Just as social media has opened a dialogue between businesses and consumers, its value is apparent to those in political office, whose work and very professional survival hinges on the needs and perceptions of their constituents.

But when was the last time a local politician garnered the same social media buzz as a hip startup, or a savvy online retailer?

As it stands, the social web is ripe with opportunities for candidates and office holders alike to connect with voters, foster transparency, and even spar with opponents in the same ways they have been in the traditional media for hundreds of years. We spoke with some innovators who have been tapping into the political power of social media. If their work is any indication, expect the future of elected government to be measured in fans and followers, as well as votes.

---

Transparency and Credibility

---

Spin and misinterpretation can cloud a political message as it passes from candidate, to spokesperson, to media, to public. But this chain can be broken by something as simple as a Facebook update.

“I first began posting every vote from the floor of the Michigan House of Representatives in June 2009 — six months after taking office,” said Republican State Rep. Justin Amash in an e-mail interview. “It was really a spontaneous undertaking. I figured, why not post my votes, too, with some explanations? … I instantly received comments from dozens of people who wanted me to know how much they appreciated what I was doing. It became clear to me that posting my votes in real-time on Facebook could revolutionize the process of legislating.”

Rep. Amash is among the first legislators to post all of his votes on his Facebook Fan Page. He has received significant media attention for his open social policies, and has since announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress on Facebook.

“I wasn’t considering a run for Congress or any other seat when I began posting my votes, but Facebook has turned into a fantastic campaigning tool,” said Amash. “Above all, it has helped me to gain credibility with voters. When I say that I’m a principled, consistent conservative, people know that it’s true. They can see it, and they can tell from our discussions that I’m actually reading the bills.”

Rep. Amash’s Facebook strategy seems to have bypassed some of the partisan choir preaching and flame warring that is rampant in the political blogosphere. “Because I’m willing to explain myself and account for my actions, I’ve gained Facebook fans from across the political spectrum. Some of my best interactions are with people who disagree with my votes. I’m trying to foster the kind of civil, rational discourse that has been missing from politics for a long time.”

One important element of Amash’s Facebook success is that he (and he alone, as he tells us) is the one posting, commenting, and replying. “In fact, as of now, no one else — not even my legislative staff or campaign staff — has access to it. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s important that I hear directly from constituents and that they hear directly from me.”

Even a cursory scan of Amash’s Facebook Page reveals that this type of direct contact has engendered productive conversations, even about political minutiae and hyper-local issues — topics that can be glossed over as they filter through traditional media outlets.

---

Highly Targeted and Inexpensive Ads

---

As businesses have known for some time, the social web can be a cost-effective medium for targeted advertising. Whereas expensive television and print ads might blanket a wide swath of voters with uncertain viewership and impact, social media engagement costs pennies on the dollar, and can deliver highly targeted and measurable results if executed properly.

In 2008, Julielyn Gibbons, President of i3 Strategies, an online strategy consulting firm, and Senior Fellow at the New Organizing Institute in Washington, DC, helped an “unorganized, under-funded” group, defeat deep-pocketed opposition by relying on social media marketing to get messaging to constituents.

As part of a campaign to pass a ballot initiative in Michigan that year, Gibbons and her team establishedTwitter, Facebook, and YouTube presences, and invested heavily in Google and Facebook ads “that mirrored our traditional media advertising, with a twist. We focused heavily on micro-targeting by age and gender, going for the the ‘goosebump factor’ as I call it — giving the public something that was very personal that they could relate to and that would win over the scare tactics that the opposition was running.”

Gibbons notes the importance of a “cyclical message strategy” when digging into the nitty gritty of social media advertising. “Every outlet linked to or mentioned the other outlets. For instance, at the end of every YouTube video, we included the URL of the campaign website, the Facebook Page, the Twitter page. Tweets linked to YouTube videos, important updates on the Facebook Page, links to fundraising pages on the site, etc.”

The proposal ultimately passed by a very slim margin. “Afterward, pundits credited our heavy use of social media with organizing, mobilizing, fundraising and ultimately turning out voters in support of the measure,” said Gibbons.

---

Let the People Be Your Voice

---

While you can pay to market politics online, it’s arguably better to engage your network of supporters and let them spread the message for you. Their reach and trust value far outweigh anything you could broadcast or pay for.

Once you have their attention, little calls to action can go a long way.

“Some of the tactics that we used included asking supporters to change their Facebook profile picture and Twitter avatar to the campaign logo days before the election, posting and sharing campaign ads and messages on YouTube, encouraging supporters to share on their Facebook walls, [and] creating and spreading a hashtag when folks tweeted about the campaign,” said Gibbons.

