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https://gdsengagement.blog.gov.uk/2014/09/24/introducing-the-new-head-of-social-media/

Introducing the new Head of Social Media

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: News, Social Media, Tools, Twitter

Hello, my name’s Georgina Goode, and I’ve just been appointed as Head of Social Media at GDS.

Georgina Goode

My background in digital communications is varied; having had the pleasure of working on some fantastic social media campaigns spanning private, public and third sectors.

My experience includes work for Camelot - building recognition of the relationship between the National Lottery and Good Causes; make mine Milk - encouraging teenagers to ditch sugary drinks; and UKTI - raising awareness and driving applications of overseas graduate entrepreneurs to the Sirius programme.

I also worked closely with the then BusinessLink team on a UK-wide influencer engagement programme, plus have devised bespoke measuring frameworks for Ofsted and Skills Funding Agency.

My approach to social media is heavily based upon PR principles. This means that content generation and relationship building has to be underpinned by solid communications planning; firstly to ensure effectiveness but also to mitigate risk.

My focus at GDS is based around these four areas:

Content

Devising content strategies which work together with our wider communications objectives, but also take into consideration what our audience is talking about online. We won’t be wasting time on creating content for content’s sake. It’s about coming up with ideas which are genuinely sharable with a call-to-action which is clear.

Community

Focusing on our audience and what they want/need from us. Predominantly this will be about providing information on the changes to GOV.UK, the ‘what’, and the ‘why’. But, we have a bigger job in actively engaging our users, both in providing support to them, and gaining their support in return. Building advocacy is hugely important in raising awareness about the work that we do.

Contacts

With advocacy in mind, working with influencers (those individuals who are well respected, have a large following online and who are considered opinion formers) will continue to be part of our social media approach. We intend to be engaging influencers with all facets of life at GDS and involving them with some of our processes.

We’re fortunate to have lots of events throughout the year, allowing us to use social media creatively to engage with influencers who may not already be actively following us.

Crisis

An important part of social media communications is being prepared for when things don’t run smoothly. This involves planning. Part of our community team management is about ensuring everyone is aware of internal protocols; how we identify potential issues and then, how we deal with them.

The opportunity at GDS is an exciting one - we aim to lead by example in everything we do, from handling user queries on @GOVUK in no longer than four hours (a timeline we are working on reducing even further); to developing effective creative content campaigns based on user needs (eg: Misleading Websites). We are also enhancing our social media monitoring and evaluation capabilities by introducing new tools and working even closer with our web analytics team.

It’s going to be a busy few months ahead!

To mark my arrival at GDS I’ve revised our Social Media Playbook. This will continue to be updated on a quarterly basis so should provide a useful, up-to-date guidance on setting up social campaigns, community management techniques and measurement/management tools.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Follow Georgina on Twitter and don't forget to sign up for email alerts.


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5 comments

  1. Comment by Dave Briggs posted on

    Welcome Georgina! Look forward to reading more in future about your work!

  2. Comment by Fraser posted on

    Sounds like a fun job. Hope it's not all one-way PR and more social listening instead.

    • Replies to Fraser>

      Comment by Georgina Goode posted on

      Absolutely (and many thanks) - understanding our users' needs through social listening is an important part of what we do.

  3. Comment by Carl Harvey posted on

    Hi Georgina - Welcome

    I am also new and started with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on the 1st December 2014 as the Digital Manager.

    My background was working in E-Communications for Norhumbria Police managing a Social Media Portfolio of 80,000+ followers often dealing with critical incidents.

    I look forward to reading about your work as this is a keen interest of mine.

    Regards

    Carl