Case Summary

In the fall of 2008, NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) began efforts to overhaul the NOS Web site (oceanservice.noaa.gov). The biggest change was a shift from being a relatively static (infrequently updated) site to one that is updated with rich, new content on an almost daily basis. As the site grew, staff began to think about ways to let people know that this content was available and developed a strategy to use social media tools to extend the reach of the NOS Web site and thus the NOS message.

Business Challenge

With interesting and engaging content being delivered via the NOS Web site, staff began to consider ways to let people know that this content was there. Social media tools offer a relatively easy, low-cost, high-impact solution - a lot of people are using these tools and many of these people are not people who are otherwise aware of NOS or what the organization is doing. With increased interest in using social media tools, using them to increase traffic to the site was a win-win: NOS got to test these innovative, but relatively new tools, while increasing the overall reach of NOS's organizational message.

Approach Taken

At the start of fiscal year 2009, NOS began devoting resources to the regular development of content on the NOS Web site. Staff began writing news stories and ocean fact pieces and developing multimedia elements for posting on the site. The bulk of efforts was, and continues to be, directed towards content development on the NOS Web site. Social media offered a platform to extend the reach of the content on the NOS site, and, by repurposing content on the site, maintenance associated with social media tools was kept to a minimum.

In October 2009, NOS was using no social media tools to deliver its messages. Since that time, NOS has:
• developed RSS feeds for ocean facts, weekly news, audio podcasts, and video to deliver NOS news and information already posted on the NOS Web site directly to subscribers;
• launched an NOS Twitter account to highlight new Web postings and drive more visitors to the NOS Web site;
• began offering two bi-weekly audio podcasts (Making Waves and Diving Deeper) on the NOS Web site as a new tool to inform a broader audience about the work of NOS;
• launched an NOS Facebook page to again highlight NOS Web content and reach an additional audience with NOS messages while providing a forum for this audience to voice their opinions and interact with NOS;
• launched an NOS YouTube channel to present videos from corporate NOS as well as all NOS offices; and
• launched an NOS Flickr page to present images that are also posted on the NOS Web site image gallery.

These platforms are updated regularly, typically on a daily basis.

Additionally, NOS is preparing to add social bookmarking capabilities to the NOS site to allow visitors who find content on the NOS Web site useful, credible, and interesting to "tag" and "share" that content so that they can find it again and also so that others can find it as well.

These efforts have been envisioned and implemented by the NOS Communications and Education Division, which includes a perhaps somewhat unique blend of communications staff (content developers) and technology staff (Web and technical experts). While communications staff are the managers/implementers of these tools, regular interactions and discussions between the content and technical experts has helped smooth implementation and use of social media by NOS.

Staff developed specific operating plans for each tool to make sure that the tool fits in with the larger communication goals of NOS. In other words, each tool serves a very specific purpose. Each plan lays out major project goals and measures for success, project implementation strategies (including required resources), and editorial guidelines for using the tool. The plans are being revisited as use and understanding of each tool grows.

Results Achieved

The primary measure of success of this initiative is the numbers of visitors to NOS Web site pages referred to from the different social media platforms. Other measures include the number of fans (or followers or contacts) and the number of views of each tool (if applicable).

While the initiative is still relatively new, early statistics suggest that continually updated content on the site combined with the use of social media tools to 'market' the content is having an impact:
• In the period between January and March of 2009, the NOS Web site received 1,262,847 page requests---an increase of 35 percent over the same period of time last year.
• The RSS feeds for the audio podcasts were the most frequently requested pages on the site in March.
• As of April 2009, after six months of operation, the NOS Twitter account had over 1,200 followers and continues to gain between 100-200 or more new followers each week. Additionally, Twitter is now a regular referrer to the NOS Web site.
• At the end of April 2009, after being live for just one month, the NOS Facebook page had nearly 150 fans, with an additional 25 new fans joining each week.

Overall return on investment with the use of these tools is high. The bulk of staff time is used to generate the content on the NOS Web site; the additional time investment to repurpose this content is minimal (~ 10 minutes per day), yet the results are significant.

Lessons Learned

For NOS, the use of social media tools is not about the tools themselves, but about the overall communication goals of the organization. NOS started social media efforts not by asking "what social media tools do we want to use?" Instead, NOS looked at overall goals and objectives and then considered what tools (social media or otherwise) would be most effective in reaching those goals. Social media represents one communications tactic, but is not the end-all, be-all for NOS. With fresh and engaging content being available on the NOS Web site, staff always have something to "say" via social sites---and the management of these social media tools has been small relative to the overall gain.

NOS efforts to increase Web reach through social media have been successful for a number of other reasons. First, NOS leadership has been supportive of the adoption of social media and has encouraged staff to test and implement these relatively new, yet innovative, communication tools. Additionally, the combination of communications and Web staff collaborating on these tools has allowed NOS to develop the use of social media within an environment that considers both content and technical issues. Also, a key element to success thus far has been the development of written operating plans that provide guidance and help set parameters on the focus and scope of these tools.

The efforts by NOS to incorporate social media into organizational communication can be replicated by other organizations, both within NOS, NOAA, and beyond. The relatively simple operating plans are being distributed throughout the federal Web community and provide a baseline for other organizations to get started.