Rebecca Lynne Farmer

4th Quarter FY14 Communications Assessment Ms. Becky Farmer Army Resiliency Directorate Background • CSF2 has been conducting quarterly analysis since January 2013 • Report and metrics evaluated continuously evolve as we learn from each assessment • Takes a close look at Traditional Media, Social Media, Website traffic, and Engagements • Metrics for Traditional Media and Engagements are divided by HQ and Training Centers • Assessments bring the communication plan full circle by evaluating the success or failure of our objectives so that we can adjust moving forward. STRATCOM looks to these quarterly assessment reports to provide actionable data that can be used to improve our communication efforts. 2 Key Takeaways • Positive coverage of CSF2 was higher than the previous year’s average (94%). All neutral and negative coverage came from external media. • CSF2 Messengers, rather than spokespersons, provided 45% of quotes in articles, providing a more objective set of quotes • Resilience Training continues to dominate news coverage, but efforts to increase messaging about Ready and Resilient, Warrior Games, and GAT 2.0 were effective • CSF2 Training Centers provided 38% of the total coverage for CSF2, up from 26% last quarter, meaning that CSF2’s efforts at the end-user level are being better communicated to our audiences • Taking a ‘less is more’ approach on social media led to greater dialogue with our audiences on those platforms, demonstrating understanding and awareness of CSF2 3 Metrics for 4Q FY14 Measures of Performance 50% of the people quoted in CSF2-related news articles be CSF2 messengers - CSF2 Messengers provided 45% of quotes, providing audiences with a more authentic perception of the value of CSF2 Two external publications write a CSF2-related story that STRATCOM coordinates, resulting in greater awareness and understanding of CSF2 50% of CSF2 TCs (through installation/command PAOs) generate at least one story - 75% of Training Centers generated at least one story, ensuring awareness of how training on the ground is impacting the force Each CSF2 Training Center hold at least one engagement - Each Training Center held one, most held multiple, ensuring direct messaging to the Total Army at the installation level CSF2 achieves ten (10) stories about GAT 2.0 for Spouses (Combination HQ and CSF2 Training Center driven)- a separate report regarding the campaign will be prepared when it ends - Achieved a total of ten (10) between original stories and pick ups Measures of Effectiveness CSF2 Facebook posts generate an average of three comments each. - Generated 2.7 comments per post, demonstrating certain posts encourage engagement An average of 60% of CSF2 Tweets are retweeted - 72% of CSF2 tweets were retweeted, demonstrating audiences understand the value of CSF2 and have a desire to share that message with others, raising awareness on a larger scale 4 Traditional Media Highlights • 101 articles total (67 original, remainder pickups) • Tone for 4th Quarter FY14 significantly better than 4th Quarter FY13 – 91% positive v 74% positive •Likely a result of less external coverage of CSF2, which trends neutral to negative in tone •External coverage resulted in 2 positive, 4 neutral, and 1 negative articles about CSF2 •Internal coverage was all positive 101 Total Stories 5 Quotations & Topics • CSF2 spokespersons (CSF2 HQ personnel, MRTPEs, TC Managers, Army Leaders and CSF2 Program Managers) most frequently quoted at 49% down from 60% last quarter • Quotes from CSF2 messengers (MRTs, RTAs, Soldiers, Army Civilians and chaplains) increased to 45%, from 30% last quarter • Academics quoted were negative- 1 article- the Winnower • Resilience Training and the Warrior Games dominated discussion, followed closely by Ready and Resilient and GAT 2.0 Points of emphasis for 4th Quarter Communications 6 Key Messages • 91% of stories included at least one CSF2 key message, down slightly from 92% last quarter • Our messaging has excellent pullthrough in articles, leading to increased understanding of CSF2 • Of the 65 stories specifically about CSF2, only one did not contain our key messages • This was in the one negative article from the Winnower • Of stories not coordinated by CSF2, six did not contain key messages, the remaining 22 did. • These six stories mentioned CSF2 in passing only • Each CSF2 Training Center story contained at least one key message- 3rd quarter in a row • Efforts to ensure understanding at the installation level