Social Media Start Up pack – August 2015
East Hampshire District Council and Havant Borough Council
Social Media Start Up (SMSU) pack
August 2015
Foureasy steps to get started
Step 1
Introduction and agreement
1.1 Welcome…………………………………………………..….p 3
1.2 Complete your Social Media Start Upformwith Ashley
Curtis and get it signed by your manager…………………p 4-8
Step 2
Create your accounts
2.1 Facebook……………………………………………………..p 9
2.2 Twitter…………………………………………………………p 10
Step 3
Managing your account
3.1 Guidelines and tips……………………………………….…p 11-12
3.2 FAQ…………………………………………………………...p 12-13
Step 4
4.1 Other social media accounts……………...………………..p 14
4.2Resources…………………………………………………….p 15
4.3Glossary………………………………………………………p 16
5. More resources..………………………………………..….….p 17
6. Glossary……………………………..….…………………...…p 18-19
1.1 Welcome
Want to set up a Facebook page? Or a Twitter account? That’s great! Let’s get started…
Social media is about having a conversation. It’s not just about sharing information in a timely and appropriate way – it’s also about listening.
There are a few things you have to bear in mind but a lot of it comes down to common sense.
We trust you to talk to people face to face, on the phone and in writing and so we also trust you to talk to them online.
It can be daunting but the majority of our local government colleagues across the country have found it to be an extremely positive experience which strengthens relationships with their customers and communities.
We have included things that we hope you will find useful on your social media adventure;things that we wish someone had given us when we started out!
1.2 Social Media Start Up (SMSU)form
Before referring this request to the web team for approval, you must have first completed the template below.
We can help you to do this, if you feel that you need help.Just call us on 01730 234024.
Please provide a brief summary of the project/campaign for which you intend to use social media:
Which aims to achieve:
The key objectives using a social media account for this project/campaign are:
Tell us about your audience.Who are they? Which sites/tools/channels do they prefer?
and we are using (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram etc):
to reach them because:
Does your project/campaign sufficiently warrant the creation of additional site/tool that might otherwise be promoted via existing central channels (e.g. the corporate website)?
Please indicate how you intend to measure the relative success of the project/campaign.
This should equate with the realisation of your objectives.
Because:
Have you identified suitably skilled individuals to act as the moderators for the given channel(s)? Yes/No
You will need to have the resources to update the account regularly. The best pages are updated with useful, relevant and timely information and create an ongoing conversation. You will need to have one designated member of staff who can update and check the account at least once a day.
Give their name and contact details here:
Moderator 1 ……………………………………………………………….
Moderator 2……………………………………………………………….
Who will fill in if they are sick/ on holiday?…………………………….
Note:has the above person read through the social media policy document (link) and understood it and are they prepared to abide by it?Yes / No
Have you reviewed the EHDC and HBC central sites/tools, as well as those provided by other services, to ensure there is no duplication? Yes/No
By setting up a social media account for the council you agree to the terms and conditions there within, in particular the section on moderator responsibilities. Yes/No
Sign here………………………………………….
Deputy sign here…………………………………
Support
You will need your line manager’s support to have the account(s), because they will have to support you spending time each day updating it.
You will also need to make one of the web team an administrator for your page, or give them log-in details, in case urgent action is required.
Line manager approval:
I am satisfied that the resources described above can be released to ensure that this social media campaign can be properly supported by my team.
Line manager signature:……………………………………….
Date:………………………………………………………………….
2.1How to set up a Facebook Page.
Your first step is to set up a personal profile. If you already have one, you should use that and link it to the corporate Page you are setting up. Facebook rules say you can’t have more than one profile.
Once you have a personal profile, you can create a Page. Once the Page is created, you can choose whether to ‘use’ Facebook as your profile, or as your Page. This means you can leave comments, like statuses or more either as you personally, or you can choose to leave comments as your Page, so you can separate work from your personal posts.
