The Government's Guide to Using Facebook

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THE GOVERNMENT’S GUIDE TO USING FACEBOOK

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An Opening Letter 2 Executive from Facebook 1 Summary Facebook Best Practices 4

#1: Good Content Creation

14 Facebook #2: Ace Your Promotional Methods Success Stories #3: Measure Success

Department of Veterans Affairs: Communicating authentically with your fans #4: Make Sure Your Page is Secure

Florida Department of Health: Leveraging Facebook ads for a tobacco-free Florida

Henrico County, Virginia: Using Facebook for information distribution during inclement weather A Public-Sector Burnsville, Minnesota: How to host a virtual fire department Facebook FAQ 28 ‘ride-along’ on Facebook

Evanston, Illinois: How to run a successful Facebook Resources & Q&A with your mayor Checklist 30 Menlo Park, California: Let a Facebook video turn a negative into a positive

32 About Facebook & GovLoop

2 A GovLoop Guide INTRODUCTION Providing a platform that enables direct For governments, Facebook can also be interactions between governments and an effective channel to share prepared- An Opening their citizens is an important part of ness tips and keep citizens informed with our mission to make the world more real-time, location-specific information in open and connected. With more than case of an emergency. Letter from 188 million people on Facebook in the United States, Facebook is an efficient Facebook’s self-serve advertising tool also Facebook and effective place for governments to allows governments to promote content engage with their constituents. That’s why to people beyond their existing follower we’ve created a variety of tools that make base and to those in specific geographic communicating easy for local, state, and areas. This can be a cost-effective way federal government. to reach more constituents with content that is relevant to them. This guide In partnership with GovLoop, we hope includes tips on advertising. this guide helps you develop a winning strategy for communicating on Facebook. How people consume information is Whether you are providing information, constantly evolving, and for govern- answering questions, or asking for feed- ments to be successful, they will need to back, we’ll help you find what works best continuously engage with their followers for you. to understand what types of content resonate the most. Success on Facebook means posting content that is interesting, useful, and We hope this guide serves as a helpful engaging — and doing it on a regular resource for you and your Page admin- basis. We see the best response to posts istrator as you build and expand your that include videos, behind-the-scenes Facebook presence. We look forward photos, and posts in which a government to seeing some innovative ideas from agency initiates a two-way conversation governments. Good luck! with citizens.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Think back to the state of social me- Finally, we surveyed the GovLoop dia before 2010. In those days, simply audience to find out the most common The Government’s having a Facebook Page and posting questions and concerns they had about to it occasionally was enough for many using Facebook. We’ve turned these organizations and the public sector. In questions — and answers from the team Guide to fact, in many cases it meant that you were at Facebook — into a handy FAQ for you at the cutting edge of public-sector social to reference. Facebook media. Today, to reach your citizens, you need to But today, just having a social media pres- be tactical and strategic. Applying the ad- ence is no longer enough. You must be vice in this guide to your use of Facebook smart, strategic and ever more creative will help guarantee you’re reaching your in order to gain the attention of your audience there and encouraging them to audience and reach the right people in take action on community issues. your community. To get a sense of the current Face- And that’s what we’re here to help you do. book government landscape, GovLoop GovLoop and Facebook have partnered surveyed 451 members of our audience to create this resource, The Government’s — comprised of government employees, Guide to Facebook, to help you use Face- industry leaders and public-sector work- book to better reach your constituents in ers. Here are a few of our findings: exciting, innovative and effective ways. • 87 percent of respondents said In the following pages, we’ll explain and their organizations already have a detail myriad Facebook services that align Facebook Page. with public-sector users’ needs and goals. • 91 percent said the No. 1 objective We’ll also give you several best practices of using Facebook was to keep on how to create great content, use paid citizens informed. advertising and ensure your Page stays secure. • 80 percent said photos are the most popular content posted. We’ll then hear from those on the ground • 57 percent of respondents are NOT in the public sector who are using currently using advertising tools, Facebook with interesting and successful while 23 percent are and 20 percent applications. We’ve interviewed several are unsure. citizen engagement experts — including folks at the Department of Veterans • Text updates, photos/images and Affairs and Henrico County in Virginia links are the types of content most — and we’ll offer up six case studies of frequently posted. excellent and creative Facebook uses that will inspire you.

2 A GovLoop Guide 87% 91%

Percent of respondents who said their Percent of respondents who said the No. 1 organizations already have a Facebook Page. objective of using Facebook was to keep citizens informed.

Percent of respondents who are NOT currently Percent of respondents who said photos are using advertising tools, while 23 percent are the most popular content posted. and 20 percent are unsure.

80% 57%

Photos/images, text updates and links are the types of content most frequently posted.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 3 w

FACEBOOK BEST PRACTICES Want to make your Facebook Page the best it can be — and get more engagement? Follow these tips. We break down everything from how News Feed works to why you need to be using Facebook video for more engagement.

4 A GovLoop Guide w

GOOD CONTENT CREATION

ACE YOUR PROMOTIONAL METHODS

MEASURE SUCCESS

MAKE SURE YOUR PAGE IS SECURE

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 5 TIP # 1 Good, authentic and interesting content That’s why News Feed ranks the stories is the heartbeat of Facebook. You can and shows you what is important and rel- Good Content post as often as you like or boost posts evant to you based on the things you’ve constantly, but nothing will gain you more engaged with most on Facebook. For success on your Facebook Page than cre- example, if you tend to post, comment Creation ating thoughtful, interesting and relevant on, and watch lots of videos then videos content — whether it’s a simple, consider- will show up higher in your News Feed. ate text update or a beautiful image. “The goal of News Feed is to deliver the Remember: Most people will see your right content to the right people at the posts in the News Feed, not on your right time so they don’t miss the stories page. In your content, creativity and that are important to them,” said Katie authenticity will be rewarded. Succinct- Harbath, Global Politics and Government ness, timeliness and great visuals are all Outreach Manager at Facebook. hallmarks of successful posts. With so many stories, there is a good Here, we’ll detail best practices from chance people would miss something Facebook on how to make sure you’re they wanted to see if Facebook displayed posting the best content that will get you a continuous, unranked stream of infor- the most engagement from your fans and mation. constituents. In fact, testing has shown that when Face- But first, we wanted to delve into infor- book stops ranking and shows content in mation about something relevant to all of chronological order, there is a decrease you: Facebook’s News Feed. in the number of stories people read and engage with – people actually miss How does Facebook’s News Feed work? more stories when everything is shown chronologically. Of all the questions we’ve received from the GovLoop audience about Facebook There aren’t enough hours in the day for tips, we hear this one the most. people to spend the time it would take to read everything in their News Feed, Naturally, everyone who manages a Page and the volume will continue to grow as on Facebook wants every single thing people add new friends and interests. they post to reach each of their fans. But the fact is, every time the average As a result, Facebook’s algorithm ranks Facebook user visits their News Feed millions of posts a day to determine there are 1,500 potential stories for them which ones will be most relevant and to see from their friends or Pages they interesting to every single reader. follow. Most people don’t have enough time to see them all.

