Wakeman recommends contractors pay attention to what the top 100 contractors in the market are doing, because their moves indicate growth and development in the government market.

He asserts that national security will continue to be a “dominant priority for the federal government,” while cyberattacks also remain a “major threat.” Wakeman also predicts that contractors will see new opportunities emerging in support of a new energy reform bill–as soon as Congress and Obama can agree on the contents of that bill.

Wakeman calls the the state of government procurement “a mess” and the budget and deficit situation “the elephant in the room.” As the government works to control spending, he predicts ever-increasing scrutiny and higher demand for justification of ROI.

While Wakeman says transparency is “not working well” now, he suggests using social media tools to aggregate and share more information and data.

Regarding the use of cloud computing in government, Wakeman predicts it will help small and mid-sized government contractors compete with big companies, and may also contribute to the downsizing of agency infrastructure expense.

Check out Wakeman’s full article for the list of strategic moves he sees companies making as a result of these trends.

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As we pointed out in the June article, federal agencies’ fairly slow adoption to date of social media hasn’t stopped the contractor community from embracing the tools as another means of branding and marketing to their government prospects and customers.

In fact, 55% of contractors use social media either formally or informally to communicate with their government audiences – primarily to share sales and marketing materials, event information, and press releases. And, 39% of contractors who do not currently use social media expect to start in the next 12 months.

By far, wikis are the most popular social media tool among contractors, likely because they greatly simplify the collaborative process by which most organizations create, compile, and review information. Non-government specific social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook came in at a distant second in the survey. And, to a much smaller degree, contractors are also participating in blogs, RSS feeds, YouTube and podcasts, as well as government-specific networks like Govloop and Govtwit.

Contractors acknowledged several challenges to full adoption, including developing ROI measures and performance tracking metrics, sustaining the resources required to maintain their social media presence, and security issues. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that contractors are already feeling the “resource” pain, as maintaining even a limited social media presence requires the time of busy staff members. More than half of contractors using social media still don’t have a dedicated resource to manage it. And, those that do typically still require the participation of internal subject matter experts to bring ongoing value to the campaign content.

Clearly, the ultimate value of social media is to create a community that allows the timely exchange of information and ideas via multi-directional communications. We suspect that, as social media matures, contractors will strive to move beyond brochure and press release distribution to achieve these collaborative communities. However, they could be facing even bigger challenges related to ROI, metrics, and most especially resources without a highly focused strategy and plan in place. Interestingly, of those contractors interviewed that are currently using social media, only 19% have a formal social media strategy or plan in place.

For insights to help drive the development of smart social media strategies and tactics, check out the presentation from our event on July 27th presenting the findings from the Social Media in the Federal Community study.

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The administration is still wiping egg off its face after the social-media fueled Shirley Sherrod debacle. Bureaucrats demonstrated they’re human—whipped into a frenzy by unsubstantiated information to achieve a malevolent goal. But despite the government’s textbook missteps, there is growing sophistication in the government about social media, and more agencies are adopting the tools—something many Federal employees might not know.

Those were insights that John Kagia, Research Manager at Market Connections, Inc. shared this week at a conference I attended, Social Media in the Federal Community. Kagia’s 2010 survey of 321 Federal employees revealed that 23% didn’t know if their organization or agency used online social media. But when asked about the expected agency use of online social media in the next 12 to 18 months, two-thirds of respondents predicted an increase. The top social media tools agencies reported using today are non-government specific social networks (26%), Wikis (23%), content aggregators (22%), and online video (21%). Further down the list were agency blogs, podcasts, and monitoring/commenting on blogs. The top open-source social network for government? Hint: It’s not Facebook. LinkedIn was the top choice.

It wouldn’t be government without the red tape. Impediments to social media adoption in the government mirror the private sector. According to the survey, 73% of respondents cited security concerns, 62% cited legal/governance issues, and 61% cited privacy concerns with open networks. Other adoption challenges reflected concerns frequently mentioned in the commercial world. “Aligning a social media strategy to the organization’s overall objectives” and “measuring ROI and developing performance metrics” were mentioned by 46% and 40%, respectively. Curiously, “inability to control the message” (31%) resided near the bottom of the government list—after “lack of resources to maintain social media presence” (34%) and “identifying which channels to invest in” (33%).

