To maintain compliance with the law, government organizations must implement thorough social media archiving practices. It’s not the most exciting work, but it’s critical to protecting your agency from future risk. There are a number of social media tools that help government agencies manage this process but before making a choice, you need to understand your state’s unique approach to social media record retention.

In this article, we cover the basics of social media archiving so you can make the most informed decision possible.

Please note: The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute formal legal advice. Please review our full disclaimer before reading any further.

• What is social media archiving?
• Why is social media archiving important for government entities?
• How and when to archive social media content
• Social media archiving best practices
• Social media archiving tools to ease the process

What is social media archiving?

Social media archiving is the practice of backing up content shared by and with an organization so it can be referenced at a later date. These backups are stored locally by an organization so they maintain compliance with public records laws.

Unlike traditional public records, social media records are instantly viewable to the public once created by your agency and your constituents. Legitimate (i.e., not spam) comments, replies, mentions and DMs can all count as public record once published on your social profiles.

Many—but not all—states have issued specific guidance around social media public records and their storage. Turn to your state department website for the most up-to-date guidelines for your social media archiving practices.

Why is social media archiving important for government entities?

Archiving social media content is a critical practice for maintaining transparency. Without a social media-specific record keeping process in place, your organization may be unable to comply with FOIA requests for that information.

FOIA may have been enacted in 1966, but its applications are broad enough to apply to modern day technology through their definition of the term “record”. Under FOIA, a record is considered any writing that is created or obtained by an agency or under agency control at the time of the request. That includes books, papers, photographs, videos—and of course, social media content.

Under social media, it includes more than just the content of a post itself. Comments, replies and likes also count as obtained records which also must be archived under FOIA. Even straightforward updates, like this post from the City of Las Vegas Facebook page, are subject to social media archiving practices.

Government agencies are responsible for setting up their own social media archiving processes. Platforms retain social media content, but only for so long. Social networks—like Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram or LinkedIn—are private companies. They’re not bound by FOIA, therefore there’s no need for them to retain user content indefinitely. Once that content is gone, it’s likely gone for good.

How and when to archive social media content

Social media is considered public record across the U.S. but some states have unique public record retention laws that have implications on how and when to archive social content.

If your state does not have specific legislation on how to handle social media archiving, the National Archives and Record Administration offers guidelines on doing so properly. These methods include:

• Using RSS Feeds, aggregators or manual methods to capture content.
• Using tools built into some social media platforms to export content.
• Using platform-specific application programming interfaces (otherwise known as APIs) to pull content.

If your agency uses social media regularly across multiple platforms, you’ll want to go with the API approach. It sounds complicated, but these third-party tools and services simplify the otherwise time-consuming manual effort of aggregating and organizing outbound and inbound content.

The “when” aspect of social media archiving largely depends on your method of choice. If you plan to archive content manually, you’ll want to do so on a weekly or even daily basis to avoid letting the work become too overwhelming. However, if you’re archiving with the support of a tool, you can archive on a quarterly basis.

Social media archiving best practices

The idea of recording and retaining every post, comment and interaction across your agency’s social media presence can feel daunting, but don’t panic. Use these best practices to stay compliant without getting swamped.

Define roles and responsibilities for records management

Allowing social media archiving to be everyone’s responsibility without making it anyone’s job leaves your agency open to a lot of risk. This is especially true for organizations that manage several profiles across platforms. The more information you share on social, the easier it is for a record to go missing.

Avoid this fate by defining archiving roles and responsibilities alongside key social media stakeholders. Work together to identify the following:

• Who will be the point person for social media archiving? This individual is responsible for developing and maintaining up-to-date record keeping processes as they relate to social media. They’re also responsible for performing or delegating archiving duties at your organization’s set cadence.
• How often should posts be archived? As mentioned earlier, this is largely dependent on your preferred method of archiving.
• Where will archived content be stored and who can access it? Open files in shared storage leave agencies liable for any bad actors that may tamper with archived content. To be safe, designate where records (and their backups) can be securely stored.

Reinforce what counts as a public record early and often

When people think of ‘FOIA’, they picture documents, photos and emails. Social media posts, on the hand, aren’t usually top-of-mind. It’s up to your team to ensure every staff member across your organization understands the true definition of a public record and where social media falls into the mix.

Incorporate information on the types of content that are considered public record in your state during staff training and onboarding sessions. Update your social media policy to include explicit do’s and don’ts on social media compliance. At times, it may feel like over-communication but when it comes to the public sector, it’s always better safe than sorry.

Revisit your social media policy regularly

Social media networks change often, and those changes can look like anything—from new terms of service to new features. All these updates can result in changes to your organization’s approach to the social media archiving process. That’s why it’s imperative that you revisit your social media policy regularly.

A good social media policy addresses a number of topics, including personal account guidelines, organization association rules and legal guidelines. These topics are far from static, so it’s best to revisit them on a regular basis or when a major platform change takes place.

Social media archiving tools to ease the process

Now that you have some best practices to reference, you’re ready to check out some tools. The following platforms will help you manage your compliance needs without sacrificing efficiency.

1. Sprout Social

Sprout Social unifies social media scheduling, reporting, listening and archiving into one centralized tool, supporting more streamlined workflows for government agencies. In the event of a records request, marketers can surface specific posts by using the search tool in the Publishing section. Relevant comments and replies can be found using the search tool in the Smart Inbox.

Government agencies can also use Sprout’s Inbox Export to quickly export posts, messages and reviews from the Smart Inbox into a CSV file for record keeping purposes. These exports provide clear documentation of granular metadata, including message type and timestamps, the Sprout user who sent or edited each message and permalinks to the message on the original network.

Request a demo

3. ArchiveSocial

ArchiveSocial is a social media archiving solution powered by CivicPlus. This tool supports marketers at government agencies with real-time record retention done in compliance with public record laws. While CivicPlus offers a portfolio of solutions for public sector organizations, ArchiveSocial is a point solution focused entirely on archiving.

3. Pagefreezer

Pagefreezer is another real-time digital archiving solution that supports the proper retention of web and social media activity. The tool allows organizations of any size to permanently preserve digital content on social and beyond, then access those archives and replay them as if they were still live. While Pagefreezer offers more than just social archiving, they do not offer any social media scheduling, reporting or listening capabilities.

Streamline your approach to social media archiving with Sprout

With Sprout Social, government agencies can consolidate social media management and archival under a single budget line item, all while maintaining a robust level of compliance.

To learn more about how Sprout helps government agencies create stronger relationships with their constituents through the power of social media, schedule a demo today.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute formal legal advice; all information, content, points and materials are for general informational purposes. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. Incorporation of any guidelines provided in this article does not guarantee that your legal risk is reduced. Readers of this article should contact their legal team or attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter and should refrain from acting on the basis of information on this article without first seeking independent legal advice. Use of, and access to, this article or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, user or browser and any contributors or contributing law firms. The views expressed by any contributors to this article are their own and do not reflect the views of Sprout Social. All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this article are hereby expressly disclaimed.