6 A GovLoop Guide So how does that algorithm work?

In short, these are the measures by which Facebook ranks posts:

• How recently has each of your fans • Avoid images covered in text or that engaged with your past posts? PHOTOS aren’t visually interesting. Photos are one of the best ways to • Bright, colorful images depicting • How much engagement is the post increase engagement and likes on your human interaction are particularly getting overall from people who Page. In fact, Facebook photos receive 50 successful. have already seen it? percent more likes than non-photo posts. • How engaged has the viewer previ- • An example? Check out this image ously been with the person who is Great images stop you as you scroll from the city of Manor, Texas, which posting the content? through your News Feed, especially when shows policemen helping stranded they’re authentic and accompanied by motorists. It’s a behind-the-scenes • Does the type of post (status up- text to deliver a clear message. Addition- photo that shows people getting date, photo, video, link) match what ally, people simply love great visual con- services from the city — and it types have been popular with the tent. Government social media managers received nearly 50 likes. viewer in the past? can increase post quality by creating • Here’s another example: Maryland’s • How recently was the post pub- quality photos. Department of Natural Resources’ lished? Here are some tips on posting photos: AccessDNR posted a photo of some So there you have it — that is how News beautiful scenery that received more Feed works. According to Facebook, • Try posting photos of “sneak peeks” than 300 likes. Consider posting though, nothing matters as much as cre- or behind-the-scenes content that natural scenes and landscapes from ative, relevant and thoughtful content. So give your audience on Facebook a your state, city or county. in the following sections, we’ll tell you how viewpoint they don’t normally get to provide just that on your Page. to see.

News Feed Visibility* I P C T R Interest Post Creator Type Recency

Interest of the user This postʼs perfor- Performance of past Type of post (status, How new is the in the creator mance amongst posts by the content photo, link) user post other users creator amongst prefers other users The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 7

* This is a simplified equation. Facebook also looks at roughly 100,000 other high-personalized factors when determining whatʼs shown. VIDEOS • Consider interviewing a government • Schedule posts for when most of Facebook now has an option to directly employee who has an interesting your audience is online. add videos to Facebook Pages instead of and relatable story to tell on camera. linking to them from another hosting site. • Highlight days for major events or • An example? Check out this news. Uploading directly to Facebook is the best three-minute one from Federal Stu- • Create targeted messages that tell way to post video content because of its dent Aid. It explains what happens your story. faster load time, auto-play in the News after you submit the Free Applica- Feed and more detailed statistics in Face- tion for Federal Student Aid. It has • Don’t post too little or too much. book’s Page Insights. By adding videos received 16,730 views and 286 likes! How much you should post de- directly to Facebook, you make it easy for pends on every Page and the size of • Another example is this moving vid- users to find old videos from your page. its audience; it’s impossible to give eo from the Washington, D.C., Fire Need help? Head here for instructions on one-size-fits-all recommendation. and Emergency Medical Services how to add video to Facebook. You need to walk a line between Department’s page, in which work- informative and annoying, and only ers recall the devastating effects of Here are some ideas on posting videos: your own experience and tests will a house fire. It’s gotten more than tell you where that lies. That said, we 82,500 views and 390 likes. • Keep them short. Videos of less than recommend that smaller govern- three minutes generally perform ments post anywhere between once best. TEXT POSTS a day and three times a week. Videos and photos are wonderful ways to • Make the video informative, original • Post timely content. For example, engage your constituents, but a simple text (uploading something you don’t own post about issues that are in the post can still be powerful. Here are several could get it deleted) and compelling. news or if people are celebrating ideas and tips for optimizing text posts on • Don’t create a video just for the sake a holiday. Facebook to get the most responses and of creating a video. Is the informa- engagement from your fans: • Use conversational language. Leave tion you want to share truly best the formal press release behind. conveyed in a video format or is text • Post consistently. Being consistent Facebook is about a more casual, better? in the quality and types of posts friendly tone. you create can help people know • You don’t need to be Ken Burns to • Respond quickly to comments on what kinds of messages to expect create a good Facebook video. If your posts to let fans know you’re from you and how they tie into your the video is short, interesting and listening to feedback. educational, it doesn’t have to be organization. A content calendar can • Break news. People like using Face- produced professionally. That said, help you plan ahead and make sure book to let their friends know about do make sure the image and audio posts use a similar message each important events happening in their are clear. time. You can:

