Skip to main content

GOV.UK blogs use cookies to make the site simpler. Find out more about cookies

GOV.UK

Blog Digital health and social care

Organisations:
Department of Health and Social Care

https://digitalhealth.blog.gov.uk/2013/06/11/how-to-use-social-media-to-engage-with-stakeholders/

How to use social media to engage with stakeholders

Posted by: Susy Wootton, Posted on: 11 June 2013 - Categories: Engagement, Insight

Using social media to engage with stakeholders is a good way to both extend your reach to new stakeholders but to also increase your engagement level with those you are already working with.

If you know who you want to engage with you can start by finding out where online they are already talking, and listening to the conversation. It might be taking place in forums, blogs, twitter or linkedIn channels.

Then you can join in the conversation in your official capacity. By doing this, you are entering an established conversation, where you know people are interested in the subject that you want to talk about.

So how do you find out where these forums, blogs etc are? We’ve learnt at DH that this isn’t an exact science. This pinterest board describes some free tools to help find relevant conversations. Most allow you to search by keyword to find where conversations are taking place. They are a good place to start but this process also involves some online research, asking those you want to network with where they talk online, and also building your own online profile which will naturally help build this picture over time with some regular input.

It’s important to not just think about engagement as something for a specific project or just for the short-term. If you really want to develop good relationships and gather meaningful feedback, it’s good to maintain a presence on your selected social media platforms, and use them to build your network, commenting and giving feedback on other conversations and content.

When using social media, you will need to act and behave as an real person talking in an official capacity, rather than an official spokesperson. Read Anna Hepburn’s blog about being yourself on twitter. People are more likely to enter into a conversation with you and be more open if they are talking to a real person.

Read the DH and the Cabinet Office social media guidance before you start using social media. Both ask you to apply the same principles and rules when using social media as you do in other areas of your work.

For future advice, speak to the DH digital team.

Tags: audience, digital engagement, digital first, social media

Social media advice for DH staff
Evaluating social media use – why is it important?

Share this page

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Digital health and social care

A blog about the work of the digital team at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Find out more.

Categories

  • Other DHSC blogs

Follow DHSC

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr

Recent Posts

  • Introducing a map of Healthy Start uptake 14 February 2019
  • Lessons for content design in the alpha phase 10 January 2019
  • Changing the name of a service 4 January 2019
  • Getting feedback from retailers about Healthy Start 12 December 2018
  • Strengthening our culture of evaluation 29 November 2018
  • All GOV.UK blogs
  • All GOV.UK blog posts
  • GOV.UK
  • All departments
  • All policies
  • Cookies

Open Government Licence

All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated

© Crown copyright