The post What government agencies need to know about social media archiving appeared first on Sprout Social.

It’s no longer an anomaly to see public sector accounts going viral. But managing the social media presence of a government agency comes with a unique set of challenges. Complex platform security and governance requirements. Staff who balance multiple responsibilities beyond social. Ever-evolving strategies that can shift overnight.

Choosing the right social media tools for government agencies and other public sector organizations is a non-negotiable part of proactively reaching and engaging your citizens, saving your team valuable time, creating internal visibility and, ultimately, serving your community better. Use the criteria shared in this article to help your team harness the full power of social.

4 things to look for when evaluating social media tools for government entities

Investing in an intuitive social media management platform is an essential step toward building a strong relationship with your constituents. Yet, many agencies only use native tools to manage their accounts—leaving valuable insights and opportunities to connect untapped. Less than half of public sector entities use software to manage or execute their social media strategy, according to ArchiveSocial. The report also revealed agencies not being able to centrally manage their entire presence is the fastest-growing detriment to success on social.

Yet, not all social media management platforms are created equal. When evaluating social tools to help your agency make waves on social, look for one that:

1. Gives your team time back

Like in many industries, managing government social media is more than a 40 hour per week job, especially when staff members juggle other disciplines like communications, PR, digital marketing, content and more. This not only puts teams at risk of burnout, but prevents agencies from maximizing their presence on social and forming stronger relationships with their citizens and communities.

By using a centralized platform like Sprout Social, you’re enabled to make quick work of delivering social content, so your team can focus on engaging your constituents and refining your creative strategy. A recently commissioned Total Economic Impact™ study conducted by Forrester Consulting found that Sprout’s tools helped a composite organization representative of interviewed customers drive $973,000 in social media team productivity and efficiency savings over three years, and a 55% increase in year 3.

Here a few Sprout highlights that help teams collaborate more effectively:

• Shared calendar: Plan your strategy and maintain oversight from a central hub rather than disparate apps or spreadsheets. Organize posts across profiles, networks and campaigns using a visualized calendar to support a long-term strategy. For example, you can map out your posts for the upcoming week and month to assure your content lines up with priority community events.
• Publishing and scheduling: Boost collaboration between staff and increase productivity with campaign planning tools, automated workflows, and scheduling and monitoring tools. Automatically publish your content at the times most likely to reach constituents and receive real-time engagement updates.
• Message Approval Workflows: With internal and external approver features, ensure content is always approved and compliant with your agency’s communication guidelines—all within the Sprout platform.

2. Puts you in control of crisis management

Whether it’s important local events, public safety emergencies or otherwise, crises are an unavoidable part of government social media efforts. Teams need to be able to pivot their publishing quickly, respond to a surge in inbound messages and be proactive to avoid misinformation from spreading.

Stay on the pulse of social media conversations trending in your constituency to prevent minor risks from spiraling into large-scale crises. When evaluating social media tools for government use, look for powerful social listening and audience engagement solutions that do the heavy lifting for you.

The Sprout platform enables you to stop a crisis in its tracks. We offer a suite of tools designed to help you perfect your crisis response strategy—from easily monitoring your incoming messages to zeroing in on key conversations happening online.

• Pause All Content: In the face of a crisis, this feature enables you to pause all outgoing messages with one click—which saves you time and ensures your entire team is on the same page.
• Message Spike Alerts: If your message volume spikes, that could be indicative of a looming crisis. These alerts automatically send email or mobile push notifications when incoming messages exceed your hourly average, so your team doesn’t have to manually monitor your inbox 24/7.
• Social Listening: Sprout’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technology can help you gain critical intel about key public figures, trending misinformation and constituent concerns. The platform sifts through millions of social media data points in seconds, helping you access and share actionable findings with leadership and prominent government figures you work with.

3. Supports stronger, more meaningful citizen engagement

Your core mission is to serve your community—which includes serving them on their channel of choice: social media. To do so, you need to understand their preferences, concerns and communication needs, and be responsive and authentic when they reach out to you. Strengthen your citizen engagement by using social media tools that provide your team with valuable intelligence about your audience, and empower swift, proactive communication.

With Sprout’s platform, you can exceed your constituents’ expectations and deliver more tailored experiences on social media—while saving your team time. According to the Total Economic Impact™ study, for the composite organization, customer service specialists saved time equal to $142,000 over three years by using Sprout to respond to incoming me​​ssages and inquiries.

These Sprout tools are designed to help you foster connections with your citizens:

• Smart Inbox: Unify your social channels into a single stream so you’re empowered to monitor incoming messages, cultivate conversations and respond to your audience quickly. By tagging and filtering messages, you can prioritize what’s most important and discover unique engagement opportunities. Built-in collision detection notifications make for seamless collaboration, so you can see who has replied to a message and prevent duplicative work

• Brand Keywords: Often, people talk about your agency on social without tagging you directly. If you aren’t actively searching for these messages, you may miss important conversations. Brand Keywords are custom Twitter searches that constantly run and display results in your Smart Inbox, so you can see and respond to these highly relevant posts as easily as any other message. You can also set up alerts based on high priority or crisis keywords, so you’re always one step ahead.
• Custom VIP lists: Within the Smart Inbox, you can add the VIP label next to the avatar of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn users who messaged you. This feature helps you track correspondences with key players in your constituency, like reporters, elected officials and business leaders.
• Listening: In addition to helping you manage a crisis, Sprout’s social listening solution helps you keep up with relevant trending conversations and influential community leaders. The tools gather honest feedback about your agency’s performance on social and beyond. With these insights, you will be empowered to produce more meaningful content and ladder-up your learnings to decision makers.

4. Reshapes perception of what social can do

In the public sector, social is still largely misunderstood. Many hold onto the lingering belief that it does more harm than good, while others see it as a wild west of misinformation. The right tool will help your communications team quantify the impact of your social efforts and change the way your agency’s stakeholders see social media (even if they aren’t social savvy).

Using a social media management platform makes it easy to create clear reports that demonstrate how your social strategy translates to agency goals. For example, with Sprout’s Analytics tools, you can eliminate the time-consuming manual data collection processes in favor of automated, presentation-ready reports. The Total Economic Impact™ study found that Sprout eliminated manual data aggregation to prepare monthly reports by 75%, resulting in $39,000 in savings over three years.