8 A GovLoop Guide community, so make sure your Maggie Hassan that got 234 likes. menu at the top of your Timeline organization takes advantage of She wasn’t afraid to be conver- and then click “Start a Q&A” from the opportunities to post breaking news sational and cheer on her local dropdown menu. Add a photo of the quickly. Don’t wait for the press sports team, and her engagement person hosting it and responding release. And keep people updated skyrocketed! to the questions to personalize the as the story develops. When organi- post and prove authenticity. You can zations posted multiple updates in FACEBOOK Q&AS call for questions on a specific topic quick succession during a breaking or leave the Q&A open for your What is a Facebook Q&A? It’s basically news event, they saw a 10 percent audience to ask anything. what it sounds like — a way for you to host increase in engagement. a live question-and-answer session with • Answer away. Audience questions • Be concise. People scroll through your audience on your Facebook Page. It’s will appear in the comments below the News Feed quickly, so the chanc- a simple way for you to engage with your your Q&A post. To answer, simply es they’re going to stop and read audience directly from your posts. Think reply to the audience comments. anything longer than a few lines are of it as a virtual town hall and encourage Answer as many as you like — the slim. Stick to important information your mayor, the head of a department or pace is up to you. You do not have and pay attention to your word anyone, really, to participate in a Facebook to respond to every question. count. Try to get to what’s relevant Q&A to show that you are interested in • Moderate. Page admins are able to in your message before the text is talking directly with your constituents. moderate Q&As just like any other truncated. post on Facebook. You can remove Here’s how it works: Your audience will • Try crowdsourcing. Your citizens are comments or ban participants. ask you questions in the comments below smart — use the power of Facebook your Q&A post. Questions that you answer • An example? Whitehall, Ohio, hosted to ask for help when you seek to will appear higher in the comments so a Facebook Q&A with its mayor, Kim address their concerns. Effective your audience knows you’re listening. Maggard. You can see the post and crowdsourcing raises awareness the conversation here. about government initiatives while Here’s how to host a Facebook Q&A: promoting civic engagement. • Another example is this Q&A from • Pick a time. You can host a Facebook the mayor of Evanston, Ill. Head • Ask a question. With text posts, your Q&A anytime on your Page. We to page 26 to read a detailed case main goal and motivation should be recommend announcing when study about it. to get people to comment and join you’ll be doing the Q&A a few days the conversation. The best way to do Don’t see the Q&A option on your page? beforehand so your fans know when this is by asking short questions that E-mail [email protected] to get access to it. to tune in. require a short answer. • An example? See this one-line post • Start the conversation. To get start- from New Hampshire Governor ed, click the Q&A icon in the share

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 9 TIP # 2 Your goal with Facebook is to reach the Be specific about the audiences for right people: your citizens and constitu- different ads; people are more likely to re- Ace Your ents. At times, you may want to use it to spond to a message crafted just for them. boost engagement with and awareness of a particular campaign, such as a new To make sure your ads look great wherev- Promotional public safety drive or the launch of a er they’re seen on Facebook, check out website, or you may want to encourage this ads guide for detailed specifications, Methods people to take a particular action, like such as image dimensions. sign-up for a new program. In the following pages, we’ll detail some One of the best ways to achieve those tips and tricks to maximize your ads — goals is through Facebook advertising. and your return on investment. However, You can do this with any budget size, the process for running effective ads is large or small. Advertising on Facebook different for everybody, so we recom- allows government agencies the ability to mend that also you check out this Face- reach a specific audience with messages book page on advertising capabilities, and that are tailored to them. also get in touch with the Facebook team at [email protected] for personalized help on You can either drive people to your Face- running campaigns. book page to learn more information, or you can drive people off-Facebook to your website. What’s more, Facebook FACEBOOK ADS ads allow you to reach people beyond Step 1: Pick an objective. your fans – meaning that you can target The first thing you’ll want to do when people with a message, even if they don’t launching a Facebook ad campaign is to pick like your page. your objective. You can build an ad campaign around any of the following goals: For example, government officials may decide they want to run a Facebook ad • Send people to your website. campaign to drive people to a new web- • Increase conversions on your site about flu prevention. Then, the page website. manager can select the relevant target • Boost your posts. audience – in this case, people in areas with high instances of the flu—and if • Promote your Page. you’re in that audience, Facebook shows • Get installs of your app. you the ad. • Increase engagement in your app.

You can create an ad right from the • Reach people near your business. admin panel of your Page or you can use the Ads Create Tool, which walks you • Raise attendance at your event. through the steps. • Get people to claim your offer. • Get video views.

10 A GovLoop Guide 1. Location: When defining your 5. Custom Audiences and Lookalikes: audience, you’ll start by selecting With Custom Audiences, you can reach where you do business or where lists of people you already know by the people you want to reach are. targeting based on email addresses or phone numbers. When you use Custom Tip: Facebook will default to your Audiences, you can choose to create a ad account’s country, but be Lookalike Audience that targets people sure to narrow your location to who are similar to your Custom Audi- the cities or regions that match ences list. Lookalike Audiences help you your audience. Remember, if you reach people who are similar to your target more than one location, current audience for fan acquisition, your ads are optimized for your site registration, off-Facebook clicks and campaign objective and may brand awareness. Lookalike audiences not necessarily be served evenly can also be created off of the fan base of across locations. your page.

