Our State of Social MediaKing County’s Digital Media Strategy

for 2016 and Beyond

Presented by Derek BeltDigital Media Manager, King County

derekbelt@kingcounty.gov 206-263-2398

Digital media at King County• 200+ social media pages

– 309,000 total fans and followers.

– Second-largest social media presence of any U.S. county.

• 600+ different email and newsletter topics in GovDelivery– 346,000 unique subscribers.

– Sent 12.3 million emails and 5.1 million texts in 2015.

• 32 blogs on WordPress and Tumblr– 300,000 page views last year on pace for 1 million in 2016.

Social media growth 2014-16

* Up from 39,000 fans/followers in Nov. 2012

Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Q1 2016 Q2 20160

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

128,627 fans in Jan. 2014

309,114 fans in July 2016

Department breakdown

Metro & DOT24%

KC News21%

Sheriff14%

Council10%

DNRP8%

Public Health6%

Employees4%Exec Office4%

Other 9%

* Percentage of our total 309,114 fans and followers

Top 20 largest pages1. Metro Transit, Twitter

57,731

2. KC News, Twitter 50,820

3. Employees, LinkedIn 11,320

4. Sheriff’s PIO, Twitter 11,195

5. Council, Twitter 11,125

6. Exec Constantine, Twitter 8,848

7. EcoConsumer, Twitter 7,731

8. Medic One, Facebook 7,651

9. Sheriff’s Office, Facebook 7,545

10. Metro Transit, Facebook 7,531

11. KC News, Facebook 6,859

12. Sheriff’s Office, Twitter 6,802

13. Air Support, Twitter 5,947

14. Recycle More, Facebook 5,345

15. KC News, Periscope 4,832

16. Public Health, Facebook 4,520

17. CM Lambert, Facebook 4,290

18. Public Health, Twitter 4,286

19. Pets, Facebook 3,939

20. Council, Facebook 3,810

Every team plays their part171. Loop Biosolids, YouTube 26 followers

149. Emergency News, WordPress 62

144. Archives, Twitter 93

132. KCIT, LinkedIn 129

118. Product Stewardship, Twitter 188

111. Solid Waste, Instagram 260

102. PSERN, Twitter 287

97. Recicla Más, Facebook 340

a85. Employee Giving, Twitter 544

132 of our 203 social media pages

have fewer than 500 fans/followers.

Our strategy: From broadcast to microcast

• VIDEO: Upcoming SXSW discussion called Microcasting: The Future of Fan Engagement.

• Too many people measure success by likes and retweets, but what if we took a different approach and connected with our most passionate audiences, however small?

• It’s said you only need 1,000 true fans to be successful, so let’s focus less on “broadcasting” and more on “microcasting” to help us reach smaller, niche audiences.

Small but loyal

audiences

Say hello to your

Social media engagement 2014-16

Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Q1 2016 Q2 20160

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,000

9,000,000

Total Subscriptions Reach

.

These clicks amplify our messages to the tune of

8 million true impressionsin Q2 2016

d

Across King County, we share 1,000 posts per

month to 309K followers

d

Driving 40,000 clicks per month

Watch the video

Microcasting gives people choices

SO…

Online civic engagement program• Social media is typically a 1-way

communications tool, “pushing” information to residents.

• Currently, how we ask for and collect online public feedback differs greatly across departments, relying on private forms such as Survey Monkey — a 1-way option.

• With the right tool, we can foster 2-way dialogue, “pulling” in feedback from a larger and more diverse group than we’ve had access to before.

We want more public

feedback

What we’re looking for in a tool• Easy-to-use solution that plugs into

existing strategies.

• Support for multi-language outreach.

• Analytics and demographics on who is participating in our conversations.

• Mobile-friendly design.

• Complementary tool for in-person public meetings. KCIT’s goal is to provide a compelling digital alternative to in-person meetings.

• Downloadable data that helps county staff make informed decisions using the feedback we receive.

Example: Open Town Hall• Learn about the issues, submit

feedback, see others’ comments, have an “open” discussion.

• People can comment directly on the images, maps, documents, and PDFs we upload.– Example: Walla Walla, WA

• Filter comments by specific location or keyword such as “housing.”– Example: Palo Alto, CA

• Fully responsive on mobile devices.

• All responses can be downloaded in PDF or Excel and contain demographic metadata.

Long-range plan for digital media

• Open Town Hall can help us increase civic engagement across King County.

