icegov2012 proceedings

Figure 3. Sample of the Habit Stage
The starting point for the development of each campaign was the
media mix that was determined for each target audience:
o Citizens: ATL - Ads on national and regional press,
magazines, television and radio, as well as free PR press
(political speech of regional and national important
authorities). TTL - Social media such as Facebook,
Twitter, Flickr and YouTube, links on websites of the
government and online ads. BTL - Events, banners,
merchandising and text messages.
o Citizens living abroad: ATL - Ads on international TV
channels. TTL - To make contact with this segment
digital and social media were crucial.
o SMEs: ATL - Specialized magazines, professional
guilds, radio stations and news channels. BTL -
Specialized events, direct email with information about
the different uses and benefits, as well as brand presence
at fairs and congresses.
o Enterprises: ATL - Ads in specialized magazines
oriented to different sectors and professional
associations. Also, ads on TV and radio news shows.
BTL - Presence at fairs and specialized congresses for
large companies, as well as through speakers
discoursing about different trends with the purpose of
catching companies’ attention.
o International Community: ATL - Articles in specialized
magazines. An annual magazine was created divulging
successful cases and advances. BTL - Brand presence in
events and congresses. TTL - Online networks related to
e-government, for posting a variety of successful cases.
Others - To follow international rankings and other
types of publications.
o Public servants: BTL: to carry out events, seminars,
chats, direct email, presence at fairs and congresses.
Others: production of training materials (using familyfriendly
language and situations applicable to their
realities).
6. RESULTS AND FOLLOWING ACTIONS
During the first three years of the strategy a follow-up was made
analyzing the raise of awareness and use of electronic means in
the interaction between people and the government.
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A raise of 309% of awareness (increasing from 22% up to 90%)
and a raise of 550% in use (increasing from 6% up to 39%) were
achieved. One fact that is worth highlighting, is the one referring
to "re-use" (do it again): among people who had actually used
"Gobierno en linea", 99% asserted that they would be willing to
use it again.
These results, together with an analysis of usage evolution,
allowed inferring that next steps for the marketing and outreach
strategy should be focused on promoting "the first time use". Once
people experience online services, they would be willing to
continue to use them due to the benefits perceived.
The main lesson learnt was that a communication strategy should
not be approached as a series of isolated actions but as a whole
strategy (as its name indicates) with clear challenges, objectives,
key messages, concepts, stages and indicators, and should also be
projected within a definite timeline.
Furthermore, users need to be analyzed in depth in order to
understand how they think and how they interact with the
government, as well as the kind of messages they might consider
interesting; plus examine how their perceptions are changing in
order to set the service value promise according to their
expectations.
From that starting point on, a strategic plan was designed and
piloted during 2011: an accompaniment outline was implemented,
to help agencies to design their marketing and outreach strategies
so as to enhance the use of online services, by transferring the
knowledge gained by the Programme in such area.
During the last years (between 2010 and 2011), through the
maintenance of the strategy initially designed, awareness suffered
a slight fall from 90% to 88% (that is within the margin of error in
measurements), while use rose from 39% to 55% over the same
period, which showed that the strategy was being successful and
should continue this way (see Table 2).
Table 2. Increase of awareness and use
Aspect 2008 2009 2010 2011
Awareness 22% 66% 90% 88%
Use 6% 30% 39% 55%
For Colombia the necessity to define sustained actions towards
user uptake of e-government has been a priority. As a
consequence of these actions, future strategies should leverage the
lessons learnt in recent years.
7. REFERENCES
[1] OECD. e-Government for Better Government, 2005.
[2] OECD. Rethinking e-Government Services, 2009.
[3] UN. E-Government Survey 2012: E-Government for the
People, 2012.
[4] Gobierno en linea Programme. Study of knowledge, use,
needs and expectations, 2007.
[5] Gobierno en linea Programme. Results of application of the
methodology for monitoring and evaluation, 2008, 2009,
2010 and 2011.