Engaging our global audience across digital platforms is a major priority for the World Bank corporate communications team throughout the year. However, during two key moments each year —The World Bank - IMF Spring and Annual Meetings — Finance Ministers, official delegates, thought leaders, CEOs, and a host of guest speakers from around the world convene to discuss solutions to the world's biggest development challenges. Our goal is to engage staff, delegates, speakers, and select VIPs with online audiences through strategic content programming, live engagements, partnerships, in-person interactions, and creative storytelling. The full range of engagements as well as the main program of events are tied together with the hashtag #WBGmeetings.
To connect our Spring and Annual Meetings audiences around the world to all the activities in real-time, the World Bank uses a variety of platforms across languages. Our World Bank Live platform is used to stream key events in English, Spanish, French and Arabic, highlight key messages, and bring in user comments and questions—both native to the platform and from social media—and an expert moderates a chat to answer questions and highlight key messages. Recaps are also complemented by pithy write-ups that build engagement.
In addition, the inclusion of a live interview series – Global Voices – complements the meeting events with dozens of interviews and special guests such as United Nations Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, President Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia and Nigerian entrepreneur Honey Ogundeyi. The series adds depth to the discussions during the meetings and allows VIP guests a chance to discuss and highlight their priority projects with our global audience on Facebook.
To bring more of the meetings out to the world, we featured a broad range of micro-engagements to highlight the variety of activities occurring around the World Bank campus. A Digital Media Zone was presented in the Atrium of our HQ in partnership with UN Foundation and with a focus on the SDGs. This was a hub of activity throughout the week, bringing in attendees from around the world to engage and share key messages and takeaways on their own social media channels, and contribute to a collection of content for use on UNF and WBG channels. Content ranged from selfies to Facebook and Twitter Live video interviews. High Level visitors who engaged there included Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, and WHO Director General Dr. Tedros.
We also covered unique programs in new ways, such as a Twitter Thread featuring video exploring the CSO Innovation Fair exhibits, Instagram Stories Takeovers by the UN Foundation's Girl Up Campaign covering gender events, broad cross-channel coverage of the Art Program's Uprooted Exhibit, daily Twitter polls, Live video event promos on Twitter and Instagram, a daily Twitter Thread of attendees answering a question of the day, and a Twitter Moment to share highlights of the entire meetings week.
World Bank Live Events: 63,700+ Unique Viewers watched the official program of events.
Global Voices: More than 800,000 people viewed the Facebook Live interviews during the week of the 2018 Spring Meetings, with approximately 30,000 views per event.
Conversation using #WBGmeetings: 16,000+ social media authors amplified discussion around the Spring Meetings contributing to 46,000+ meetings mentions and 585,000+ engagements.