• Multi-language public outreach, demographic data, mobile-friendly, enterprise-wide.

Boost public feedback

Long-range plan for digital media

Build an audience

• 309,000+ followers is the second largest social media presence of any U.S. county.

• 345,000+ email/text subscribers, reaching in 1 in 6 King County residents.

Use their feedback

• Develop processes for integrating public feedback into reports, strategic plans, etc.

• Support ESJ initiatives to increase public participation across diverse audiences.

• Open Town Hall can help us increase civic engagement across King County.

• Multi-language public outreach, demographic data, mobile-friendly, enterprise-wide.

Boost public feedbackPhase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

How we’ve built our program5 rules of smart social media:

1. Know your purpose.

2. Develop a thoughtful plan.

3. Use plain language.

4. Reach people where they are.

5. Decide what to measure.

Rule #1: Know your purpose

Watch the video

Learn about King County services you can use, and tell us how we

can serve you better.

OUR PURPOSE

Rule #2: Develop a thoughtful plan

Social Media Action Plan (SMAP):

• How social media fits into existing communications strategy

• Why a specific channel is the right fit (e.g. Facebook)• Goals• Objectives• Target audiences• Resources and staff time needed• ESJ considerations• Marketing and public outreach• Success metrics

View and download our plan at kingcounty.gov/socialmedia.

SMAP: GoalsWhat do you want to be able to tell your boss about this?

King County Airport on WordPress• The Airport has many stories of interest to tell, and the need

for transparency is critical as neighbors involve their Congressman on noise, health, and equity issues, and as the Airport launches a major Master Plan process this year. Our blog can help us provide a voice for Airport staff, share draft documents for the Master Plan, and meet other key communications needs.

340 page views20 social media shares

SMAP: ObjectivesWhat specific actions will help you achieve your goals?

Rivers on Nextdoor• The existing rivers website does not have simple two-way

communication. Nextdoor gives us an additional and flexible tool to inform and educate residents affected by flooding, and to connect with people living in flood zones during an emergency situation or flood event.

King County was the first jurisdiction in the U.S. to use Nextdoor to connect with residents living in FEMA flood zones.

We uploaded shapefiles of the FEMA flood maps into Nextdoor, allowing Rivers staff to share information with residents living in specific locations.

Reaches 400+ Nextdoor users in the Snoqualmie

Floodplain.

SMAP: Target audienceWho will you be speaking to? How will this help you do that?

Household Hazardous Waste on Facebook• We would like to start a conversation with mothers in King

County. Household hazardous waste is an important topic affecting many families in our area, and Facebook gives us a creative place to have this dialogue and share info, tips, and pictures that inform mothers about everyday things they can do to keep their families safe.

SMAP: Success metricsHow will you know you have achieved your goals?

Solid Waste Division on Instagram• Success will be measured by the amount of followers and

likes, but also by the amount of photographs submitted from employees for use in our newsletter. If we can have staff from throughout Solid Waste submitting pictures, we’ll know we have an engaged community and that Instagram is useful and important for them.

Reaches 400+ staff via the SWD newsletter.

Rule #3: Use plain language

King County’s wastewater treatment plants, facility sites, and construction areas are off limits to the public regardless of the Pokémon creature your app says is lurking there.

The people authorized to be in these places are trained and equipped to stay safe. Players can also disrupt work. Our contractors and operators are building and operating a large regional wastewater system.

They’re not on site to battle trainers trying to nab Pikachu.

Read the WTD blog / GeekWire

Rule #4: Reach people where they are

Reached 5,087 Nextdoor users in

Redmond.

Facebook ads in multiple languages

Vietnamese

• Target audiences on Facebookby language and location.

• ESJ Opportunity Fund grant to helpteams do this outreach:– 119K unique people reached– 248K impressions– 3,313 clicks to our websites– $1,700 spent– $0.48 cost per click

• Ads for Elections, Noxious Weeds, RainWise, RASKC, Rivers, DNRP andMetro Transit.

• Ads in Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

Rule #5: Decide what to measure

Page Posts in Q3 2015 Fans Reach Reach

Per Post%

Reached % Engaged

Metro 80 4,655 89,250 1,116 24% 4%

Pets 53 2,940 46,228 872 30% 4%

Public Health 120 2,876 95,651 797 28% 7%

Parks 121 3,003 55,247 457 15% 5%

KC News 90 5,506 82,070 912 17% 4%

Prosecuting Attorney 68 454 116,089 1,707 376% 20%

WOW!!! What is PAO doing differently?