2. Demographics: Next you’ll need to define the age and gen- MOBILE ADVERTISING ON der of your target audience. FACEBOOK As discussed earlier in this guide, Face- Tip: Head to page 20 for a case study Tip: Facebook will default the book is a mobile-first company — and as from the Florida Department of Health on audience to all ages. If your ad is relevant such, its mobile advertising options have how it launched a successful ad campaign only to people in a certain age range, you increased significantly. In fact, of the 1.32 that helped smoking cessation rates. should change it. billion people who use Facebook each Step 2: Choose your ad creative and write 3. Interests and behavioral targeting: month, 399 million, or roughly a third, your ad content. These choices let you focus on the people log in only with their phones. Addition- You’ll have the option of uploading up to who will be most interested in your mes- ally, Facebook’s monthly user base has six images so you can easily see which ad sage. Select a few interests that describe grown 14 percent year over year, while its performs best and gets the most out of your audience. mobile user base has grown much more, your advertising budget. The best image at 31 percent. So if you’re conducting an size to use for your ad depends on what Tip: Put yourself in their shoes. Are they advertising campaign on Facebook, it’s type of ad you’re creating. Before you interested in public safety? Do they like smart to deploy mobile ads as well. create your ad image, please visit the the outdoors? You can also define your The best thing for you to do? Since most Facebook Ads Guide for specifications audience based on their behaviors, such people these days are viewing Facebook around the recommended ad image sizes as digital activity, what devices they use, on their mobile devices, you should for each ad type. past or intended actions, or travel. always make sure to run ads in the News When creating ad content, follow these For example, if you’re advertising a Feed as well as the sidebar so you can guidelines from Facebook: healthy living app that’s available only on guarantee your audience is seeing them, iOS, you can choose people interested in no matter the platform. • Include a clear action you want your health and people who use an iOS device audience to take in the body text of to access Facebook. This way, you’re your ad. focusing your budget to show ads to INTEGRATION OF people who would be able to download MARKETING COLLATERAL • Use a simple, eye-catching image the app. Paid advertising campaigns are just one that is related to your ad text. way to raise awareness of your organiza- • If you’re advertising a website, 4. Advanced connection targeting: Think tion’s Page. To make your investment go include your organization’s name about whether you want people who further, make sure your Facebook Page or other key information in the already know about your organization on URL is on all of your external marketing headline. Facebook to see your ad. For example, if collateral: Link your Page to your website, you’re running ads to generate aware- place the URL on printed marketing Step 3: Pick your target audience. ness about an initiative, the fans of your materials and mention your Facebook Before creating an ad, know who your page might already know about the ini- URL in TV and radio ads. This seemingly target audience is. Think about whom you tiative. You can exclude fans in advanced basic strategy can go a long way in getting want to reach, where they are, what their connections targeting. more people to like your Page. interests are and what their common behavior patterns might be.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 11 TIP # 3 You can achieve a lot on Facebook Using Audience Insights, you can get ag- with thoughtful content and strategic gregate anonymous information such as: Measure Success advertising, but how do you know if you’re succeeding? How do you use data and • Demographics — Age and gender, information about your audience’s habits lifestyle, education, relationship sta- to your benefit? Two words: Facebook tus, job role and household size. Insights. Specifically, you should take • Page likes — The top Pages your advantage of Facebook Page Insights and fans also like in different categories. Facebook Audience Insights. • Location and language — Where Use Page Insights to understand how people live and what languages they people are engaging with your Page. You speak. can: • Facebook usage — How frequently people in your target audience log • View metrics about your Page’s onto Facebook and what device(s) performance. they are using when they log on. • Learn which posts have the most And you can view this information for engagement. three groups of people: • See data about when your audience is on Facebook. • People on Facebook (the general Facebook audience). With this information, you can look at each of your posts and see which have • People connected to your Page or the most likes, comments and shares. event. You can use this information to create • People in Custom Audiences you’ve more of the types of posts your audience already created (an audience made is interested in seeing. You can also pub- up of your current fans). lish your posts at the time of day when Audience Insights is different from Page you’re likely to reach more people. Insights because it looks at trends about Facebook Audience Insights, on the your current or potential customers other hand, provides metrics that let you across Facebook, whereas Page Insights understand your fans and the kind of looks at the interactions with your Page posts that will interest and engage them. (i.e., likes, comments and shares). For example, you might be interested in Used in tandem, Page and Audience learning more about the age and gender Insights give you powerful metrics and breakdown of your fans and the posts information to discover what your most that have received the most engagement. popular content is, and if it’s reaching the With these metrics, you can get to know right people. the people who matter to your agency, In addition to measurement tools so you can understand what matters to mentioned above, Facebook also has a them. You’ll be able to learn about their partnership with Nielsen, which allows specific locations, interests and behaviors, advertisers to measure whether you’ve so you can create messages that will help reached your intended audience or your Page reach them more effectively. whether your messages resonated with your target audience.

12 A GovLoop Guide TIP # 4 As you set up your Page, it’s important to If your Page does get hacked despite tak- make sure the account is secure. Here ing these precautions, it may mean that Make Sure Your are seven things you can do to help keep your personal account or the account of your account safe: someone who works on your Page was hacked. Page is Secure 1. Pick a strong password: Use a combination of at least six numbers, If it was your account that was hacked, letters and punctuation marks. head to this link to secure it. If you think someone else who works on your Page 2. Make sure your e-mail account(s) is was hacked, please tell that person to go secure. to the Hacked Accounts section of the Help Center to get immediate assistance. 3. Log out of Facebook when you use a computer you share with others.

4. Run antivirus software on your computer.

5. Add a security question to your account.

6. Use extra security features for your account, such as login approvals.

7. Think before you click or download anything.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 13 FACEBOOK SUCCESS STORIES Tips from federal, state and local govies on how they’ve achieved Facebook success

14 A GovLoop Guide DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

HENRICO COUNTY, VIRGINIA

BURNSVILLE, MINNESOTA

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS

MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 15 SUCCESS STORY The Department of Veterans Affairs looks With nearly 800,000 fans and a mission of to engage Facebook fans with a mix of connecting with and honoring America’s Department of content. Here are three tips from VA for veterans, The Department of Veteran great posts. Affairs Facebook Page must serve many masters. First and foremost, it must ed- Veterans Affairs 1. Educate and entertain. “We like to ucate veterans about important services Communicating authentically with call our approach ‘sugar in medi- and news without boring them or turning your users cine,’” said Reynaldo Leal, VA Public them away with too many irrelevant links. Affairs Specialist. “A little bit of a sugar, a little bit of medicine. You So when a team needs to distribute have to give them the information, important but somewhat dry information because that’s what you’re there how does it keep the audience enter- for, but you can also give them daily tained and coming back for more? content that your audience looks forward to.” The team running the VA Facebook Page has developed a successful strategy. It’s 2. Post at different times of day. “We’re found, through trial and error, that hu- addressing veterans on a national manizing posts, making content personal level, so we have to find out what and analyzing Page metrics comprise the time are our veterans on, what time most successful approach. is our audience on,” Leal said. “Let’s say our last post went up at 3 p.m. “We were never looking to be viral in any ET. Well, we’ve just ignored everyone way, or do any specific campaign,” Leal on the West Coast.” said. “We just wanted to see who our audience was, and find out what they 3. Keep experimenting with what wanted, and try to give them that on a makes a successful post and what daily basis. So, by having our audience reaches your audience. “It’s an art, engaged on a daily basis, when we do not a science,” said Megan Molo- have to distribute important information, ney, VA’s Director of Digital Media the fans are already coming to our page Engagement. “We’ve taken a lot of because they like the other content we’re pieces of like metrics and insights putting out on a regular basis.” and we’ve sort of just put it into a big equation and sort of tried to do the One of the ways the VA Page makes sure best we can around it and experi- to be an interesting content destination ment.” for veterans on Facebook is through a daily post called #VeteranOfTheDay.