For example, EHDC and HBC web content officer Ashley Curtis has a personal profile which is linked to the corporate EHDC Facebook page. He can leave comments as Ashley Curtis or he can leave comments as EHDC, separating personal and corporate interests.
However, no followers of the EHDC page (or any other users) will know that Ashley is linked to the EHDC Page unless Ashley chooses to reveal this information.
Facebook gives you really useful stats about how many people are seeing your page, posting and liking etc etc. These are called ‘Insights’.
Go here to create your page:
You can find out more information on pages and how they work here:
You can also have a chat with Ashley Curtiswho will be more than happy to help you get started with setting up and managing your page.
You must also make Ashley an admin for your page, in case of emergency.
2.2 Setting up a Twitter Account
Go to twitter.com and create an account.
Use an appropriate background picture for your Twitter account that relates to why you’ve set up the account in the first place. However, be wary of copyright. You can also ask the communications team to design a Twitter background for you with your key information on it.
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Social Media Start Up pack – August 2015
3.1 Managing your account > Guidelines and top tips
Guidelines
Posts are quickly and easily shared, copied and reposted, so it is important to get it right first time. If you are not sure of their suitability, don’t post it.It is useful to ask a colleague to read it for you before you post.
The point of social networks is to have a conversation and so tone of voice is crucial – the best accounts are friendly and open to conversation.
Checking your account everyday will help to keep it fresh and most account managers will update once a day.
Social media users will expect an instant response to questions and comments, or at least an acknowledgement that you will find out for them if you don’t have the answer right away.
For example, Bromford Council make a point of saying ‘Goodbye’ on a Friday when they leave the office and post the out of hours phone numbers and wish everyone a good weekend. Then they say ‘Hello’ again on Monday. This technique helps to manage expectations and let people see the human element to the staff at the council.
You will need to add some rules to your Facebook page(including purdah notes and any child protection information).
For instance, East Hampshire District Council’s Facebook page features the following:
1. Delete any comments or posts that we consider to be abusive or offensive, or breach Facebook's guidelines on acceptable content. (For more on that, see Facebook help:
2. We will let the person who posted the comment know that we have deleted it, to give them the opportunity to say why they did it.
3. If they continue to leave offensive or abusive posts or messages, we will report them to Facebook and block them from our page.We want to promote honest and useful conversations about our district. We will do all we can to protect your right to give your opinion without being abused by offensive comments or posts from others.
We will:
1. Delete any comments or posts that we consider to be abusive or offensive, or breach Facebook's guidelines on acceptable content. (For more on that, see Facebook help: )
2. We will let the person who posted the comment know that we have deleted it, to give them the opportunity to say why they did it.
3. If they continue to leave offensive or abusive posts or messages, we will report them to Facebook and block them from our page.
We won't:
• delete a comment just because we don't agree with it
• delete a comment just because it is critical of the council
Please let us know if you feel we should take action on any content on our Page.
3.2 Frequently Asked Questions
What should we share and how?
Ask what do residents want to see? Corporate speak press releases have the wrong tone of voice but residents maybe interested in the news. Find a more interesting way to share it
Use great photos for high impact and make sure you have copyright to use them
Do talk in the third person, e.g. we and you. An approachable tone is good
Value the readers time above all else! Ask ‘so what?’ before you write any content – what does it mean for your audience? Keep it practical
Use your headlines to offer a summary if you are posting a link to a longer article
Consider which platform you are using and how that affects how you should deliver your message. E.g. Facebook is more pictures and emotions, views and opinions than Twitter which is more likely to be links to things of interest or calls to action.
Who should be tweeting and posting?
Create several admins share the workload, give people specific tasks but try to have a central gatekeeper.
How can we protect our pages?