By using Sprout, you can automatically generate:

• Tag Reports: Access an overview of your inbound and outbound tagged messages to easily analyze campaign effectiveness, volume and performance patterns.
• Post Performance Reports: Analyze cross-channel performance at the post level to understand what messaging and formats resonate with your constituents and why.
• Profile Performance Reports: Access a high-level overview of performance across all connected profiles to quickly evaluate social growth, and how that growth correlates with key initiatives.

5. Supports internal compliance

Compared to other industries, government entities have to balance their social media strategies and workflows against a host of compliance requirements.

For example, a 2014 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) bulletin mandated that federal agencies follow several best practices for managing social media records. Though the definition of what constitutes a “record” can vary by agency, social media posts that communicate policy information or even open-ended prompts that invite user engagement may all constitute records that must be archived properly. A 2023 NARA audit of 10 agencies found that most lack the tools and staff to handle social media record retention.

Government organizations can leverage Sprout’s inbox export to quickly export posts, messages and reviews from the Smart Inbox into a CSV file, and our customer audit trail to export a myriad of user and admin actions. These exports provide clear documentation of granular metadata, including message type and timestamps, the Sprout user who sent or edited each message, and permalinks to the message on the original network. 

Find the right social media tools for your agency’s workflow

When evaluating social media management software for your government agency, to paraphrase JFK, don’t hesitate to ask what the tools will do for you. With the right social media management platform, you can do your best work more efficiently, proactively curb crises, create more time for citizen engagement and confidently demonstrate the value of social at your agency.

For a more comprehensive look at the value social media provides, download The Total Economic Impact™ of Sprout Social study, and learn how Sprout delivered a 233% return on investment over three years.

The post Social media tools for government: What your team needs for success appeared first on Sprout Social.

That’s because so much political discourse happens on platforms like Twitter. Over half of the US consumes political news via social.

Debates. Fundraising and fact-checking. News and results.

With social media serving as the modern-day public forum, all of the above are just a tap away for voters.

That’s why the stakes are high for candidates on social media. Rather than wait for stories to publish, politicians can break their own news in real time.

The challenge? Navigating social media and politics is tricky if you’re responsible for managing a public account. Below we break down how candidates can step up their social game.

How social media has transformed political campaigns

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of our tips, let’s address a bigger question:

Why is social media such a staple of politics in the first place?

Social media might not be new to the public at large. However, incorporating social media in political campaigns didn’t see significance until the 2008 United States presidential elections with then- candidate Barack Obama. With the power of social networking, political candidates reach wider audiences than traditional media and in real time.

As a result, a lot has changed in social media and politics since the 2020 US presidential election. Let’s look at the specifics below.

More people get their news from social platforms

There’s no shortage of news sources sending stories directly to our smartphones.

According to 2022 data from Pew, the top social networks for news are Twitter (53%), Facebook (44%) and Reddit (37%). Surprisingly, TikTok (33%) isn’t too far behind these sources.

Transparency and trust versus mainstream media

Data from Gallup says 36% of citizens in the US have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in mainstream news sources. This includes cable news and print media. Only 11% of self-described Republicans (and 31% of independents) claim to trust the media.

To say that citizens have trust issues when it comes to traditional media would be an understatement.

Social media is also blurring the lines of what’s considered a “trustworthy” new source. Pew data says that adults under 30 trust news from social media about as much as traditional outlets.

Social media is far from a perfect news source.

Still, the benefit of real-time fact-checking is a big plus for social-savvy consumers. Social platforms also provide politicians with a direct line to the public.

That means the value of social media transparency carries over to candidates. After all, they’re able to speak to voters in their own words and on their own terms.

Consider also the massive reach of social media versus mainstream sources. With shrinking TV audiences, social is the biggest show in town for politicians.

More opportunities for fundraising

The explosion of political advertising on social media since 2020 is well-documented.

But the degree to which campaigns are spending now is truly night and day.
Facebook remains a massive force for fundraising and political ads. The Facebook Ad Library lets anyone see to see how much any given campaign is spending. And it’s a lot.

In fact, $3.6 billion has been spent on political and social issue ads since May 2018.

Consider that the top Senate fundraisers also have engaged and active social teams.

As a result, those candidates can translate their presence into serious campaign cash.

10 tips for running a political campaign on social media

Below we’ve broken down key best practices of social media for political campaigns. From figuring out your content strategy to dealing with trolls, we’ve got you covered.

1. Engage the public via live content

Traditional newscasts aren’t going anywhere quite yet.

That said, social media video lets politicians broadcast their own news and chat with constituents.

For example, many politicians regularly stream on Facebook and Instagram. Rather than just talk at voters, live video encourages meaningful and personable dialogue.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s IG Live streams rack up massive engagement. For reference, this June 2022 IG Live on the state of Roe v. Wade earned over a million views:

Social video is powerful for politicians addressing local issues not covered by bigger outlets. This includes local ordinances and disaster relief.

2. Fact-check your content prior to publishing

Social media represents a massive news source for voters. Still, unchecked platforms can be a breeding ground for misinformation.

MIT research says that falsehoods are 70% more likely to be Retweeted than the truth. A staggering 38% of people have admitted to accidentally sharing misinformation themselves.

Yikes.

Walking back comments because you didn’t take the time to fact-check them is a bad look. Also, False claims and misinformation are difficult to contain once they’ve been made.

Our advice? Make sure to put together some sort of approval process for your account. Always double-check your sources and wording before making claims that could be twisted.

If you use a platform like Sprout, take advantage of publishing features to keep the above in check.

Social media and politics aren’t a free-for-all. For example, did you know that Presidential Tweets are considered public record? There are real-world consequences that go along with a politician’s social presence.

3. Don’t count out “younger” social media platforms

Twitter and Facebook are the go-to platforms for political accounts.

And based on social media demographics and how age groups vote, this makes perfect sense.

Of course, don’t count out Millennials and Gen Z. Both represent growing voter bases interested in activism. As a result, we’re seeing more politicians investing in Instagram and TikTok.

The fact that 33% of citizens consume news and political content on TikTok is also telling. Notably, Tim Ryan has managed to earn 33,000+ followers with his self-aware TikTok presence. Meanwhile, President Biden is inviting influencers to the White House in a push to reach younger voters.

There is no “single” platform when it comes to social media and politics. Demographics matter and the largest voting blocs are active on Facebook and Twitter.

4. Put your fundraising efforts front-and-center

Running an effective social media political campaign is about much more than “Likes.”

We won’t get into the anatomy of a perfect political ad on Facebook. Just note that fundraising is central to social media and politics.

Beyond running Facebook ads, requesting donations via secure links is likewise fair game. Many candidates put donation links in their social bios or as a dedicated “pinned” post.

Of course, don’t use social media as a place to spam donation messages. Instead, weave them into your content strategy as needed alongside your updates.

5. Learn how to deal with trolls

It’s common to deal with burnout as a social media manager.