And don’t discount e-mail marketing — it makes for great follow-up after some preliminary, non-invasive social engagement.

“When we sent an e-mail, we always gave supporters a quick list of actions that they could take, and we always let them know that they were a vital part of the campaign. For instance: ‘We’ve got a new ad on TV, have you seen it?’ Can you help us raise [additional funds] to keep it on air for another three days?’”

Again, Gibbons notes the importance of cyclical messaging. Every e-mail sent should offer proactive ways for supporters to connect back to the campaign’s social media sites.

---

Improving Public Service

---

“Ivory Tower Syndrome” is a problem in every sphere — including politics — where influence and money can divide those in office from the people they serve. Social media can democratize information and reconnect politicians to the vox populi.

“Our goal by using social media is to have an active conversation with our constituents,” said Nicole Russo, Legislative Aide to New York State Senator Kemp Hannon. “Sometimes we have to ask the hard questions and get real, truthful, and sometimes harsh answers. The more we know about what our constituents are thinking, the better we can serve them.”

While Senator Hannon is not actively campaigning at this time, Russo notes that Facebook is the ideal medium for this type of communication and discovery, and that the senator’s Facebook profile has become “almost a personal news outlet for both Senator Hannon, the community and the state. Whether a constituent is wondering what Hannon’s latest legislation is or what are the key issues of concern of the 6th Senatorial District of New York, constituents can read about it and freely give their opinion on his Facebook [profile].”

---

Calculated Political Strategies

---

While many political campaigns are fumbling to leverage social channels effectively, consulting firms have seized the opportunities that exist in these knowledge gaps, and have applied many business concepts to the model.

“Political campaigns aren’t much different than traditional marketing campaigns, with a few exceptions,” said Gibbons. “Whether you’re selling a product, an idea, or a candidate, you’re ultimately trying to convince the public to embrace something.”

To that end, political consultants leverage some aggressive strategies to keep a client’s social media presence at the top of mind.

“We always invest in getting a few of the opponents’ supporters to fan our page,” said Josh Koster, Managing Partner of Chong + Koster, a digital consulting firm that works on political campaigns. “Why not 100% supporters? Because by leaving just a few haters on the page (and thus ensuring massive back-and-forths in the comments threads) we ensure higher marks from Facebook’s Edge Rank algorithm.” He also notes the importance of keeping 99% of the Page’s discourse on your side to dominate the conversation, which may convince casual visitors of your point of view.

Koster also touts the value of e-mail marketing — something that is amplified by social media trust building.

“In an ideal world, we use social media to push out a steady drum-beat of ‘warm fuzzy’ content and use e-mail to drive the hard asks. The more value we build on social media, the more hard asks we get to make via e-mail,” he explained. “The trick is getting the social media universe and the e-mail universe to overlap.”

---

The Bottom Line

---

When it comes to politics, is social media a marketing tool? A conversation with constituents? An ear to the ground of civic responsibility? The versatility of these platforms means it can be any or all of these things, depending on the needs of a campaign or office.

Regardless of use, the importance of authenticity seems to be universal.

“You want the social media [component] to be a very natural, authentic extension of the campaign and candidate or issue,” said Gibbons. “If it’s forced, or faked, the public will know it and you’ll look worse than not trying it all.”

The importance of utilizing social channels can’t be understated. If you want to compete in today’s online political world, dedicate resources appropriately, and stick with it. “Do not leave your social media networking up to an intern,” said Russo. “Many organizations make a page and then forget to update or allow someone that is unqualified to update it for them. You really need someone who knows when and what to post in order to capture an audience that will benefit your organization.”

And while social mediums may come and go, the message (and how it’s disseminated) remains the most critical part of any campaign.

“The best way to garner votes and support is by maintaining transparency and communication with voters,” said Rep. Amash. “Most elected officials haven’t figured that out yet.”

---

Gist helps you build stronger professional relationships by bringing together information from across the web for all your contacts and their companies giving you the right information at the right moment to get a first meeting, deliver an amazing pitch, or just find a better way to make a connection. Gist does all the work for you, assembling a dynamic collection of all your contacts and their companies from your email inbox, your social networks, or even your CRM system automatically building and updating their profiles as new content is published – by them or about them.

Lauren Vargas is a Community Manager at Radian6, the social media monitoring and engagement platform. She blogs at Communicators Anonymous and is @VargasL on Twitter.

The debate over who owns the customer still looms in the shadows of company hallways and conference rooms. There is no one right answer because every department, team and employee owns the customer and takes part in shaping a positive customer experience.