Use the profanity settings and moderation tools
Timescales
Facebook and Twitter have different styles – Facebook users get annoyed if they see too many posts from you in their newsfeeds, so only do a couple a day, but you can post on Twitter a lot more frequently
Respond ASAP but within 24 hours to a tweet or a post if required
Promoting your accounts
Add your social media address to e-mail signatures, flyers, magazines, letterheads, everything
Consider registering all your accounts on Twellowto find people to follow geographically
Look on ‘openlocal’ to see what other hyper local sites are out there and like their pages and share their information
Listening and managing our reputation
It would be good to set up some lists for you so you can quickly skim through and see who is saying what.
Set up searches for our name/ project name/ location and check them regularly.
Example lists you could set up to make information most relevant to your followers
EHDC/Havant people, people talking about EHDC/Havant (use Twellow to find them and list yourself)
Our staff
Local journalists/bloggers
Voluntary sector in the area
Local authority users e.g. other Chief Execs.
4. Sharing and promoting
4.1 EHDC/HBCFacebook pages
Please ‘Like’ these accounts and share content from them.
East Hampshire District Council
Managed by: Ashley Curtis (EHDC)
Havant Borough Council
easthampshire.org
Managed by: Ashley Curtis (EHDC)
Butserfest
Managed by: Richard Wells, Lucy Soal (EHDC)
RAPP
Managed by: Lisa Clements (EHDC)
Get Activ8’d
Managed by: Lisa Clements (EHDC)
Hampshire South Downs
Managed by: Debbie Vodden (EHDC)
Whitehill & Bordon
Managed by: Bill Robinson (EHDC)
4.2 Twitter accounts
EHDC/HBC(please follow and retweet content) / Local government
(you may find these useful)
@SandyCXSEHants
@easthampshire
@WBecotown
@Butserfest
@ruralplay
@GetActiv8d
@hantssouthdowns
@BusinessEH
@getactivehavant
@whitehillbordon / @racheloreilly
@siwhitehouse @MalJohnson
@allyhook
@comms2point0
@wv11
@likeaword
@helenatbromford
@essitam
@suritasolanki
@danslee
@lookinglocal
@allyhook
@helenreynolds
@anthonytudor
@friendsoflakes
5. More resources
This is a useful article about Monmouthshire County Council and their (successful) experience of social media:
Socitm (association for ICT and related professionals in the public and third sectors)always has interesting things to say about council websites and social media accounts, although not everybody always agrees with them. Here’s an example:
Public Sector Customer Services Forum website also carries interesting articles and debates.Here’s a good example:
This is an interesting article about local government on Facebook:
6. Digital Glossary
Twitter – A micro blogging social networking site where you post updates in 140 characters or less.
Follow – the way in which people follow our Twitter Accounts.
Retweet – the way in which people share our twitter content and how we can share theirs.
Facebook – A social media site on which we can have a page for our organisation.
Likes – the way in which people follow ‘Like’ our Facebook pages and how we can follow theirs.
Share – the way in which people can share our Facebook content.
Channel Shift – Using different channels of communication and moving from one e.g. print media to another online consumption saving us money on print costs.
Channel Management – making sure that the user experience is seamless and making sure our communications channels all work well together.
Digital by default – Offering services digitally and making this the preferred option for our citizens.
Agile approach – building flexible services that can evolve with user needs.
Digital exclusion – people who are not online either because they don’t have access to a computer or they don’t know how to use a computer to get online and access services.
Metrics – just means stats – please don’t get overwhelmed by metrics, just use them sensibly for example link into existing systems such as your call centre, are you getting lots of the same calls that are time consuming… does this mean that this piece of information could be being offered digitally?
CI (Customer Insights) – Gives us a picture of our customer’s profiles, including their needs so we can better target our services and make them customer focused.
MOSAIC – customer profiling systems forming part of Customer Insights
ACORN – customer profiling systems forming part of Customer Insights
CRM - Customer Relationship Management – the systems that help us to track which customers are using our services and improving our communications with them.
GIS - Geographical Information Systems – A geographical mapping system on which data is tagged.
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