16 A GovLoop Guide “For Women’s that is customer service. And we really History Month, try to do good customer service to serve we will include our veterans. For example, if people post a lot more a concern or a negative thought, if we can, we’ll take their information, screen The VA team started these posts about a women veterans [capture] the issue, and send it over to year ago. They feature a photo of a vet- and their histories of famous women our counterparts, and see what we can eran and a paragraph telling the story of veterans, like the first female Marine,” do for follow-ups.” how, where and why that veteran served. Leal said. The daily veteran feature is helping “It’s our most popular segment,” said Tim Despite the extremely positive responses transform a bureaucracy into personable Hudak, Staff Writer at VA. Arecent #Vet- to this and other editorial features that communicator. VA’s Facebook Page has eranOfTheDay post received more than VA has put up, the Page is not immune to succeeded among the veterans commu- 14,600 likes and more than 3,400 shares. negative comments or criticism. nity as a reliable destination for informa- “That feature is content that people look “We do have a social media posting tion and inspiring content. forward to and are also engaged with,” policy,” Moloney said “Anything that is, “You just have to give your fans content, Leal said. “And in fact, it’s content that’s say, bad language or racist we take down. good content,” Leal said. “And you have often audience-generated from people But anything else — negative sentiments, to keep that conversation going and try who are submitting veterans to be a part or things we disagree with — we keep as best as you can to understand where of the feature. So if we consider that our up. That’s important to keep up there your audience is coming from.” foundation of content for the day, and because in a way, that’s your customer it’s so popular, and people are returning feedback, and even if it is negative you daily to see it, then everything we share need to display it.” on top of that, it is much, much more well “Obviously there are trolls out there, received.” people who are going to say whatever The team often bases the #VeteranOfT- they want to say,” Leal said. “But if you heDay content around an editorial look at social media more as a one-way calendar, keeping in mind military communication, which is outbound, and anniversaries, dates of note and other then turn it into something that’s more important events. of a two-way form of communication,

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 17 SUCCESS STORY Want to run a successful paid advertising From sharing weight loss tips to encour- campaign on Facebook? Florida’s hugely aging public safety initiatives, Facebook Florida successful ‘Tobacco Free Florida” cam- is a great place for organizations to paign offers three important tips: encourage healthy lifestyles — and many state health departments are looking to Department of 1. Clearly define your advertising use it as a platform to encourage citizens goals. The team knew exactly what to make healthy decisions regarding Health it wanted from the campaign and personal care. Leveraging Facebook ads for a how it wanted Facebook to serve that purpose. One such state agency is the Florida tobacco-free Florida Department of Health (DOH), which has 2. Target, target, target. The campaign successfully promoted its Tobacco Free made sure to zero in on specific de- Florida initiative through a Facebook mographics and made the content advertising campaign. So, what’s made relevant to that audience. the Facebook venture so successful? We sat down with Shannon Hughes, Tobacco 3. Don’t forget evaluation. The team Free Florida Bureau Chief, to find out. consistently evaluated its results, which were especially useful because To run a successful Facebook campaign, they were diverse and quantifiable the first step is having a clear idea of what and eventually helped the campaign your goals are, Hughes said. In this case, gain buy-in from leadership. the goals for the broader Tobacco Free Florida media campaign were straightfor- ward and well defined from the outset: The bureau wanted to prevent youth and adults from starting smoking; to promote quitting; and to eliminate secondhand smoke for all Floridians.

DOH officials realized that Facebook would be a highly useful tool in furthering their campaign goals. Overall, their social media plan positioned Tobacco Free Florida as trusted, relevant, and thorough. This strategy not only reached a larger

18 A GovLoop Guide audience, but also engaged the audience in that way, we and advanced the campaign’s initiatives can ensure that using dynamic, multi-dimensional online our brand re- conversations that were unattainable with mains relevant, traditional media. and that what DOH, the metrics that were relevant to we’re doing is engaging. It makes our judge engagement were diverse — video So, their next step was to define campaigns more efficient, because we’re views, clicks to its website, comments and Facebook’s role and contribution to only targeting those who will be interest- shares. the campaign goals. The team decided ed in our content.” it wanted the Facebook campaign to The other form of results the team looked increase brand awareness, drive people Additionally, the Tobacco Free Florida at were tobacco use statistics among to the Tobacco Free Florida website, and team collected data and analyzed the the Florida population to see how the educate the audience about tobacco-re- results of the Facebook campaign as it message was being received. Florida has lated facts. progressed. The team examined a variety seen a massive drop in smoking rates of metrics, rather than looking only at the among youth and adults. As of 2013, the Having clear objectives of what they were number of likes or website hits. Team year with the most recent data available, looking to do through Facebook helped members chose to look at statistics that the adult smoking rate in Florida is 16.8 officials know what their actions needed measured active engagement, not just percent of adults and 4.3 percent of to be on a very specific level. audience size. youth, which is significantly lower than the So, what did they do next to achieve Repeatedly testing their efforts also helped national average: 17.8 percent of adults these goals? the Tobacco Free Florida team under- and 23.3 percent of high school students, stand what was working and what wasn’t. according to the Centers for Disease First, Hughes and her team specifical- There was no magic formula for hitting Control and Prevention. ly targeted their Facebook audience. high markers on the statistics, Hughes Although they wanted to appeal to a wide What’s a big bonus for an obviously suc- explained — rather it was important to variety of demographic groups, their pri- cessful government Facebook campaign? experiment and look at the outcomes. mary target was the cessation audience Massive support from the top. “I’m happy – adults 18 and up. “Facebook offers that The results came on various levels. On to say that we have done such a great kind of granular targeting,” Hughes said. one level, the team collected Facebook job with this program that there’s a high statistics to see its reach and the level of level of trust from the Media Marketing Well-targeted campaigns succeed on a engagement beyond the amount of likes. Manager for Tobacco Free Florida… all number of levels. “We can be certain that The team also made a lot of progress the way up to the State Surgeon General,” the content we’re creating is hitting the toward the campaign goals by encourag- Hughes said. “They’re really pleased with people who are going to find it the most ing its audience to actively engage with this program.” relevant,” explained Hughes. “By targeting the content on the Facebook Page. For