Predictably, Federal contractors have joined the social media dance, but it’s hard to know whether it’s tango or spin dancing. Kaiga’s survey revealed that among contractors, adoption of online social media tools is also growing, but the goals are different from the government agencies they serve. Topping the list for purposes of contractor use of social media: Customer engagement and communication (59%), marketing campaigns (59%), generating leads (48%), and recruiting/retaining employees (42%). Near the bottom of the list was “product development” (14%).

Bev Godwin, Director of New Media and Citizen Engagement at the General Services Administration, and a panelist at the conference, explained some of the agency/contractor disparity. In a related Federal ComputerWeek article, she said “nearly all federal agencies are on the first level (of social media adoption), using social media for promotion and marketing, and many agencies are on the second level, using it for public participation and discussion. She added that only a few agencies are operating at the third level, which involves using social media tools for co-creation and collaboration.”

For contractors, Wikis represented the greatest current and future use of social media. Seventy-two percent of contractors use them now, and 28% plan to use them in the next twelve months. Non-government specific social networks (39%/10%), Corporate Blogs (25%/17%), Monitoring/commenting on blogs (28%/11%), and Government-specific social networks (GovLoop) (20%/15%), followed on the list.

Odd bedfellows, social media and government. Imagine! The authors or Sarbanes-Oxley and the Patriot Act using freewheeling, open-source tools like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Fittingly, The Washington Post reported this week (GSA Could Impose Rules for Facebook, July 27, 2010), “the General Services Administration is attempting to become the first civilian federal agency to codify how workers should behave on Facebook and Twitter . . .” According to the article, “Tim O’Reilly, a social media expert and leading advocate for offering more government services online, said the public sector has struggled with adapting to new technologies for years. He recalled trying to convince lawmakers in the 1990’s that they needed to use e-mail to reach constituents. ‘Some listened, others didn’t, and the ones who didn’t listen lost . . . There are organizations resistant to using social media or any of these new technologies, and they’re going to be less effective from the people who do, and they’re going to lose.’”

Although the Market Connections survey identified adoption challenges, the findings reflected more realism than the phobia that O’Reilly described. Beyond examining concerns about social media use, policies, accepted tools, government-compliant licensing agreements, and who “owns” social media function within agencies, the Market Connections study asked where government social media investments are headed and what are the adoption rates. Sounds like work in progress.

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In fact, contractors are significantly increasing their use of social media as a means of connecting with targeted prospects in the federal government, with 55% of respondents using social media either formally or informally to communicate with their government audiences. Conversely, only 29% of federal employees surveyed work in agencies that use social media. Of those, 66% began doing so less than 12 months ago and they’re using social media primarily to communicate with constituents and citizens.

It’s important to note that we conducted both surveys before the September 2009 release of the Administration’s new guidelines for secure use of social media by federal departments and agencies as well as the Department of Defense’s (DoD) December 2009 release of its Responsible and Effective Use of Internet-Based Capabilities report. As a result, our study serves as a benchmark of social media use prior to the release of these policies.

New Policies May Drive Federal Agency Adoption

In the guidelines, created by the Federal CIO Council, the administration asserts that social media will play a critical role in helping the government achieve its goals related to increasing transparency and accessibility, lowering costs, increasing civic engagement, and spurring innovation. It takes the position that the “goal of the IT organization should not be to say ‘No’ to social media websites and block them completely, but to say ‘Yes, following security guidance,’” with effective and appropriate information assurance security and privacy controls.

The guidelines emphasize the pervasive security issues associated with using social media and underscore that it’s a risk-based decision making process requiring strong business justifications that identify mission requirements and drive toward an expected outcome. They also outline the key areas of controls required to minimize risks.

In February 2010, the DoD issued a similar Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM) 06-026 –Responsible and Effective Use of Internet-based Capabilities. These guidelines mirrored those of the administration’s, enabling all personnel using the DoD’s non-classified network to use new media. The new directive was particularly notable because, until that point, the DoD had adopted a much more closed approach to the tools.