And if you’re managing social media for political campaigns, you know this all too well.

Trolling and harassment. Comment spam. Mass reporting.

Unfortunately, this all comes with the territory of social media and politics.

Beyond developing a thick skin,  the best advice we can offer is to not feed the trolls. Try to emphasize a sense of community in the comments and don’t encourage needless fighting.

Just keep in mind that public officials can’t block people on Facebook. There’s plenty of debate over whether or not doing so is legal or ethical as social media is seen as a public forum.

Leave it to supporters and community members to report inappropriate posts. Try to push more intense disagreements into your DMs when appropriate. Whatever you do, be civil.

6. Recognize that not everybody is interested in politics

Comparing social media and politics to that of a business or brand is apples and oranges.

Sure, your goal is to grow your follower account and increase the exposure of your campaign.

But as noted in our guide to social media and government, political accounts are seen as the most “annoying” by the public at large.

Some people go out of their way to block and avoid political discussions via social media. The “Muted words” function on Twitter is handy for this.

Attracting followers and support might seem like an uphill battle at times. Focus on your goals and engage with accounts relevant to your cause.

7. Consistently ask (and answer) questions

Asking questions is a proven way to boost engagement on social media.

Q&As are the bread and butter of political accounts. Posing topical questions to your follower is a simple way to encourage a bit of back-and-forth. Likewise, it’s a way to show that you’re willing to listen to your constituents.

Using Instagram Stories, you can vet questions privately and post answers to followers publicly. Make a point to respond to comments when appropriate. This allows you to publish more thoughtful responses. Publishing Stories as highlights also gives voters something to reference in the future.

8. Earn engagement with visual content versus just text-based posts

Visual content such as videos and infographics are among the most-shared social posts. This rings true across pretty much every platform.

If you’re making an important announcement, consider how you can put together a visual to match up with it. Infographics are particularly popular among politicians.

Bite-sized videos also have viral potential, especially on Twitter or TikTok. For reference, Katie Porter’s short-form videos regularly pop off and earn huge engagement.

Don’t worry about investing a ton of time and energy into editing if you’re looking to get on board with video, by the way. Off-the-cuff cell phone footage has become a staple of political social media, too.

9. Find time for positive, non-partisan posts

It’s no secret that tensions are high among parties. Data says political polarization is reaching a fever pitch.

Not everything has to be partisan, though. Note what we said earlier about the fact that not everyone wants to hear about politics. This might also be the case for people that do follow you.

A positive story “just because” can be a much-needed break from fierce debates. Consider some types of content for followers regardless of party affiliation. Uplifting and local stories are always a plus.

Younger, social-savvy politicians likewise can capitalize on memes and humor to boost their posts.

10. Make a point to post consistently

With so many political campaign strategies made possible by social media, there’s a lot of content to juggle.

Donation requests. Upcoming events and elections. Legislation updates.

And that doesn’t even include real-time news that happens from day to day.

Given how quickly the world of politics evolves, it’s important to have your most important updates and content organized and queued up. By reviewing the best times and how often to post on social media, you can maximize your account’s reach and get in front of more voters on the regular.

That’s where Sprout Social’s publishing tools can come in handy. Allowing you to schedule and publish content across multiple platforms, you don’t have to second-guess if a crucial update was sent out to voters.

Ready to take on the world of social media and politics?

There’s a lot that goes into any social media political campaign.

Understanding what to post and how to wrangle your responses will empower you to build support and a sense of community. Doing so matters for politicians.

And if you want help with doing exactly that, we encourage you to check out our social media marketing strategy guide. Given how busy political accounts are, having more help is always a bonus!

The post Social media and politics: why it matters + 10 tips for campaigns appeared first on Sprout Social.

The reality, though?

Government agencies and officials represent some of the most engaged with users on social media at large.

And in terms of social media’s ability to “do good,” look no further than government accounts such as those run by FEMA, NASA and the NHS.

From keeping people in the loop during a global crisis to entertaining and educating the public, government and social media don’t necessarily have to be “boring.”

But there’s no denying the challenges of running a government account in an era where trust in the government is on the decline.

That said, engaging citizens isn’t just an expectation for government accounts: it’s a civic duty.

In this guide, we’ll highlight the best examples of government use of social media and key takeaways for managers running official accounts.

How to use government social media effectively

Comparing social media and government to brands or businesses might seem like apples and oranges.

But while your social presence might not be tied to selling a product or service, consider that your big-picture goals aren’t so different.

• Establishing a sense of trust with your community as you grow your follower count? Check.
• Responding to comments and questions from your followers? Double-check.
• Keeping followers informed and up-to-date? Definitely.

The beauty of social media and government is that your community and constituency are already there. Therefore, your job is to publish content that attracts attention from your followers while likewise encouraging engagement. Below are some strategies to do exactly that.

Be a source of community news and updates

Perhaps the biggest and most obvious role of government social media accounts is serving as a source of community updates. This includes everything from events and road closures to upcoming policy changes and breaking news.

Whether we’re talking about local constituents (think: the New York City school system) or the general public (think: the FDA or EPA), note that your audience is more than likely following you because they want to hear from you.

And so news should be a cornerstone of your content strategy as a government account.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen social media crisis management in action for many government agencies and offices, including real-time updates in response to COVID-19. Social media provides people a more timely, first-hand source of information versus local news.

Of course, not everything related to government and social media necessarily needs to be gloom and doom. Celebrating milestones, success stories and other uplifting updates all give your followers something to look forward to beyond just the news itself.

Respond to your community’s questions and concerns

Social media can be its own sort of public forum and place for government officials to go back-and-forth with constituents.

Serving as a timelier alternative to email, phone calls or face-to-face meetings, platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram make government officials more accessible than ever. In a situation where someone comes to you with a concern that’s beyond your pedigree, you can likewise point that person to someone who can help.

Additionally, government social media accounts serve as a way for officials to be more transparent. Think of your account as your agency or office’s face to the public.

Educate your community and better their lives

Again, government use of social media should center around information and helping your community. Both fun facts and real-world tips are fair game here.

Education also means clarifying potential misinformation in addition to educating your followers, by the way. Given how quickly social media moves and rumors can spread, government accounts serve as an important source for followers looking to fact-check claims made elsewhere.

Humanize your agency or office

When someone thinks of government and social media, they might imagine a robot or some suit-and-tie intern trying their best to sound prim, proper and “official.”

That’s why government social media accounts benefit the most when they let their human sides shine through.

Strive to remind your followers of the people you serve and likewise the folks who run your department or office. Doing so isn’t just a great source of authentic content: it’s crucial toward building up your community and follower count.

What are the best practices of government social media accounts?

Now that we’ve highlighted what sort of content to publish, let’s talk about best practices when it comes to social media and government.