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 19 SUCCESS STORY Trying to grow your office’s Facebook For many organizations, Facebook is a reach, but don’t know what to post? Hen- place to celebrate big wins and share Henrico County, rico County, Va., officials have three pieces events or causes that people are excited of sound advice on what type of content about. It’s not generally seen as a place will increase the size of your audience: to advertise the negative aspects of Virginia conducting daily governing affairs. There’s Using Facebook for information 1. Include good news as well as bad a natural tendency for many Facebookers distribution during inclement news. People appreciate useful to downplay life’s difficulties — no one information, even if it’s regarding wants to seem like a downer. weather difficult predicaments such as inclement weather. But it can be highly useful to share the negatives and the positives, and it 2. Be active on Facebook every day, will serve your organization well in the even if it’s not with original content. long run to be honest. Cristol Klevinsky, The county office found that even Management Specialist in the County by sharing or liking posts from other Manager’s Office for Henrico County, Va., Pages, the audience grew. shared with us some insights into why it’s good for government to include all news 3. Don’t worry if you have a small staff on Facebook. and can’t micromanage your Face- book Page. Being active once a day Henrico County wanted to grow its Face- is still helpful, and drawing on other, book presence, and Klevinsky took charge related offices’ Facebook Pages will of making it happen. Eventually, the Page help bolster your content without achieved strong growth and increased requiring much time of your staff. its following at an exponential rate. The winter of 2014 especially incited growth at a level the Henrico County Facebook team had never seen before. In January, it had 86 new followers, in February that

20 A GovLoop Guide number was 57, and in March and April combined, it was 68. According to Klevinsky, these numbers were unusu- And this finding doesn’t apply only to “Electronically supporting other organiza- ally high. weather-related incidents, but also other tions looks good on your locality.” It’s karma! She said that her first inclination in types of posts. “In a day where everyone’s But at the same time, the Henrico County tackling the goal of growing the audience trying to be somewhat of an open book, I team has to balance the frequency of its was to publish “fun” posts exclusively. The think it’s good that you can post or share posts. Local governments don’t always county office found that her audience good news and bad news related to your have large staffs, which can make it was responding well to positive, good- local government,” Klevinsky said. difficult to monitor and respond to a vast vibes content. “Pictures go a long way.… What other factors allowed Henrico number of posts. For instance, the police division has a County’s Facebook Page to flourish? rabies clinic a few times a year, so I always Klevinsky had some additional tips on Overall, Klevinsky has great hopes for even put their information and a picture of how to grow an audience. higher levels of Facebook popularity for a dog and a cat up there, and that of Henrico County. “Being manned by a very course has a really good reach,” she said. Because she represents a relatively small small staff, I think we’re doing pretty well. local government, there’s not always I’m happy with our progress,” she said. But then when the notorious winter of something of urgency or huge signifi- 2013-14 hit, the county office found that cance to post on the Page. But that’s OK, serious posts helped grow the audience she said. There are other ways to engage as well. “Some of it was very positive good daily — and engaging each day is import- news and people would like or share, and ant, even if it’s not original content. then it did draw some new followers,” Klevinsky said. “But a lot of it was related “I go about either liking or sharing other to the weather incidents we were having organizations’ posts. And that in itself in the area.” People appreciated the infor- generates a lot of reach. It can come back mation because although it wasn’t fluffy and provide likes to your page,” she said. and fun, it was useful.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 21 SUCCESS STORY Thinking about a real-time “day-in-the- Firefighters and other public servants have life” campaign on Facebook? The city of an undoubtedly alluring profession. But City of Burnsville, Burnsville, Minn., made some key points very few people know what’s it actually like gleaned from its hugely successful virtual to be a firefighter or a police officer on ride-along with the local fire department: an everyday basis. “Day-in-the-life” social Minnesota media campaigns can be a great outreach How to host a virtual fire 1. Plan in advance. The team pro- and engagement tool for government of- department ‘ride-along’ on moted the campaign in advance fices looking to showcase the ins and outs and assembled facts, quotes and of government and public service jobs. Facebook snippets to post in case the day of the event was uneventful. We sat down with Carissa Larsen, Communications Specialist for the City of 2. Use videos, photos and trivia. These Burnsville, Minn., to talk about the virtual types of post generated much more ride-along with the local fire department attention than did plain text. that she spearheaded.

3. Think about what knowledge you’re First, Burnsville officials decided to invest trying to share, and use the campaign in this campaign in the first place in order to educate the public. The Burns- to educate people about the department. ville team wanted its audience to Specifically, they wanted people to know understand that the medical and fire that the fire and medical services were response units were tied together. one unit. This is useful information for citizens to have, because people had been confused when they called an

22 A GovLoop Guide ambulance and firefighters came to their door. They also wanted people to know The trivia especially encouraged the audi- that as opposed to a volunteer-based fire First, the city advertised the event for ence to interact. department, theirs was a full-time, career only three or four days leading up to it. organization. “We didn’t do a big lead time to promotion because social media’s so fast that This virtual ride-along clearly took a lot of work and a great deal of advance planning, Additionally, the city was trying to increase it didn’t make a lot of sense to remind but it was worth it in the end, and the its engagement on social media. Its goal people, or let people know weeks in Burnsville results show that. has been to conduct one interesting social advance,” she explained. media campaign every year, and officials “Between the time we started promoting had identified Facebook as an effective Also, the virtual ride-along didn’t exclude through the end of the event, we got 11 way of communicating with constituents anything. Larsen posted about everything new followers on Facebook and 20 new and developing reach. A virtual “day-in-the- that happened for the firefighters from 8 followers on Twitter,” Larsen said. “So for life” campaign seemed like an interesting a.m. to 5 p.m. one day, including what they an event that only lasted a day, it increased and educational way of engaging with the did for lunch and how they responded to a our followers by 1 percent on Facebook, public and building their audience. 911 call from a man in cardiac arrest. which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was one day. For us, that was huge.” The process to execute this day in the It happened to be an eventful day in the life campaign was harder work and more field, but Larsen told us that the team had Although it took a great deal of effort, the hands-on than other daily social media prepared facts and text ahead of time to extra work paid off. Larsen is hoping to activity, but Larsen wanted to draw our at- post in case there were lags in activity. duplicate the campaign for other depart- tention to a couple of key features that she Larsen published a variety of updates and ments such as police and recreation, and thought made it a successful undertaking. found that trivia and photos got the most for city construction crews. attention and engagement, as opposed to just text updates on what was happening.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 23 Want to run a successful Facebook ques- Town halls and question-and-answer ses- SUCCESS STORY tion-and-answer session with a member sions have long been a staple of democ- of your government? Evanston, Ill., offers racy in the United States. But how do you City of Evanston, these three important tips: engage with your constituents in a digital world where they are harder to access — Illinois 1. Promote the Q&A ahead of time and and your political leaders might be harder encourage people to submit ques- How to host a successful Facebook to access as well? tions in advance to fill any down time Q&A with your mayor during the actual Q&A. The mayor of Evanston, Ill., Elizabeth Tisdahl, decided to turn to Facebook. She 2. Have somebody typing responses and her team, including Luke Stowe, Digital and somebody sorting questions, Services Coordinator at the City Manager’s so the main participant of the Office, decided to host a Facebook Q&A so Q&A can focus on coming up with citizens could ask her anything they liked. thoughtful answers. “It was just a neat way to connect with our 3. Afterward, follow up with people audience and the residents of Evanston,” whose questions you couldn’t get to Stowe said. — it’s a great way to show dedication and responsiveness to engaged users. And the residents seemed to think so, too. They asked several dozen questions on everything from bike safety to the status of a new grocery store development.