are effective 7 Social Media Highlights Facebook • Average of 1.3 posts per day, down from 2.4 posts per day • CSF2’s ‘Likes’ increased by 10% to 11,630 (last quarter increased 12%) • Average ‘Likes’ per post was 16.9 up from 12.4 last quarter • Average comments per post increased to 2.7, up from 1.6 last quarter. • Average shares per post was 2.6, up from 1.4 last quarter. Twitter • Average of 2.5 tweets per day, down from 4.7 per day • Twitter followers increased by 15% to 1803. Last quarter’s increase was 24.5% • 12% of CSF2 Tweets garnered replies. Last quarter was 17% • Retweets increased to 72%, up from 56% last quarter • 50% of CSF2 tweets were “favorited”, 46% last quarter Less Social Media Posts = More Engagement Public Website • Averaged 656 unique visitors/day for a total of 60,410 for the quarter • 2% increase from last quarter • 45% increase from the same quarter last year 8 Training Center Generated Stories • A total of 26 original stories (up from 16 last quarter), 38 when pickups are counted (up from 29) • Accounted for 38% of CSF2’s total coverage for the quarter (last quarter it was 26%) • All CSF2 Training Centers have had at least one article in the past year. 2 JBLM 3 1 2 6 Fort Drum 1 Fort Riley 1 Fort Carson 2 3 Fort Knox 2 1 Fort Campbell 1 1 2 Fort Benning 5 2 1 Fort Bragg Fort Jackson Fort Stewart Fort Bliss 1 1 Fort Sam Houston 9 HQ & TC Engagements • CSF2 HQ had 4 engagements, engaged 4 audiences in the CSF2 Communication Plan, plus media and the adaptive sport community (Warrior Games) • All 16 CSF2 Training Centers had at least one engagement during the quarter • Army Leaders continue to dominate our audiences engaged, followed by Civilians, Family Members and Soldiers Engagement is defined as any demonstration of training, Army leadership engagement, fair/expo attended or any other activity that provides an opportunity for CSF2 to showcase its capabilities and resources. 10 Warrior Games AAR We set the bar high! And several challenges impacted achieving our Warrior Games 2014 communications objectives: • United States Olympic Committee (USOC) had lead for the games as a whole, as well as communications • CSF2 participation and messaging buried within the USOC, Army, and Warrior Transition Command communications • The timing of the Warrior Games straddled the Fiscal Year as well as the contract recompete for CSF2 personnel directly involved with Warrior Games • Warrior Games directly followed the Invictus Games in London, potentially resulting in saturation and fatigue with wounded warrior messaging • We had no previous baseline on which to build metrics 11 Warrior Games Metrics • Submit at least one blog or article per week from the US Army Warrior Trials through the end of Warrior Games (17) • Achieved 16 total articles and pickups over 17 weeks • Achieve an average of three comments for each Warrior Games post • Achieved .4 comments per Warrior Games post, however, Warrior Games posts were shared at a rate of 94% (.7 comments per post and 120% rate of sharing after initial analysis) • Achieve an average of 50% retweets for each Warrior Games •Achieved a 67% retweet rate for Warrior Games tweets. (74% retweet rate after initial analysis) • Achieve at least one earned media placement in each installation publication from which we have a supporting MRT-PE (7) • Achieved placements in 4 of 7 installations, with additional mentions for NCR in the WTC blog and Fort Benning in Army.mil article • CSF2 submits at least one article to an external publication about support to Warrior Games and/or adaptive reconditioning • did not submit any articles to external publications 12 Warrior Games Lessons Learned • Important to coordinate early with Installation publications for story placements; achieved greatest success when including what local soldiers were also participating. • Inviting MRT-PEs to write a blog post or article was more effective when giving them more specific direction • Overall “less is more” approach works in the social media realm in order to prevent over-saturation • Working early with Warrior Transition Command (WTC) in their Warrior Games planning process yields gains in CSF2 messaging in media placements not coordinated by CSF2 • Branded noisemakers were very popular; recommend including a url QR code (if we optimize our website for mobile devices) on noisemakers for ease of follow up There is a key Ready and Resilient message in the Warrior Games, therefore recommend ARD/R2 partner with WTC next year. 13