#WeStillComing and Other Insights into Digital Communications

If you don’t know the story of the viral #WeStillComing, it’s ok; you can still have amazing digital communications thanks to these insights from the #nextgengov panelists who have been there and done it well.

How do I get buy in for digital communications initiatives?

• Align communication plans and technologies with your agency or department’s mission, strategic goals, and objectives.
• Provide case studies of other agencies that have successfully implemented what you hope to achieve.
• Find champions high up who recognize the issues with your existing initiatives, and propose a solution.

How do I stay up to date with the latest and greatest digital communication tools and technologies?

• Monitor the pulse of the field via the Federal Web Content Managers Forum, GovLoop, and the ICMA Knowledge Network for local government.
• Monitor consumer level discussions at Mashable and TechCrunch.

Any tips on generating content?

• Be wary of generating content by committee, which can bog down the process.
• Empower your audience to come up with their own content.
• Listen to what your audience wants, and give it to them.
• Share only 20% of your own content and 80% of other related content.
• Use a shared Dropbox for collecting photos and videos from employees.

What about expanding reach?

• Email is still king- use it to link to your social media and website.
• Use animated GIFs and links to videos in your emails.
• Use different solutions and strategies to reach different audiences.
• Don’t use boilerplate gov-speak; be creative.

How do I get feedback?

• Use Google analytics, Facebook insights, and any other sources to collect data on who you’re reaching and how.
• Ask your audience: How did they find your site and did they find what they were looking for?
• Measure more than just the number of clicks; measure ways you are achieving your mission.

And remember, you don’t have to go it alone; get advice from the panelists: Allison LePage and Brendan Bailes from the Corporation for National and Community Service; and Sid Burgess from GovDelivery; moderated by Mary Yang from GovDelivery.