If you find yourself struggling to grow your follower count or quell negative comments from followers, don’t sweat it. You’re not alone.

According to previous Sprout Social Index data, government accounts are considered to be the most annoying across social media.

Ouch.

There are a few reasons why this is the case. General disillusionment with government and fierce partisanship both definitely play a big role in the hate that a government account might get.

Also, consider how too much promotional content and laggy response times contribute to the public’s dissatisfaction with some government accounts.

The good news, though? As highlighted by the City of Lexena and their rapid success growing their impressions and interactions using Sprout, engaging your followers in a positive way is far from impossible.

Here are some key tips and best practices of government and social media to grow your presence.

Emphasize visual content

Visual content in the form of videos, infographics, follower photos and memes are among the most-shared across social media. According to our research, over half of marketers say visual formats are the most valuable content types for achieving their goals on social. And this also rings true for government social media accounts.

Not only are visuals easier for followers to understand at a glance, but visual content also makes your content more accessible to those with disabilities.

Beyond that, you can increase the share-factor of your content in the case of a crisis or emergency. Think about it: a visual PSA has more impact and shareability than a simple text-only post that could be misinterpreted or glossed over.

For example, this visual from the FDA is straightforward and easy to digest:

Meanwhile, note how much love this user-generated post from Yorkshire Dale National Park’s account received. Visual-based posts are prime for engagement.

Social media provides a ton of opportunities for government agencies to get creative with their visual content. For example, check out how the U.S. Small Business Administration uses YouTube videos to highlight stories of thriving local businesses.

Get conversational with your constituents

Remember what we said earlier about showing off your human side?

You don’t have to be totally “suit and tie” when it comes to your voice and tone on social media. Humorous captions, candid conversations and playful comments are all common among government accounts today.

After all, nobody wants to just read stuffy, boring updates all the time. Interactions with your followers should be treated as an opportunity to make an impression on them.

Of course, the caveat here is to be able to read the room and never make light of a serious situation. Government accounts are oftentimes responsible for balancing both “just-for-fun” posts and consequential content. If you’re second-guessing whether a comment or post is appropriate for your audience, it’s best to err on the side of caution.

Use community and event-specific hashtags to monitor messages

This is particularly helpful for government accounts with massive followings.

Coupling your messages with hashtags not only makes them more visible in search but makes timely responses easier to spot when somebody uses your tag. Here’s a great example of effective hashtag marketing from the US Census Bureau.

Many government officials likewise host Twitter Q&As and other digital events with the help of hashtags.

Beyond featuring hashtags in your posts, government accounts can keep an eye on trending tags in their area (think: #floridaunemployment) where they may be able to provide insight.

Respond to your constituents in a timely manner

Although government accounts aren’t responsible for customer service per se, they are expected to respond to followers in a timely manner.

In addition to writing captions and scheduling content, set aside time to reply to @mentions and questions posed to you via social. This signals that you care about your community and take your responsibility of being an official resource seriously.

And if nothing else, responding to questions is a way to have meaningful back-and-forths with your followers and show that your account is an active forum for constituents.

Publish your social content to multiple channels

Bear in mind that your target audience as a government account is likely fragmented between platforms.

As highlighted by our demographic data, different audiences and age groups tend to flock to different social sites. Check out this breakdown of the CDC’s use of social media for reference:

Chances are you’re tackling more than one social account, right? As a result, you should consider cross-posting your content across multiple platforms to ensure it receives maximum reach.

That’s where Sprout Social’s scheduling and publishing tools can help. With our tools, you can queue up your content and tailor each post based on whichever platform you’re publishing to.

Speaking of posting, note that most government social accounts tend to post something on a daily basis. That’s why it’s important to have a variety of content queued up on a regular basis. If you aren’t already, make sure you’re familiar with the best times to post on social media. Having these times handy can help you reach your followers when they’re most active.

And with that, we wrap up our guide!

How do you make social media and government work for you?

Social media has become integral to how government officials and agencies interact with the public.

And so if you’re looking to improve your presence and engage more citizens, your head is in the right place.

Want to take a deeper, data-driven approach to social media and increase your interactions? We can help with that! Check out our social media toolkit for resources and ideas to build stronger content, campaigns and audience connections.

The post Social media and government: how to keep citizens engaged appeared first on Sprout Social.

Longer than your typical blog post and more in-depth than an ebook, a white paper is a well-researched piece of content designed to educate readers on a specific topic. It allows you to position your brand as an expert in your field and demonstrate you have a solution to your audience’s problems. And because marketers often gate white papers behind an email form, these reports can help support goals like lead generation and sales.

But with a little foresight, a white paper can do more than capture leads. It can also fuel an entire year’s worth of content and support teams across sales, customer success and even design. From developing social media content to webinars to workshops, there are a number of ways you can extend the life of your white paper.

In this article, we’ll walk you through how to write a white paper as well as how to turn those data and insights into new content for the entire year.

What makes a white paper valuable?

Traditionally, a white paper is defined as an informational document to promote a product or service and is used by marketing and sales to persuade buyers to purchase from one brand over another. In marketing, a white paper can be used to provide in-depth research on a particular subject (like the state of social marketing) and gives brands an opportunity to build credibility with their audience.

Consider this data-driven white paper example: the Sprout Social Index™. The Index™ is our annual 30+ page white paper filled with unique data based on consumer and marketer surveys. We look specifically at the state of social marketing, and offer insights on topics like consumer behaviors, marketers’ social goals and what differentiates one brand’s social presence from a competitor.

It takes roughly three months and collaboration across marketing, design and sales for the Index™ to come to life. On the other hand, this blog post you’re reading took me about one week to complete. To illustrate how to plan and develop a white paper with legs beyond its initial launch, we’ll share how we create the Index™ and the various assets that come from our annual report.

Phase 1. Planning for success

Before diving into topic ideation, establish the goals and objectives you want to achieve with your white paper. Goals can include everything from raising brand awareness in your target audience to fueling new business acquisition by generating leads. And determine which key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll use to track your progress toward your goals, like net new users and content downloads. From there, develop a project plan with clear expectations around responsibilities and due dates, like when to expect a first draft or design assets for social promotion.

Once your goals and project plan are in place, then you can focus on narrowing your white paper to one specific topic. When in doubt, start by identifying your audience and brainstorming the different problems you can help them solve.

For the Sprout Social Index™, we look at a couple of factors to inform our direction:

• Our audience’s needs. Think about who is going to read your white paper and what problems they’re hoping to solve with the information provided. For the Index™, we know we’re speaking to social media marketers of all industries and experience levels, from solo practitioners to directors managing a team. So the data we offer needs to help our audience advance their careers, strengthen their strategies and sharpen their skill sets. We’ll consider things like top goals and challenges for social marketers, how social is viewed within an organization and what skills marketers hope to develop.
• The state of the industry. In addition to specific audience needs, we also look at what’s happening within the industry at large. Are there emerging trends our audience wants to understand? How are other brands responding to industry changes and what can readers learn from these examples? To ensure the Index™ is relevant for social marketers of all industries, we’ll look at big trends in the overall social marketing landscape like which platforms are most popular among consumers and what types of content generate the most engagement.

