The AFL-CIO Is All A-Twitter!

February 24, 2010

Overview of the Federation’s Social Media Program

Danielle HatchettSocial Media Manager, AFL-CIOFacebook: www.facebook.com/aflcioTwitter: www.twitter.com/aflcio

Social Media: Growing Fast 3 out of 4 Americans use social technology 1 in 3 online Americans post to social

networks at least once a week Users spend at least 5hrs and 30 min per

month on average on social networking sites

99% of social media users believe organizations should have a presence in social media

Social Media: Growing Fast Social media provides additional platforms

to spread your message outside of traditional means

Allows opportunity for instant feedback from your constituents; tap into word of mouth.

Connect with influentials (i.e. bloggers, policymakers, press, advocacy organizers and people with large networks)

Provides organizing opportunities (Help for Haiti; Iran elections)

Questions We Asked (or wish we had asked!) Before Getting Started

Who will manage the site? Who can post items to the site? What kinds of items are appropriate for the site? Are we prepared to let go of control of our brand just a

little? How does engaging users via social media integrate

with our overall communications/marketing strategy? How will we measure success or failure? (views,

number of followers/subscribers, comments)

Establishing A Social Media Policy Clearly state:

Anyone distributing content is acting as a representative of your organization and should ask responsibly in that vein

Social networking sites are public. Any information you don’t want the world to see, do not post

Any social networking site exists to advance the goals of the organization. Personal opinions that defame or tarnish its image are not allowed.

Few legal reminders about plagiarism, profanity, and defamatory statement which could land your organization in court.

AFL-CIO Social Media Platforms Blog- 113,000 page views per month

4-10 posts daily on issues important to working families; 1 post minimum on Saturday and Sunday

20,000 subscribers to our daily blog news e-mail Weekly post on Firedoglake, which gets 40,000-

50,000 visits a day Each top officer has a Huffington Post column where

we quickly publish blogs under their bylines on breaking issues and big campaigns

Conversation and feedback occur in the comments Cross-posting of blogs across the progressive network

(Daily Kos, Everyday Citizen)

AFL-CIO Social Media Platforms Facebook – 9100+ fans

Post links to our blogs and other national news articles of interest

Use Invite feature to spread word about events and campaigns

Provide space for open discussion. Wall is open so fans can post relevant content of interest to our audience

Convention- kept audience informed by sharing blogs, videos, photos and other updates; promo live coverage and encouraged comments

Gained 1300 new fans during our Convention coverage, many of whom shared our content

AFL-CIO Social Media Platforms Twitter – 3900+ followers and we’re following 1100+

Followed by reporters from CNN, The Hill, AP, NPR, ABC –reciprocal spreading of content

Share links to blog posts and other news items

Spread content of unions/affiliated organizations (retweeting) – we’re listening, not just broadcasting; we’re participating in the greater allied community

Retweet content from our media staff, bloggers, and even Sec-Treas. Shuler which gives us more of an authentic voice

Live tweeting of events – integrated into blog posts (retweeting)

Instant feedback from followers

AFL-CIO Social Media Platforms YouTube – 230+ videos; 500+ subscribers to our channel Embed video into our blog posts, e-mails and throughout

our website Recent additions

Pres. Trumka’s response to Massachusetts election results – 5300 views

Clips of President Trumka answering questions during our “Open for Questions on Jobs Crisis” live webcast -2300+ views

Convention- Clips of main speeches Staff were equipped with flip video cameras and recorded

some breakout sessions and delegates sharing thoughts on the agenda and future of labor movement

AFL-CIO Social Media Platforms

Flickr – organizers in the field can post and share photos from rallies and other events

Convention photo galleries each day – easy method of sharing

Campaigns – Convention 2009 Comprehensive convention website (convention

actions/resolutions, photo slide shows, video clips, blog feeds, interactive maps of Pittsburgh)

Full up to the minute coverage on the blog of all convention activity

Heavy promo via Facebook and Twitter starting three weeks before.

Web-streamed entire Convention for the first time; Page included Twitter and Facebook feeds

Live tweeting of major speeches which also streamed on the blog

Results: Facebook: Gained over 800 fans (content generated over 1500

“likes” and we received over 400 total comments Twitter: Added over 500 followers and we made it into the

trending topics for a short period during Obama’s speech YouTube: Combined 10,000+ views on all of our videos

President Trumka Open for Questions

Implementation Google Moderator Ustream TV Cover it Live

Promotion Twitter Facebook Blog – Ours + Cross-posting E-mail – Lists/Listserves/

AFL-CIO Social Media Group

Communications staff from unions and affiliated organizations sharing resources, successful social media campaigns, strategies and tools

One goal is to develop a set of social media training tools that can be used on the state and local level

Trainings- Social Media 101 and 102

Trainings Social Media 101

Overview – Definitions; importance in communications

strategy; usage stats Questions to consider before making it a part of

your communications strategy Twitter –

How to set up a profile and start tweeting Finding people to connect with

Facebook- Fan page vs. Group? Setting up a fan page

Trainings

Social Media 102 Twitter –

Clients you can use to better manage your experience

Specific ways to build community Facebook –

Applications you can use to create campaigns

Benefits of advertising on Facebook

Join our Social Media Group Danielle Hatchett

dhatchet@aflcio.org

www.facebook.com/aflcio

www.twitter.com/aflcio