The public sector should take advantage of social media to provide better service delivery
Social media skills for marketing can be applicable to almost every organisation, including those from the public sector.
In fact, professionals within the public sector are required to think critically, strategise and master the fundamentals of social media skills in order to provide effective and efficient service delivery to the general public who are increasingly active on social networking sites.
“On social, people can engage in direct dialogue with politicians, civic officials, and even entire government agencies. It also gives them a chance to engage back,” wrote Tony Tran and Yael Bar-Tur for Hootsuite on the benefits, challenges and usage of social media in government.
They cited six key benefits as to how government agencies, departments and other public sector organisations can take advantage of social media to interact with people better:
Crisis communication: It is vital for the public sector, especially governments to disseminate regular updates and trustworthy information clearly, calmly and professionally during a crisis. These provide the public an understanding of the direction the government is taking and an assurance of the government’s capability in managing the crisis.
Citizen engagement: Being able to engage the public by keeping them informed about important and relevant policies and issues allows public sector organisations to build trust and to humanise their “brands”.
Build public trust: The public prefer their government to be more authentic and transparent. So what better avenue to establish and maintain a good relationship with them than via social media?
Set the record straight: Social media can be a source of misinformation and disinformation and it can be particularly dangerous during a crisis. As such, governments should use social media to identify any inaccuracy and respond accordingly through their own official platforms.
Test messaging: Social media can be a good place for the public sector to test various forms of messages to the public, determine which resonates very well and craft more effective messages. This is because they can receive instant feedback from their audience, and from there gather information on them, such as trends and preferences.
Save money: Since traditional public outreach can be expensive, social media offers a more cost-efficient option to, for instance, create awareness on issues that the public should be concerned about.
