Presented at GFOA annual conference. Intro to government digital communications 101, including use of social media, and case study of stearns county sheriff's office

1. Presenters:
QR Code
Date:
Staying Relevant Tactics For
Successful Public Sector Use of
Social Media
Moderator, Darrel Thomas, Asst. City Manager/COO, City of Westin, FL
Speakers:
Marty Doll, Communications Coordinator, City of Burnsville, MN
Robert Filipczak, Social Media Coordinator, MN Dept. of Transportation
Dory Dahlberg, Web Communications Specialist, Stearns County, MN
John Simpson, Engagement Consultant, GovDelivery
May 20, 2014

2. Success with
Digital Outreach 101
& Stearns County MN
GFOA 2014
Session Name: Staying Relevant: Tactics For
Successful Public Sector Use of Social Media
Tuesday, May 20, 2014, 10:20 AM - 12:00 PM

3. 51
• Digital Outreach 101
• Success of Stearns County Sheriff’s Office
• Additional Success Stories
• Next Steps
Overview

4. 52
 Match your content to the right tool(s)
 Tell a story about people
 Learn how others have been successful
 Leverage recommendations and lessons learned
Key Takeaways from Today

5. Digital Outreach 101

6. 54
• Why are you reaching out?
• What outcomes do you want?
• How do you want your audience to act?
Understand Your Business Goals

7. 55
• Content today, tomorrow
• Content goals and desired audience actions
• Right tool for the right action
Determine a Content Strategy
Content +

8. 56
• How to measure success
• Map out and prioritize tools’ results
• Improve on the go
Measure and Analyze Outreach Results

9. 57
• Look for patterns and trends
• Translate into real world impact
Tell a Story about People

10. Success of
Stearns County
Sheriff’s Office

11. 59
“Informing the community is nothing but a good thing,
because they are the eyes and ears of a good police
department. The more information we can get to the
community and the more they can provide back to us,
the better off everyone is.”
John L. Sanner
Stearns County Sheriff
Background and Goals of Sheriff’s Office

12. 60
Purpose
Expand and enhance engagement with residents to:
Prevent
Crime
Promote
Public
Safety
Protect
Quality
of Life

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Project Goals
Make it easy for residents to:
• Receive information from the Office
• Send information to the Office
• Locate & learn about services
• Take steps to prevent crime & protect self
• Share with others

14. 62
• Evaluate how public engagement occurs today
– What and Who
– Tools: Now, Soon, TBD
• Craft an Engagement Roadmap with tactics and room for
future recommendations
– Tactics = Content + Tools + Measurable Goals
– Develop milestones; Evaluate your work; Repeat
Discovery and Roadmap

15. 63
Project Strategy
Improve communications through:
• Visibility – more places, more often
• Information – more timely resources
• Accessibility – more open contact, connections

16. 64
Project Strategy
Focus on three areas:
• Website – co.stearns.mn.us
• Email – GovDelivery subscription service
• Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest,
Flickr, Google+

17. 65
Website
New content
Calls to action
Multimedia

18. 66
Email
Sheriff’s Office Updates
Subscription overlay
Widget

19. 67
Social Media
YouTube
Pinterest
Facebook

20. 68
Results
Website
• 70,000 monthly
page views
• 100 monthly file
downloads
• 5 x more tips
submitted*
(of tracked tips)
Email
• 1,200 new Sheriff
subscribers
• Updates topic 6th
most popular
• Most Wanted
subscribers up
91%
Social Media
• Facebook 25%
growth overall
• Twitter 40%
growth overall
• 2,100 Sheriff
YouTube video
views
Note: Growth from May 2013 to January 2014

21. 69
522% Year Growth in
Crime Tips Submitted
Note: Total Tips does not account for tips submitted to via phone to a source that was not tracked nor to detectives

22. 70
1. Stearns County residents are eager to engage with the
Sheriff’s Office
2. The easier it is for the public to engage law enforcement
organizations, the more likely that they will engage
3. Track the origin and frequency of submitted crime tips to
plan for the future
Top Three Project Insights

23. 71
Building on Success
Crime
Prevention
Public
Safety
Quality
of Life
Community Engagement
Continue building on a strong foundation:

24. Additional
Success Stories

25. 73
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
CONNECT
WITH MORE PEOPLE
1.6M+
PEOPLE
RESULTS
Increase ROI by moving
from paper to digital
processes
GET PEOPLE
TO TAKE ACTION
Increasing tax submissions
Updated mobile app to
increase use of online tax
resources
 Increasing awareness of
availability of tax
information & resources


Added nearly 15K
subscriptions to the
Tax Tips topic. 72%
of those came from
the mobile app

26. 74
New York Department of Tax & Finance
CONNECT
WITH MORE PEOPLE
RESULTS
Digital message delivery
tracks open/click actions for
each recipient
GET PEOPLE
TO TAKE ACTION
Increasing on-time tax
submissions
Support environmentally
friendly initiatives
 Increasing awareness of
important tax information


New York Department of Tax & Finance (NY Tax) moved from paper statements &
notifications to electronic messages to increase adoption of online tax filing.
2M+ messages sent driving
additional adoption of online
filing system
6.6M+ tax statements &
reminders sent in 11
months, increasing on-time
tax filings

27. 75
Minnesota Department of Revenue
CONNECT
WITH MORE PEOPLE
77K+
PEOPLE
RESULTS
Seeing 75% engagement
rate with digital
messages
GET PEOPLE
TO TAKE ACTION
Increasing awareness of
availability of tax
information & resources
Allowing stakeholders to
self-identify topics of
interest to send more
targeted communications

 Rapid growth in
stakeholder
outreach, gaining
more than 30,000
new subscribers

28. Next Steps

29. 77
Digital Outreach 101 Recap
1. Understand Business Goals
2. Determine a Content Strategy
3. Measure and Analyze Outreach Results
4. Tell a Story about People

30. 78
Learn more about the success of
Stearns County Sheriff’s Office
Download the Infographic
http://bit.ly/stearnsinfo
Sign Up for Email Updates
https://www.co.stearns.mn.us
Connect on Social Media

31. Questions?
Thank You
John Simpson
Engagement Consultant
GovDelivery
John.Simpson@GovDelivery.com
@jsimpsonftw
Dory Dahlberg
Web Communications Specialist
Information Services
Stearns County, Minnesota
Dory.dahlberg@co.stearns.mn.us