A few examples of questions and answers are featured above.

24 A GovLoop Guide The questions didn’t come flowing in on their own, though. Stowe stressed that promotion ahead of the Q&A was a crucial part of the event’s success. He and the may- and then shared that on social media and wasn’t having to wait for me to finish typ- or’s team also encouraged folks to submit on our website afterwards.” ing my answer.” questions before the event. Stowe said other tips for hosting a successful Use it as an opportunity for citizen fol- “We issued a news release, and we en- Facebook Q&A or town hall include: low-up. During the one-hour town hall, the couraged people to submit questions in mayor couldn’t get to everyone’s question. Invite the press. “We had at least one advance, so that way we would have sever- “We followed up with them later, maybe reporter come to that particular Facebook al questions to choose from to begin with,” e-mailed them or messaged them through town hall. So I think it’s just good from a Stowe said. “And then it would also give us Facebook to further answer their question transparency standpoint to invite the media time — if it’s a question that needed some or do a follow-up or submit a service to come. And they appreciate the ability to data or some additional follow-up — it request.” sit in on something like that as well.” gave us a little bit of time to prepare for Stowe and the mayor are planning an- that. And if there ever was a quiet moment Have a team at the ready for typing and other Facebook Q&A for 2015. Other city during the town hall, that was a great time sorting questions. “We had myself and one officials might do the same thing. for us to insert a pre-submitted question.” other person basically typing the mayor’s responses, so we would read the question “We might even conduct it with a depart- The Q&A was a hit. “When we took a snap- to the mayor, she would respond, and ment head,” said Stowe. “Let’s say the shot right after the town hall was over, I then I would start typing up the answer, police chief or the director of public works. know the organic reach at that moment and then my colleague who was also help- We think it would be really interesting.” right when we ended was over 1,500 ing me, she would ask the next question. people,” Stowe said. “Then we Storified it That sped it up a little bit, so the mayor

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 25 SUCCESS STORY From posting videos to keeping readers What happens when a Tree City USA coming back for content, the city of Menlo community, known for its protection of City of Menlo Park has several tips for how to maintain heritage trees, decides to take down a and active local government Facebook popular, ancient oak? page. Park, California In most communities, there would be Using Facebook video to turn a 1. Be mindful of the pace of posts. “I long-lasting outrage and rebukes. But if negative into a positive don’t want to do 20 posts in one you’re the city of Menlo Park, California, week and three the next,” said Clay you might turn to a lively Facebook video Curtin, Assistant to the City Manager. to change the course of the conversation. “Try to be consistent.” In October of 2014, a prized Italian 2. When posting video, try uploading stone pine in the city’s Fremont Park was directly to Facebook instead of removed because it posed an imminent YouTube. “We uploaded our video to hazard due to root failure and a severe both Facebook and YouTube – it got lean that gave the tree much of its unique almost no traction on YouTube.” character. The community was in uproar about this removal. 3. Don’t be afraid of paid ads, even if you have a small budget. “We boost “We’re a community that is very protective posts and do paid ads more now,” of its trees,” said Clay Curtin, Assistant to said Curtin. “For instance, we recently the City Manager of Menlo Park, who runs posted a family fitness event, so we the city’s Facebook page. “Normally we targeted the audience of that ad give 15-day notice when a tree has to be down to specific fitness and family removed, but in this case the danger of groups and got good return.” the tree falling was quite imminent and

26 A GovLoop Guide we had to get it out of there more quickly The video worked to shift the conversa- The video was posted to YouTube and got than normal.” tion. It’s since received over 4,100 views, 56 views – and Curtin said where the con- nearly 250 likes, and dozens of comments, versation really took off was on Facebook. Curtin said this caused a great deal of including the following: commotion in the community. “We even “We typically don’t get too many com- had a man show up and chain himself to I had been wondering why it had suddenly ments, but it really started a conversation the tree before it was taken down, which been taken down, and am relieved to see on Facebook,” he said. “The Facebook almost resulted in his arrest.” art springing out of the remnant! video platform is great. I feel like by posting there, people are much more likely to Nevertheless, the tree came down, and This is such a cool video! Love the recycling interact with you.” negative comments started flowing in on of the tree, too! social media. To help combat the problem and start a more positive conversation, the Italian stone pines break away branches all city’s public works department brought in the time, so better to get rid of the hazard, a chainsaw artist who carved the stump and make something good from it! of the tree into a bench and whimsical Curtin said the posting of the video using artwork – then posted a native Facebook the Facebook platform was crucial to time-lapse video of the work to the city changing the conversation. Facebook page.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 27 A PUBLIC- SECTOR FACEBOOK FAQ GovLoop asked our public-sector audience for the questions they most wanted answered by Face- book. Below are the top 10 most-asked questions about Facebook Pages by the public sector — and answers straight from Facebook.

