3 Things Your Social Media Report Must Have to Be Credible

After years of working in social media strategy both in the private and public sector, we’ve learned one thing remains constant when it comes to social media. Marketers and Government Communicators alike must work to prove social media ROI to get buy-in from leadership. Where most government communicators miss the mark is in their social media reporting.

Below are the 3 things every good social media report must have in order to help prove social media ROI and position you and/or your team as the in house social media Subject Matter Experts in your organization.

1. Transparency – Ensure transparency in your next social media report by answering the following questions: What went well? What didn’t? Why? What are we going to do about it? Sharing your progress and your point of view of what needs to improve or continue as a result of your social media performance allows leadership to understand your approach but also the strategy involved in producing effective social media communications.
2. Context – Metrics need comparison in order to be determined “good” or “bad” in terms of their performance. Use industry benchmarks, social media platform benchmarks, agency past performance and census stats in comparison to your social media metrics to give your metrics context and effectively communicate to leadership social media’s impact on your agency goals and citizen engagement.
3. Simplicity – Leadership already has a lot of information to read on a daily basis, so make your report as easy and as quick to read as possible. Use imagery and color-coding where ever you can and always put the most important information/message you want to communicate towards the front of your report.

Your social media reports are not just about sharing your social media’s performance but can also serve as a valuable tool for establishing credibility and communicating community impact which can turn your agency’s leadership from social media skeptics to advocates.

Interested in learning more about social media reporting for your government agency? Contact us today to learn more about how your agency can participate in our How to Create Social Media Reports Your Agency Can Understand workshop.