If you plan to use your white paper to inspire a year’s worth of content, take a moment to evaluate if the topic will be relevant a year from now. Timely data, while it can be extremely valuable as part of your content strategy, gives you less runway to develop content six, seven or eight months post launch. Additionally, you’ll need to have enough data to work with in the future. Keeping the topic broad enough will enable you to drill down into specific angles for future content.

Phase 2. Writing a white paper from start to finish

With a plan in place, it’s time to conduct your research, develop your white paper structure and deploy any surveys for data collection.

With the Index™, we use a platform like SurveyMonkey to conduct two different surveys: one for 1,000 consumers and one for 1,000 social marketers. We ask consumers questions like which social platforms they use the most and what actions can turn them off to a brand’s social presence. In the marketer survey, we ask them how they use social data, what their greatest challenges are and what factors influence their approach to social.

If you’re unsure how to analyze the data, try creating a separate Google Doc or spreadsheet to house your key findings, organized by question number. When reviewing the Index™ data, we look at things like:

• Responses to all questions without any filtering or comparisons
• Results when we narrow our focus to one particular subgroup (e.g. marketers at companies with only 1-50 employees)
• Responses that contradict our original hypothesis
• Contrasts between the two audiences (e.g. marketers versus consumers)

Remember: you won’t use every single data point in your actual report. Instead of tossing unused data to the side, consider using that information as inspiration for a future piece of content.

With your data in hand, it’s time to put pen to paper. Writing a white paper can take several days, or even weeks, and it’s helpful to start with a comprehensive outline to plan out the report flow. In the outline for the Index™, we include examples of the quantitative data to highlight and brand examples discovered during the research stage. Allocate about one week for outlining and drafting, which should include chart mockups of the data you plan to use.

For reviews, ask for feedback from your key stakeholders, including those who don’t work in content directly. Index™ feedback from our social team ensures we’re giving our target audience what they need while our PR team can recommend future storylines inspired by the report.

Phase 3. Bringing the data to life with creative

Another facet that distinguishes a white paper from a blog post is that white papers are often packaged as a designed PDF.

In addition to creating the PDF version of the Index™, our design team creates graphic assets and charts for use in content, on social and beyond. One of the reasons we ask our social team to review the final draft of the Index™ is to get feedback on which stats and insights will make for compelling graphics on social.

For example, one of the charts included in the Index™ talks about actions consumers take when they follow a brand on social..

Using the feedback from social, we identified one standout data point from this graph, and the design team turned it into a separate social graphic.

Developing a unique design system and color palette for each white paper creates a consistent visual identity so every asset looks like it belongs to the Index™ campaign. This also gives designers the flexibility to create new assets like GIFs throughout the entire year because they have a wide range of colors and motifs to pull from.

With your report ready to launch, remember you still need to track your progress toward your goals. Tracking not only shows you if you’ve achieved your goals but also if you need to adjust your distribution strategy to make up for lost ground.

Phase 4. Giving your white paper longevity

So you’ve officially published the final white paper PDF and all of your design assets—congratulations! But just because you hit that publish button doesn’t mean the work behind the scenes suddenly stops.

To kick off the Index™, we published a teaser post for an executive audience. The article preview some of the salient data points and highlight how the report will address marketers’ challenges, ultimately encouraging readers to download the Index™.

To keep that momentum going, our social and creative teams collaborated to create the #DataDance, a series of short dance moves inspired by findings from the Index™. We encouraged our followers to both learn and share their own #DataDance with us on social.

We also created new content like webinars and articles with industry-specific benchmarks months after the publish date. We also repackaged the Index™ as part of a larger toolkit for marketers as they begin planning for 2021. Finally, we included data from the report in our Data in Action workshop for social marketers, five months after the Index™ launched.

When you can repurpose the data and insights from your white paper, you stand to reach new audiences, reinforce your original argument and demonstrate your expertise in a particular topic.

Breathe new life into your white paper

White papers are not only a great resource for brands to establish their expertise and build authority with their audience, they also can inspire entirely new pieces of content post launch. By repurposing your report and turning it into new content, you can extend the longevity of your data and ensure your white paper continues to drive traffic for the entire year.

Looking for more inspiration for your content strategy? Check out what marketers and consumers say makes a brand’s social best in class and other content insights in the Sprout Social Index™ today.

The post How to write a white paper that inspires a year-long content strategy appeared first on Sprout Social.

Lake Metroparks strives to provide visitors with recreational and educational experiences that will keep them coming back for more, and social media plays an integral role.

But how does an organization with limited staff, time and budget effectively reach the right audiences, deliver exceptional customer care and measure return on investment, all while maintaining oversight of multiple social accounts?

The answer is Sprout Social.

Sprout provides the tools to effectively manage and engage with all our social networks from one simple user interface.

John Venen
Promotions and Advertising Manager

Simplifying social

John Venen has worked with Lake Metroparks for the better part of three decades, and currently holds the title of Promotions and Advertising Manager.

He wears many hats, but is primarily focused on demonstrating Lake Metroparks’ genuine commitment to the community via social media, public relations and other promotional efforts.

This includes maintaining the organization’s presence across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

“Social media is our most effective form of communication,” Venen said. “We use it not only to provide information about upcoming programs and events, but as a way to educate and entertain.”

The transparency offered by social is particularly important to Lake Metroparks.

“The open nature of social media provides users a platform to express impressions or experiences in our parks,” Venen said. “This gives us the opportunity to engage with them to demonstrate our concern for solving any problems. It’s a two-way communication tool.”

However, with so much content to publish and so many visitors to engage with, keeping up with daily demands was easier said than done.

“We were doing things manually,” Venen said. “People would email me things or text me things, and I would take it and go from there.”

The organization began searching for a platform that would support team contributions and simplify workflow.

“We discovered Sprout, and its ease of use, customer support and exceptional reporting were all deciding factors,” Venen said. “The ability to use the team approach of submitting posts certainly made life a lot easier.”

It wasn’t long before Lake Metroparks discovered other ways Sprout could simplify social.

Sprout’s Chatbots are absolutely amazing. They provide the ability to respond to our customers’ most frequently asked questions in a very timely manner at any time of day.

John Venen
Promotions and Advertising Manager

Streamlining strategy

Data shows 46% of social marketers wish they could spend more time developing strategy instead of working on tactical execution. However, 59% say lack of time prevents them from doing so.