Customer service is no longer an area to triage customer complaints. It’s about anticipating customer needs at the right time and place. Organizations must relearn how to interact with their community, shed some of the heavily automated barriers, and get back to the basics of customer service.

---

1. Apply Your Current Service Strategy to Social Media

---

To get where you’re going, sometimes it’s helpful to learn more about out where you’ve been.

Most likely, your company has a customer service and response strategy in place to handle issues through e-mail, chat and phone. Avoid reinventing the wheel by creating new response strategies and processes. Take time to review how customer inquiries and outreach are currently being handled. What are the customer service goals? Do any current processes need to be updated? Can current strategies be adopted for social media implementation?

Answer these questions, and you are not only improving your company’s customer service, but making it possible for any person in your organization to take on this task.

---

2. Put Human Relationships Back Into Your Service

---

The human element has been taken out of the customer service experience in many companies and replaced with automated messages and prompts. By the time a human operator is reached, their responses are often scripted and they do not have the authority or knowledge to solve complex issues. As elementary as it may sound, organizations need to empower their workforce to go beyond canned responses and develop a more relationship-building approach to customer service, as opposed to one-off interactions.

Adding social back into the customer service mix does not involve throwing out processes already in place, but improving upon them. Begin by establishing customer engagement policies. Social media policies and guidelines can provide the education and structure for how to engage online, and empower your workforce to operate within accepted and encouraged boundaries with the freedom to be themselves.

Next, coordinate a system of gathering information, categorizing, segmenting and analyzing customer engagement that is transparent within your company. Finally, establish workflows to distribute customer engagement responsibilities throughout the organization to ensure the right person is interacting with the right customer at the right time.

---

3. Establish a Knowledge Base

---

The customer service department is often separated from the rest of the company, training and operating in a “silo.” Bring customer service agents out from the shadows and provide them with the training they need to engage customers on their turf within the social web.

Establish a company wiki where all departments can contribute social media knowledge and lessons learned. Train agents beyond their role. Develop subject matter experts who can handle taking conversations to the next level and solve issues in real-time on the channel of the customer’s choice.

In turn, allow your customer service agents to be the teachers and share best practices from the trenches of phone, e-mail and chat support. What are the frequently asked questions? How do agents currently deal with sticky customer issues? What actionable insights can be gleaned from the types of issues and responses from inbound calls, e-mail and chat? Your customer service agents can illuminate new paths and caution you in areas they have already explored.

---

4. Set Expectations

---

One of the goals and challenges of providing customer service through social media channels is to mine data for actionable insights that will enable highly personal and proactive service. Determine the channels where thebulk of your customer conversation is occurring. Avoid the trap of participating in all channels to serve all customers, which may only overextend your team. Pinpoint the channels your organization can afford to place resources and invest in community participation. Then, analyze these areas for broader trends. Online channel behavior is not indicative of your total customer base, but tying this data back to traditional CRM analysis can yield valuable insights for your response strategy.

Further, just like your customer service department has set hours of business, so should your service in social channels. Conversations are 24/7, and issues may arise in off hours, but it is essential to set expectations of service up front. Your workforce may choose to handle issues off the clock within the framework of your organization’s social media guidelines, but you should clearly outline this capacity in your profile or bio.

---

5. Perform Quality Assurance

---

Online interaction offers a glimpse into what your customers think about your company, workforce, products and/or services. Embrace this culture of feedback even though the majority of conversations may not occur in your own managed communities.

Improve your online engagement by asking the community about your performance. Similar to a typical call center experience, after an agent or employee has an exchange on Twitter or another social channel, send the person a survey about their recent online customer service exchange. Use this feedback to assist in overall response strategies and evaluation of participation in social channels.

Maintain patience and consistency by first establishing measurable goals and objectives of how your organization will engage in the social space. Align these metrics with overall business goals. Talk to the marketing, communication and sales departments to establish metrics that will measure your collective efforts and give a holistic view of the customer’s online behavior.

Benchmark your progress. Take time to reevaluate processes, take action on feedback and don’t give up because of some rocky roads. There were rough times when e-mail and chat were implemented. Social media interaction will have growing pains just like any other business channel, but you have to make the investment.

---

Conclusion

---

Each company must forge its own path to integrating social into the customer service mix. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. That is how we got to this heavily automated customer service triage position in the first place.

The companies that are embracing social media as a service solution are succeeding because they realize their employees are the best company evangelists and operators of front-line engagement. Those organizations that treat their employees as humans are also those who are treating their customers as humans, and not a faceless CRM number.