The “See More” option drives a lot of clicks in Facebook’s News Feed.

Average word count on PAO posts is 245.

Best practices suggest a max count of just 100-200 characters!!!

But PAO’s posts are longer, blog-like stories.

And they are working—BIG TIME!

New tool: Simply Measured• Simply Measured is a social media

analytics and listening tool.

• Easily measure engagement and reach across multiple social networks.

• Automated, ready-made reports tell the story of what is happening on your social media pages.

• Keyword-driven campaign tracking allows us to monitor important online conversations. (See next slide)

• Learn more about who is engaging with your content, and what types of posts are actually working for you.

Event metrics from CHOMP! festival• These numbers are from a Simply

Measured keyword search:– #chomplocal– #chomp– @kingcountychomp– “chomp”

• 247 total mentions across Twitter,Instagram, blogs and forums.

• Nearly 600,000 impressions.

• 139 tweets from 75 unique users, and 16 of those unique users have +2,500 followers.

• 45 mentions on Instagram w/ 402 interactions.

Text messages at King County (Level 1)

Text to subscribe (1-way)• Sign up for newsletters or email

lists with a simple text.

• Cost: FREE

Text to get something back (2-way)• King County Parks users get PDF trail maps sent directly to their

smartphones. Try texting ‘KING COUGAR’ to 468311.

• Bus riders in San Francisco get real-time arrival information via text. Try texting ‘BART 12th’ to 468311.

• Cost: FREE

Text messages at King County (Level 2)

Targeted texting (1- or 2-way)• Notify people of pet license renewals,

property tax due dates, court appearances, more.

• Cost: Dependent on project scope

– 1-way: Est. $7K set-up and $8K/yr.

– 2-way: Est. $40K set-up and $80K/yr.

Interactive texting (2-way)• Get public feedback through GovDelivery’s Textizen. Kirkland used this

to decide where to build new aquatic center w/ 12,000 responses.

• Cost: Dependent on project scope $10K - $100K.

Nextdoor at King County• Nextdoor is often referred to as Facebook

for neighborhoods.

• People can only register by verifyingthey live in a certain place.

• Currently, there are 203,000 Nextdoor members across King County reaching 10% of households.

• 900+ neighborhoods and 60+ service areas (e.g. cities) in King County, and we can target messages to specific geographic areas.

• All members receive our updates, to which they can unsubscribe.

• There are no “fans” in Nextdoor. We reach everyone with every post.

Getting started with Nextdoor• Talk to Derek first to see if it’s a good

fit for your program.

• Fill out a Social Media Action Plan.

• Derek will work with King County’s Nextdoor rep to create your page.

• Do not contact Nextdoor on your own about setting up a page.

• Nothing gets access to King County’s service areas without approval from Derek. Nextdoor is a little different than the other social networks, and we are being very careful.

• Case study: Animal Services can use Nextdoor’s neighborhoods for proactive outreach ahead of door-to-door pet canvassing.

What is Snapchat?

Watch the video

Snapchat at King County• Snapchat is not for everyone. Here’s an

article on Snapchat for Government.

• Right now, news on Snapchat is only for the ESPNs and CNNs of the world.

• The 13-34 demographic loves Snapchat, but it takes a unique content strategy to appeal to this group. Standard communications won’t work here.

• Snapchat is a records management nightmare. Snaps disappear after they are watched, while Stories remain for just 24 hours.

• I’m not against Snapchat, but oh-my does it have to be the perfect fit.

• Case study: Imagine the dog graphic above is an “I Voted” sticker from Elections that people can place on their snaps.

Wrapping up• Social Media Action Plans are still

required. These are for your benefit and help set the stage for success.

• Keep coming to me with new ideas!

• We can be creative and clever, but we should not try to be funny. Our taxpayers want us to be helpful, resourceful, and competent. They do not pay the government to be funny.

• I am your point person for analytics. With Simply Measured, event reporting and conversation tracking are now on the table.

• You are all doing so great and I am so proud to work with each of you. Thank you for all you’ve done for King County, and I am thrilled to see what we can accomplish these next few years!

• Derek BeltDigital Media Manager, King County derek.belt@kingcounty.gov 206-263-2398

• Please contact me with any questions or comments. There are no bad questions, I promise, and I am here to help!

• See all our digital media @ kingcounty.gov/connect

Thank you!