The team at Lake Metroparks realized Sprout could help it spend less time on day-to-day tasks and more time pursuing strategic goals, all while improving customer service.

“Sprout provides the tools to effectively manage and engage with all our social networks from one simple user interface,” Venen said. “It allows for the curation of content through team contributions. The reporting options give us an easy-to-follow and up-to-date look at the effectiveness of our outreach. And it allows us to communicate effectively and quickly to those who reach out directly through the use of Chatbots.”

Using Sprout’s Bot Builder, Lake Metroparks is able to automate repetitive tasks, resolve customer issues at a faster rate and create unique marketing experiences.

“Sprout’s Chatbots are absolutely amazing,” Venen said. “They provide the ability to respond to our customers’ most frequently asked questions in a very timely manner at any time of day. With the way we’re able to personalize them, it’s kind of like building a mini-website. People can reach out to us on social and say, ‘Okay, I want information on this,’ click, and then go to the page they need.”

Meanwhile, Sprout’s Smart Inbox empowers Lake Metroparks to stay alerted to potential opportunities or crises brewing on social by unifying all social channels into a single stream, making it easy to monitor incoming messages and surface mentions of specific keywords.

For instance, the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett recently asked his Twitter followers where to bring his new puppy for a playdate. Loyal members of the Dawg Pound, one of the NFL’s most passionate fan communities, pointed him toward Lake Metroparks’ Canine Meadow Dog Park.

“All the TV stations and local radio stations were all over it,” Venen said. “It brought a lot of attention to our dog park and its Facebook page.”

Page impressions jumped by 829%, and the number of new fans for the page increased by 540%.

“Once we were aware of what was happening, we were able to monitor the situation from Sprout,” Venen said. “I was able to add ‘Myles Garrett’ as a keyword in the Smart inbox to ensure we’d stay on top of anything that came up and be the first to know what people were saying online.”

In this way, Lake Metroparks is able to proactively identify opportunities to expand its reach and connect with new audiences.

Assessing impact

Sprout not only makes it easy for Lake Metroparks to measure ROI, but improve it.

“Sprout’s reporting has given us a better look at our analytics and helps us adjust our social strategy through better targeting,” Venen said. “Engagement across all our networks is made simpler through the use of the Smart Inbox and through timely responses utilizing Chatbots. These things have all had a positive impact on our metrics.”

The ultimate goal is increasing attendance at park locations, usage of park facilities and registration for park-affiliated programs. This ties back directly to how many people are seeing and interacting with Lake Metroparks’ social posts.

Year over year after signing up with Sprout, across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, Lake Metroparks achieved a:

• 11.9% increase in total social impressions
• 23.5% increase in total social followers
• 49.6% increase in total social engagements

Lake Metroparks is committed to conserving, preserving and keeping people connected to the beautiful natural resources of Lake County. With the help of Sprout Social, it will continue its mission while saving time, providing excellent customer service and easily maintaining oversight of its expansive social presence.

The post How Lake Metroparks stays a step ahead on social media using Sprout Social appeared first on Sprout Social.

Yet through the power of social media, the City of Lenexa, Kansas is able to quickly share information, answer questions and build bonds with community members.

The city uses Sprout Social to streamline its social efforts and maximize their benefits. And after achieving a 96.9% increase in social engagements over a single year of using Sprout, the results have only continued to improve.

Selecting Sprout

Communications Specialist Kristen Waggener heads up the City of Lenexa’s social media efforts, including promotion of the popular Lenexa Public Market and Lenexa Rec Center across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

“Our goal with social media is to get information out to residents and businesses, as well as people interested in the city, as quickly and easily as possible,” she said. “We also want to use social as a service channel, because as you probably know, a lot of people prefer not to talk on the phone anymore and would rather have their questions answered through a direct message or a comment on social media.”

As the city’s social presence expanded and new profiles were created, the need for a social media management tool grew.

“I did a lot of research and a lot of trials with different companies,” Waggener said. “One of the major things we were looking for was the ability to easily export analytics for different social profiles. I didn’t want to spend hours upon hours trying to put together an analytics presentation on a monthly basis. So one of the things I really liked was the analytics exporting feature Sprout has. It made it very easy.”

While Waggener was pleased with Sprout’s data analytics and reporting capabilities, she was initially dubious of its Smart Inbox.

“I was actually very skeptical of the Smart Inbox because I was used to doing most things manually, but it turned out to be really helpful,” Waggener said. “It’s very easy to lose track of things or miss things on social. Something can come in at night that I’ll need to follow up on the next morning. With the Smart Inbox, I can just assign it as a task or leave it in my inbox and know that it’s there and I’m not going to lose it.”

I started using Optimal Send Times in June [2018] right after it was rolled out and saw a huge increase in engagement and reach.

Kristen Waggener
Communications Specialist, City of Lenexa

Optimizing Impact

Ultimately, Waggener wanted a tool that would help her inform the public, something easier said than done when it comes to the sometimes-mundane business of governing.

“The topics we’re covering are a lot drier compared to other things on social,” she said. “Things like budgets and street maintenance and building codes. We’re fortunate that our city has fun built into it. We’re known as the ‘City of Festivals,’ we have more than 15 major events every year, but there are other topics people aren’t necessarily excited to hear about or look for.”

So how do you get people to pay attention? By using Sprout’s Optimal Send Times, powered by proprietary ViralPost™ technology.

This feature enables users to schedule and publish content at the times most likely to receive attention and generate engagement based on audience data.

“I started using Optimal Send Times in June [2018] right after it was rolled out and saw a huge increase in engagement and reach,” Waggener said.

Over the course of a single month, from May 2018 to June 2018, the City of Lenexa saw its social impressions and engagements increase by 18% and 49.7%, respectively.

Meanwhile, from May 2018 to August 2018, across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn:

• Total social impressions increased by 23.4%, including a 29.7% rise on Facebook
• Total social engagements increased by 16%, including a 74.8% rise on Twitter

Waggener feels safe scheduling content in advance because of Sprout’s Pause All feature, which allows users to instantly pause and unpause scheduled content.

“Fortunately, I haven’t needed to use the Pause All feature yet, but I’m so thankful it’s there,” Waggener said. “The last thing I want to do is somehow make the city look bad. I don’t ever want the city to be put in a bad light because we had a random Facebook post that has nothing to do with whatever is going on in the world and it makes us look insensitive. So with the Pause All feature, it’s reassuring because I know all I have to do is literally press that pause button.”

I wear a lot of different hats, so not having to spend the time to figure out what the best time to post is or not having to spend the time compiling all the analytics data—it saves many hours.

Kristen Waggener
Communications Specialist, City of Lenexa

Calculating ROI

For Waggener, measuring Sprout’s return on investment goes beyond metrics.