This new federal policy stance on social media increases the likelihood that agency leaders will be willing to explore ways to smartly deploy social media tools within their organizations. Furthermore, as they begin developing their own policies based on this new shared framework, it will be easier for agencies to share social media best practices, as well as establish structures that enable more effective information flows with each other and constituents.

This is all good news for federal contractors, who are developing social media strategies to expand their marketing presence with federal buyers. At the same time, contractors recognize the critical need to develop metrics to measure and maximize their return on social media investments.

In upcoming issues of Research IT, we’ll share some survey highlights on the tools, policies, and reporting structures that contractors are adopting to effectively embrace social media. For contractors to develop sound social media strategies and tactics, we recommend you consider our full report, The 2010 Federal Community Social Media Study.

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With prospects and customers convened in a central location, conducting research at such conferences reduces normal recruitment, facility rental, and transportation costs typically associated with a focus group program. However, to keep costs down and also maximize the success of the on-site focus group, we always advise clients up-front that it’s important they commit internal resources to support some of the planning and execution.

As Market Connections recruits participants, develops the discussion guide, and manages other research-specific tasks, we guide our clients on the execution of:

• Scheduling options for maximizing attendance
• Room location and seating configuration
• Wording and timing of announcements and reminders prior to and during the event
• Arrangements for recording the sessions
• Signage/directions to the room
• Refreshments for participants

Active assistance by clients is critical to ensuring participants perceive the focus group as a primary conference goal of the organization rather than an after-thought. In fact, we even encourage clients to schedule representatives to direct participants to the focus group room.

After providing the man power and time to help execute the focus group, clients are very eager to observe the actual session. However, this is not a good idea. In order for participants to feel free to speak openly and honestly, it’s important the sponsor of the research not be present. Of course, at a professional research facility, the client representatives can observe behind the one-way mirror. But, such a set up is often not available at conference facilities. Unfortunately, that’s the compromise clients must make when opting to leverage the cost savings of holding focus groups at conference events.

To learn more about focus groups, visit our website page on focus groups or sign-up for our E-course on focus groups.

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The article by Alice Lipowicz said, ”[T]hose results suggest that agencies are taking advantage of social media primarily for promotion and communications with the public, rather than applying those tools internally with their staffs. Consequently, many employees may not be aware of what their agencies are doing in this sphere.”

Read the full article on www.fcw.com.

The Federal Community Social Media Report takes a comprehensive look at the use of social media among federal agencies and suppliers and includes detailed case studies of how agencies use social media to connect with citizens and expand their audiences.

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“The most popular social media tools among federal contractors are wikis, followed by commercial social networks, followed by blogs.

“LinkedIn was cited among the most popular social media sites for federal contractors…”

View the full article on www.washingtontechnology.com.

The full Federal Community Social Media Report takes a comprehensive look at the use of social media among federal agencies and suppliers, including analysis of the use of a variety of social media tools and planned investments in social media.

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Confirmed Panelists:

Michael Donovan – Chief Technologist, Strategic Capabilities, HP Enterprise Services
Donovan is responsible for leveraging HP and partner capabilities to meet the needs of federal, state and local governments. He is currently involved in development of cyber security, cloud computing, and information management to better serve the needs of U.S. Public Sector clients.

 Bev Godwin – Director, Center for New Media and Citizen Engagement, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, GSA
Godwin is establishing a Center on New Media and Citizen Engagement in the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies at GSA.  She recently returned to GSA after a 6-month detail to the White House Office of New Media. Prior to these posts, Godwin served as director of USA.gov and Web Best Practices for GSA and Deputy Director of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government.
Follow Bev @govnewmedia and @BevUSA.

Doug Mashkuri – Director of Business Development, GovLoop and President and Founder, Mash Digital Strategies LLC. As a member of the GovLoop team, Mashkuri works closely with government contractors to create social media marketing programs that focus on best practices, contextual marketing, and provide the GovLoop government community with timely, relevant product and services information.

Get event details and register

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