Project 4638

Social Media for Water Utilities

$95,005
Completed
Principal Investigator
Eric Eckl
Director of Subscriber Services
Alice H Fulmer
Contractor
Water Words That Work
Emergency Response & Preparedness
Utility Communications
Utility Management

Abstract

This research explores the business case for utility executives and board members to invest in, and engage their customers through, social media. The project offers clear, practical guidance on how utilities can integrate social media engagement into their day-to-day operations and provides resources and templates that staff can customize and put to use at any time. The project helps utilities answer strategic questions, such as:

  • When and how should utilities restructure staff, policies, and budgets to begin using social media?
  • How can utilities quantify how these efforts perform?
  • How do utilities best harness social media to alert customers during crisis events?
  • Is it worth it for utilities to expose themselves to this hyperbolic debate, and is there any alternative?

In addition to the three main project deliverables in the box below, supplemental deliverables include:

  • Case Studies (posted below under Case Studies)
  • Posting Skills Checklist (posted below under Web Tools)
  • Utility Benchmarking Results (posted below under Project Papers)
  • Results of a Nationwide Survey (posted below under Project Papers)

Published in 2017.

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Resources

Subscriber

Social Media for Water Utilities: Case Studies

Case Study

As part of project 4638, researchers collected a range of real-world examples of how water utilities are using social media in their daily operations. This document contains eight case studies...