“It gives me peace of mind, knowing I’m not missing something,” she said. “You know, I have a very strong sense of responsibility to the public in terms of answering their questions and getting them the information they need. Within the native platforms, it’s very easy to see a comment, think, ‘Oh, I need to follow up on that’ and then not be able to find it the next day.”

Time saved is another consideration.

“I wear a lot of different hats, so not having to spend the time to figure out what the best time to post is or not having to spend the time compiling all the analytics data—it saves many hours,” Waggener said. “I can use those hours to do something else that’s worthwhile for the city.”

However, if the City of Lenexa were to judge Sprout purely on hard numbers, that would be fine, too.

After one year of using Sprout, from April 2017 to April 2018, across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, the city experienced a:

• 46.8% increase in total social followers
• 41% increase in total social impressions
• 96.9% increase in total social engagements

Meanwhile, year over year in August 2018, across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest, the city achieved a:

• 38.8% increase in total social followers
• 29% increase in total social impressions
• 54.7% increase in total social engagements

With the help of Sprout Social, the City of Lenexa will continue to boost citizen engagement, serve the needs of its constituents and ensure important information is shared far and wide.

The post How the City of Lenexa Engages its Citizenry Using Sprout Social appeared first on Sprout Social.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization produces original research—crunching numbers, sharing data with the public and providing recommendations to decision makers and influencers.

And it turns to social media to help spread the word.

Since signing on with Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social, the organization has experienced consistent boosts in messaging reach. Over the past year alone, it achieved a 12% increase in total social followers, resulting in more than:

• 13 million impressions
• 160,000 engagements
• 62,000 link clicks

Additionally, the nonprofit captured a total potential reach of over a million social users thanks to employee advocates.

Capturing attention

The organization works with hundreds of researchers covering a wide range of issues, from health care to taxes to housing finance.

The information it uncovers and shares is of great interest to lawmakers and other individuals shaping policy, and is delivered in a nonpartisan fashion.

“For example, if a new law is proposed at the federal level, we wouldn’t say this is bad or don’t vote for this,” said the organization’s Senior Digital Communications Manager. “But we might say, ‘Here’s what could happen if you enact this. We have research on this, and this is what the research says.’ We’re just trying to bring evidence to bear on policy conversations that are happening.”

Online fundraising is a secondary goal. The organization operates more as a publisher than fundraiser, and its audience is policymakers, major media outlets and the people who work in the spaces it researches.

However, staying above the political fray comes with drawbacks.

“We don’t do any advocating ourselves, which can actually make our social media work more challenging,” said the Senior Digital Communications Manager. “In essence, we’re saying, ‘Here are some interesting facts, do with them what you will.’ It can be harder for social, because you’re not making really strong statements, and you’re not telling people to do something, or to get angry, or explicitly telling them something is bad. And people tend to get more excited about that.”

Fortunately, through a combination of smart social strategy and employee advocacy supported by Sprout Social, the Urban Institute is able to amplify its message and reach its target audiences.

Expanding reach

The Senior Digital Communications Manager knew the Urban Institute needed social media management tools to succeed, but was less than impressed with what the organization was using.

“I did a month-long trial of Sprout and loved it. I was afraid the transition from an old platform to a new one would be really hard, but it was so easy. And once we learned about Sprout’s Employee Advocacy Platform, it seemed like an easy way to support our social efforts even more. It was easy to integrate it with our current strategies and better engage our staff.”

Publishing and social media monitoring are primary concerns for the team. With Sprout’s publishing features, the organization is able to automatically post content across all connected social profiles at optimal times to maximize reach, and can then monitor who is sharing and commenting on its content. Beyond generating awareness, the organization wants to be able to identify online influencers and key stakeholders.

“I couldn’t do my job without Sprout,” said the Senior Digital Communications Manager. “When I get in in the morning, I can schedule a handful of posts, set it and forget it. And throughout the day, I check back in and update and respond as necessary.”

While it’s active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, Twitter is the organization’s social channel of choice. Year over year on Twitter, as of April 16, 2018, the organization saw a:

• 6.8% increase in organic impressions.
• 10.3% increase in total followers.
• 15.1% increase in messages received.

Sprout has also helped organize its employee advocacy efforts, opening the door to further increases in online reach. The communications team is able to curate content employees can quickly and easily share on their personal social profiles.

Year over year, thanks to Employee Advocacy, the organization achieved a total potential reach of 1,034,903 across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. This growth has continued month over month as well, with total employee story shares increasing 200% between March and April 2018.

Employee shares are especially effective at maximizing messaging reach, as data shows brand messages shared by employees reach 561% further than those shared by brand social channels, and are also re-shared 24 times more frequently.

A critical component of the nonprofit’s mission is to conduct research that elevates debate. With Sprout Social, it can do just that by ensuring its work is shared far and wide.

The post How this nonprofit institute boosts messaging reach with Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social appeared first on Sprout Social.

WBC has found the introduction and dissemination of this new mission has been particularly successful through its social channels, despite a relatively small follower count.

“Social media has been a very valuable tool for WBC,” said Sean Anderson, WBC Communications Specialist. “We don’t have a lot of followers, but the followers we do have are incredibly influential people or organizations and we rely heavily on these influencers to help amplify our message.”

So when WBC needs to gauge whether or not its content is really penetrating, it looks to who’s sharing it and how wide its subsequent reach is. To do this the organization relies on Sprout’s Twitter reporting feature, Potential Reach, found in the Sent Messages report.

Expanding Impact

Potential Reach not only accounts for the number of followers you have when you published a tweet, but also the number of followers of every account that retweeted it. While engagement and new followers are always important metrics, it’s the Potential Reach number that allows WBC to judge message amplification to the 2nd and 3rd degrees.

“Our team provides the C-suite with the typical monthly metrics—impressions, engagement, new followers, etc,” says Anderson. “But it’s the Potential Reach we provide quarterly that really shows them the extent of our social media messaging and proves the power and value of social media versus traditional press and advertising.”

As for content curation itself, WBC relies heavily on Sprout’s Queue and publishing calendar to plan out more strategic posts, freeing up the organization to focus on real-time coverage of industry events. This ability to post relevant, on-strategy content while also maintaining an influential presence at important civic events is vital to the organization’s perception and reputation as a thought leader.

And while having the right content is key to any successful social strategy, the ability to gauge whether or not it’s resonating with the right audience is an invaluable tool that Sprout’s advanced reporting features offer.

To further build its network of local and global connections, WBC will continue to rely on social media—and Sprout’s powerful platform—to leverage the influence it needs to make a lasting impact on the city’s community and economy.

The post World Business Chicago Realizes its Full Potential With the Help of Sprout Social’s Analytics Features appeared first on Sprout Social.