1. Is it legal to ban users from Facebook on a public government page?

While Facebook permits the banning of someone from a Page, this is a question best put to your legal counsel. Remember that when you ban someone from your Page, you aren’t banning him or her from Facebook. Just as you wouldn’t allow a pro- tester to sit in your office, but would allow them to protest on the sidewalk, you don’t necessarily have to allow anyone to be on your Page. But again, each government will need to work with its legal counsel to determine what works best for it.

2. Is there a way to approve comments to posts prior to them appearing?

There is not. Real-time engagement is part of what makes content on Facebook so successful. You can turn on the profanity filter in your settings or put words in the moderation blocklist so they don’t appear on your page. You can find out more about that here: https://www.facebook.com/help/131671940241729

3. How do you turn off ratings and check-ins?

To remove ratings and check-ins you must remove the address from your Page. You can do this by going to your Page’s “About” section and choosing to edit the address. Should you wish to keep the address, you can report any reviews that don’t have anything to do with your Page by following the instructions here: https://www.facebook.com/help/439579999521224

28 A GovLoop Guide 4. What archiving capabilities does Facebook offer?

Facebook doesn’t offer any archiving capabilities for Pages. However, there are a few other options to consider:

• Don’t do anything extra and just search for posts on the Page should you get a request. • On a monthly or quarterly basis, do a page post export in Page Insights, which offers links to every post done in that time period as well as the text. Save this somewhere on your own servers. • Take a screen shot of every post and save it either in a folder or a Microsoft Word document. • Use a third-party source, such as ArchiveSocial. But know that there is a cost associated with this service.

5. How can Pages interact with other Pages?

Choose to use Facebook as the Page you manage and then comment on the other Pages’ posts. You can find instructions on using Facebook as a Page here: https://www.facebook.com/help/168135343245607

6. Why don’t you allow the creation of a business or organization Facebook Page that’s not tied to a personal account?

Shared logins or logins not attached to a personal profile are very insecure and have led to many problems for Page managers. Because of this, we now require Page admins to use their personal accounts to manage a Page. If every admin has our security settings turned on (more info here), then this is the safest way to manage a Page. Moreover, we offer many options for admins to make sure they are using Facebook as the Page and not their personal profile.

7. Why can’t the city claim the location page and when people check-in have it go to the official site?

Location Pages are Pages created by Facebook to help users find all the information they might want about a certain location. We don’t allow any single person or organization to own these as there are many that could legitimately say they have a right to the location Page. Instead, we ask each organization to be specific on who they are in their Page name.

8. What’s the best way for a government Page to get verified?

Submit a request to [email protected] and we will evaluate it based on our criteria.

9. Why can’t there be special rules or advertising rates for nonprofits or governments?

Facebook offers many free tools for organizations. We want to help nonprofits and governments understand the best practices for sharing quality content that will help them reach more people.

10. How can I ensure the right people are seeing our content on Facebook?

Use your Page insights on a regular basis to see how many people your posts are reaching each week, and which individual posts are getting the most engagement. Continuously test and refine the types of content you post to make sure it’s something your fans want to see and find valuable. Facebook ads are a great way to ensure your content gets in front of the right people.

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 29 THE GOVERNMENT’S GUIDE TO USING FACEBOOK: RESOURCES

This guide is 31 pages chock-full of useful, relevant and digestible information aimed at getting your Facebook Page running at its full potential. But we know that we aren’t able to cover absolutely everything. To help you out a little bit more, we’ve created this list of links to other resources that will give you additional information and answers.

30 A GovLoop Guide NEXT STEPS: THE FACEBOOK FOR GOVERNMENT CHECKLIST Are you doing everything you can to make your organization’s Page the best it can be? Use this easy 11-step checklist to make sure you’re following our tips.

□□ Make sure your Page imagery is on point (add an updated cover photo and profile photo that are properly sized and visually interesting).

□□ Rewrite your About section to be pithy and up-to-date.

□□ Try out a content calendar to optimize posts.

□□ New to Facebook ads? Try boosting a post.

□□ Run an insights report. It will provide information that will help your posts by cuing you in to what time your audience is visiting your Page, the top three most popular posts of the past month and the basic demographic makeup of your audience.

□□ Test out adding a video directly to Facebook.

□□ Make sure you’re responding politely and relevantly to citizen questions and comments on your Facebook page — even if the comments are not positive.

□□ Check your security settings and update the password to your personal account.

□□ Identify someone to be the focus of an upcoming Facebook Q&A. It could be your mayor, a department head or anybody of interest to your community.

□□ Update your terms of service language and commenting policy to match your goals.

□□ Download the Facebook Pages Manager app so you can access your Page, even on the go.

LINKS FROM FACEBOOK:

• Facebook Media (this is officially a • Facebook Help Center microsite geared toward news or- • Getting started building a Facebook ganizations, politicians and brands, Page but contains many helpful tips for • Facebook’s glossary of terms government Pages, too) • Facebook’s glossary of ad terms • Facebook resources for creating ads

• More details on using Page Insights • Facebook’s newsroom (info about latest updates and press releases)

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 31 T

ABOUT ABOUT FACEBOOK GOVLOOP Founded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power GovLoop’s mission is to “connect government to improve to share and make the world more open and connected. People government.” We aim to inspire public-sector professionals by use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to serving as the knowledge network for government. GovLoop discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express connects more than 150,000 members, fostering cross- what matters to them. government collaboration, solving common problems and advancing government careers. GovLoop is headquartered in Facebook “f” Logo CMYK / .eps Facebook “f” Logo CMYK / .eps Washington, D.C., with a team of dedicated professionals who share a commitment to connect and improve government.

For more information about this report, please reach out to [email protected].

www.govloop.com @GovLoop

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to Facebook for their support of this valuable resource for public-sector professionals.

AUTHOR: Catherine Andrews, Director of Content

DESIGNERS: Jeff Ribeira, Creative Manager Tommy Bowen, Graphic Designer Kaitlyn Baker, Design Fellow

PHOTO CREDIT: DoD, Eric C. Gutierrez, Jaysin Trevino, National Science Foun- dation, Nick Ortloff, Tom Woodward, USDA, Vadim Kurland, The White House

32 A GovLoop Guide T

The Government’s Guide to Using Facebook 33 1101 15th St NW, Suite 900 | Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 407-7421 | Fax: (202) 407-7501 www.govloop.com | @GovLoop

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