bored too sometimes

Insight: Be interesting!

IN PRACTICE?

Scope of traditional EU advocacy

Digital and social media can support each

i. Communicating message to policy makers and influencers

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25

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ii. Establishing relationships and building alliances

LinkedIn group

Dedicated (and private) community

Ryan Heath:

We’re looking for value in social media. The lobbyists are always the least vocal

iii. Gathering intelligence

europatweets.eu

netvibes.com

Dedicated set-up e.g. Radian6

In summary…

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2. Public Affairs +

The constituent consumer1. What’s in it for me?

2. What matches my values?

Values? Personal safety, health, environmental

protection, personal freedom, well being etc.

More political actorsPressure group upsurge and the internet activist

A new model of influence

Rational

Diffuse power

Emotional

Centralised power

Few political actorsTechnical arguments

Many political actorsValue-based arguments

Source: Simon Titley

Heard at the EP:“I’m on your side, but my constituents are not” (nor are the papers and blogs they read)

The disciplines…

… are converging

MEANING WHAT?

A wider context

Think (and act) like campaigners

No, our work is not too cerebral to be emotional

WHERE DOES DIGITAL FIT IN?

a) Exceptional storytelling channel

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One condition: thinking differently about

delivery

Intelligence

gathering & analysis

Delivery

Intelligence

gathering & analysis

Delivery

Intelligence

narrative

b) First-rate mobilisation tool

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3. 2025

External environmentEveryone will be like Neelie

Internal environmentSocial business: organisations will be inherently social

4. Concerns andstumbling blocks

We have no resources

We’re a traditional industry

We’re afraid of angry people

IT (or legal) won’t let us

Where do we start?

5. Some other

interestingthings

Dell Hell

Hank the angry dwarf

Closed Newspapers: 2007-2010

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Thanks

Updates

>Blog @ steffenmoller.com>Tweet @ steffenmoller

Digital checklist: 7 quick things for starters> Where do you appear in Google (you and your issue(s))?

> Other organisations like yours? Competitors?

> Now you’ve found them: how are they communicating online?

> Is your organisation/issue(s) Wikipedia page appropriate?

> How many people are visiting your issue Wikipedia page?

> Are people tweeting about you? Who are they and do you care?

> For your issue, do you know the top 5 best blogs & Twitter

feeds?