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 37% of internet users aged 18-29 use blogs or social
networking sites as a venue for political or civic involvement compared to: 17% of online 30-49 year olds 12% of 50-64 year olds 10% of internet users over 65
Social Media: Growing Fast Provides additional platforms to spread your
message outside of traditional means Plug your cause, raise awareness about an
issue, spread the word, and update your network
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)
Developing A Social Media Strategy
Do some research and find out where your audience is
Spend some time listening to the conversation
Create a campaign around the launch of new social media platforms
Produce engaging content
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. Do not post any information you don’t want the world to see
Any social networking site exists to advance the goals of the organization. Personal opinions that defame or tarnish its image are not allowed.
Legal reminders about plagiarism, profanity, and defamatory statements which could land your organization in court.
AFL-CIO Social Media Tools Blog: http://www.blog.aflcio.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aflcio
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aflcio
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/aflcionow
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/labor2008
Ustream: (live broadcasts)- http://www.ustream.tv/user/aflcionow
Digg-social news website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet
AFL-CIO Now 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
Cross-posting of blogs across the progressive network (Daily Kos, Everyday Citizen)
Conversation and feedback occur in the comments
Facebook 9100+ fans Links to our
blogs/national news items
Post questions to spark conversation
Use Event feature to spread word about events and campaigns
Provide space for open discussion. Wall is open so fans/affiliates can post relevant content of interest to our audience
Twitter 3900+ followers; 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 Sec-Treas. Shuler which gives us more of an authentic voice
Live tweeting of events – integrated into blog posts (retweeting)
Instant feedback from followers
YouTube 230+ videos; 500+
subscribers to our channel
Embed video into our blog posts, e-mails and throughout our website
Flickr Central repository for
state feds and central labor councils to post and share photos from campaigns, rallies and other events – easy sharing
Convention photo galleries and officer photos
Campaigns – Convention 2009 Comprehensive convention website (convention
actions/resolutions, photo slide shows, video clips, blog feeds, interactive maps of Pittsburgh)
Up to the minute coverage on the blog of all convention activity
Staff were equipped with flip video cameras. Recorded breakout sessions and delegates sharing thoughts on the agenda and future of labor movement. Videos posted on YouTube.
Heavy promo via Facebook and Twitter starting three weeks before.
Web-streamed entire Convention for the first time; Page included Twitter and Facebook feeds
Photo galleries on Flickr; Major convention speeches on YouTube
Live tweeting of major speeches which also streamed on the blog
Convention 2009: Results 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
You Tube: Combined 15,000+ views on all of our Convention videos
Campaign: President Trumka Open for Questions
Implementation Google Moderator Ustream TV Cover it Live
Promotion Twitter Facebook Blog – Ours + Cross-posting E-mail – Lists/Listserves/
Campaign: President Trumka Open for Questions (Results)
Google Moderator: 323 people asked 160 unique questions and cast 6,744 votes.
Ustream: 4,607 unique viewers. Cover it Live: 520 participants, 160
comments, 188 tweets. Website: 5,465 page views.
Campaign: President Trumka Open for Questions (Results)
Twitter: 48 unique tweets/RTs and the bit.ly link generated 324 clicks.
Facebook: Event generated 149 RSVPs and 159 “maybes” + 436 actively said they were not attending.
AFL-CIO Social Media Group
Communications staff from unions and affiliated organizations sharing resources, successful social media campaigns, strategies, and tools
Working on development of social media training tools that can be distributed to unions
Trainings- Social Media 101 and 102
Trainings Social Media 101 and 102
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 Clients you can use to better manage your experience Specific ways to build community
Facebook- Fan page vs. Group? Setting up a fan page Applications you can use to create campaigns Benefits of advertising on Facebook
Join our Social Media Group Danielle Hatchett
www.facebook.com/aflcio
www.twitter.com/aflcio