embracing digital northumberland county council
DESCRIPTION
CIPR North East presented an insider’s perspective on how two of the region's biggest organisations are approaching digital and social media as part of their communications work? Ross Wigham, Service Manager: communications at Northumberland County Council, and Ralph Charlton, Director of PR at Sage Group plc gave their perspectives on how they are tackling the social media challenge at a special CIPR North East briefing in September 2011.Neither Ross or Ralph pretends to be a ‘social media guru’ but they are both dealing with the opportunities and challenges it brings to their organisations.TRANSCRIPT
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Embracing digital
Ross Wigham
Northumberland County Council
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
What is Northumberland
• New ‘super council’ created in 2009• One of the UK’s largest Counties• Around 311,000 residents• Lots of space – 88 people per sqm
(London has 12,892)• Strong sense of community• More than 3,000 miles of road
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Embracing digital
• Great strides in 18 months• More than 11,000 followers• Thriving virtual community• 2,000 people using our iPhone app• More than 98,000 downloads of our ezine• 700 pictures from Facebook
photographers
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Much more than potholes
Elections. Empty the bins. Street cleaning. Grass
cutting. Recycling. Road maintenance. Gritting. Culture
and heritage. Local events. Beach cleaning. Sports centres. Tourist information. Schools. Social services.
Public health. Care for the elderly. Planning
applications. Libraries. Regeneration. Fire and Rescue.
Environmental health. Weddings. Births and deaths. Parks and gardens. Street lighting. Trading standards. Managing nearly 200 local buildings. Town centre parking. Animal welfare. Pest control. Licencing. Issuing benefits.
Social housing. Building control. Refuse tips.
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Northumberland challenges
• Audience scattered over large area• Digitally savvy people• Expect things online• Legal requirement to engage people• Grey image of council information
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Northumberland TV
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Who do you think you are?
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Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
• 29 million v 12 million• 9 months to get 100 million users• TV took 13 years to get 50 million users• Public sector not great at exploiting it
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Facebook & Twitter
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Early results
• Increased recycling• Less contamination• 53,000 hits on YouTube• Hit 1,000 followers then got stuck• Building blocks for community• Just extra information channels
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Nuclear winters
• 2009/10 worst weather for 30 years• Temperatures of -19• Snow from Nov - Jan• 300,000 extra hits on website• Major service disruptions• 180 school closures
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
A new approach
• Website nearly crashed• How could we reach people?• Winter alerts system• New Facebook channel• Heavy promotion of new system
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
A new approach
• Explosion of followers• Live travel information• Gritting updates• Bin collections• Weather updates• What help available
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
A new approach
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
A new approach
• School closures• All announced by 7am• Key problem for working parents• Women aged 24-40• Reduced calls to switchboard• Reduced risk of website overload
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
A new approach
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Response
When to respond?
USAF 12 point plan
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
A new approach
• On the move info for mobile phones• Followers became correspondents• Real time conversations• Partner updates• Separate profiles for events and alerts
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
• Council news• Events• Direct email or calls
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Social media reporting
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Social media reporting
• Potholes• Streetlights• Fly tipping• Graffiti
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Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Scores on the doors
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Council Groupon?
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Online magazine
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Facebook adverts
• Very direct• Target relevant users• 161 people• 5 sales• Made back costs
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Community
Built a community that will:
•Give feedback•Come to events•Help each other out•Resolve issues before they hit the media
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Lessons
1. Think customer not corporate2. Satisfaction will increase (35%)3. Make life easier for people4. Captive market5. Not an add on – central to what you do6. Separate out channels 7. Take the bad with the good!
www.northumberland.gov.uk
Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
@rosswigham@northumberlands@n_landcouncil
NorthumberlandTV
/northumberlandcc/northumberlandevents/nccalerts