Social Media in Government

Social Media in Government

Mike Rabinovici, LL.BVP, Web & Social Media MarketingAR Communications Inc.www.ar-com.com

Contact Information:rmation:[email protected]/mikerabinovicihttp://ca.linkedin.com/in/mikerabinovici

Canadian Social Media – Leading Platforms

Source: canadiansinternet.com

Growth of Social Networks in Canada

Social Media Metrics –Some Specifics

• 56.7% of the total population, will use social networks this year this year

• 20 million Canadians do so on a monthly basis

• 93% of social network users in the country expected to use Facebook throughout our forecast period - See

Source: eMarketer

How are Canadians Accessing Social Media?

It’s all about mobile… 82%The top five activities performed on a smartphone by Canadians:

• Texting (93 per cent).• Taking photos/videos (91 per cent).• Browsing the Internet (82 per cent).• Calendar functionality (77 per cent).• Applications (77 per cent).Source: www.cira.ca

Are Governments in on the Action?

The top 10 Companies/Organizations Ranked by Share of Display Ads

• Capital One Financial Corp. 52%• Government of Canada 40%• Electronic Arts 30%• Beyond the Rack 26%• Telus 20%• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) 19%• Procter & Gamble 18%• Microsoft Corp. 18%• American Express 15%• Netflix 14%

Source: canadiansinternet.com

Key Challenges and Opportunities

• Effective communications• Opening up government information• Making data a public asset• Public participation in policy development• Real time feedback and public relations • Analytics• Creating a modern participatory democracy

More Specific benefits…• It’s an inexpensive channel for Public Relations – social media

platforms themselves are free.• It’s a direct and instant line of communication with and to your

citizens• It’s a way to reach younger audiences who are social media savvy

– maybe you’ll get some of them engaged in the upcoming elections?

• Governments need to be the creators of their own news and social media gets this news to your citizens. It aids in recruitment initiatives

• It’s a way to broadcast and promote events, ceremonies, awards etc. – citizens need to hear the good news too

Social Media in Canadian Governments

• Official Government of Canada social media channels

• Social Media – Toolkit for Ontario Public Health Units

• Ontario Ministry of Health

• Social Media in the Ontario Government

• Use of Social Media in Municipalities

Tips for Gov Agencies that Don’t feel the Love

Tip #1. Don’t take it personalTip #2. Be careful of using humorTip #3. Avoid cutesy phrasesTip #4. Emphasize process and how-tosTip #5. Be vocal about how citizen feedback is making your agency betterTip #6. Focus big time on PEOPLE

Source: http://governmentsocialmedia.com

Real Life ExamplesCity Responds to Negative Tweets with Humor Taking it to the Tweets – City of College Station, TX• Sharing tweets on traffic, traffic, and more traffic

• One of the most-common themes in the tweets we see about College Station is our drinking water. Bonus: Learn what the "College Stationy" taste is all about

Contact Information

Mike Rabinovici, LL.BVP, Web & Social Media MarketingAR Communications [email protected]/mikerabinovicihttp://ca.linkedin.com/in/mikerabinovici416-720-54854