21 Jan 10 Common Workflows towards improving Municipality & Local Government Communications Digitally
Summary:
- Intake Systems – Create centralized inboxes/forms to route incoming queries to correct departments. Saves residents from contacting multiple numbers/emails.
- Response Protocols – Set expected response times for common question types. Social questions answered ASAP. Email/form inquiries within 24 hrs. Phone within 3 rings.
- Content Calendars – Organize monthly content plans for publishing key info residents seek: council meetings, event listings, service changes etc. Takes guesswork out of posting.
- Approval Workflows – Build review processes for approvals before site/social publishing. Helps ensure quality/accuracy.
- Monitoring Dashboards – Establish real-time dashboards that compile mentions, engagement rates, messages across digital properties to inform strategies.
- Sentiment Analysis – Implement recurring reports summarizing online sentiment toward policies, proposals, departments to guide PR strategies.
- Chatbot Integration – Install 24/7 automated chatbots on websites/social pages to answer common resident FAQs, route complex queries to staff.
- Accessibility Checks – Conduct quarterly accessibility reviews of all digital properties to ensure ADA compliance, usability.
- Performance Reporting – Prepare monthly recap reports for city council on metrics and ROI across digital channels. Illustrate effectiveness.
- Emergency Response Workflow – Create specialized crisis response workflows that empower fast cross-channel publishing of critical safety information to mobile alerts, websites, and social media simultaneously. Includes pre-approval of key officials so emergency publishing can occur without delay for mayor/council sign-off. Having dedicated emergency publishing procedures saves critical hours during public safety incidents when communication timing means lives. We help develop customized emergency workflows aligned with existing municipal crisis management plans.
A few of these processes focusing on Social Media Mediums
Connecting Communities: Social Media Marketing Strategies for Municipalities
As platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram continue evolving as staples of daily life, local governments must embrace social media to modernize civic engagement. The data shows a vast majority of Americans check social media daily, while municipal websites lag in driving comparable impressions and interactions.
Forward-thinking cities now strategically post across social channels to inform and include more residents in community growth. Tailored social strategies lead to greater transparency, emergency preparedness and public participation. Let’s explore best practices for municipalities aiming to govern and serve effectively in the digital age through social media marketing.
Expanding Reach & Accessibility
Unlike websites, social media removes barriers that once prevented whole demographic groups from connecting to local government. Platform accessibility options also help residents with disabilities access content. Meeting constituents on preferred platforms on their own terms increases impressions and shares of important municipal news and services.
Establishing Response Workflows
Managing the flow of public inquiries across digital channels grows increasingly vital. Creating quality assurance workflows where social media questions get prompt attention while emails, calls and forms route to the right departments aids consistency. Published response times for common queries also promotes accountability.
Streamlining Approval Processes
Balancing engagement agility with institutional oversight means scaling review and authorization procedures appropriately. Content calendars allow centralized planning and make approvals for social media managers more efficient. Emergency posting protocols empower managers to share public safety alerts rapidly across accounts when minutes count.
Formalizing Cross-Channel Efforts
A defined digital strategy aligns efforts across not just social media managers, but also the communications, emergency management, customer service and policy departments. Collaborative publishing workflows ensure messaging stays consistent wherever residents interact with government online.
Monitoring Metrics & Sentiment
Analytics should fuel stronger strategies. Monitoring community sentiment, engagement rates, emerging topics and online reviews creates an environmental scan to identify communication gaps and community needs. Regular digital listening insights guide resource allocation.
Enhancing Civic Participation
The interactive nature of social media presents new opportunities for crowdsourcing ideas, gathering feedback on proposed policies and encouraging input at town meetings. Online polls and community dialogues better inform decisions while making more residents feel heard by leaders.
Should You Invest in Social Media Marketing?
Every municipality now requires sound social media strategies backing up the website and traditional channels in order to represent priorities in the public square online. As more civic life occurs digitally, governments must meet residents where they are. Governing today means engaging always-on communities through the convenient platforms and responsive formats they enjoy during personal hours.
Social media also offers additional brand reach for low costs compared to analog communication. Even adding a part-time social coordinator initiates tremendous gains for public outreach, emergency communications and economic development channels. We recommend a needs assessment identifying likely returns specific to your city before finalizing investment particulars.
The fundamental value lies in social media’s strength at enhancing inclusive, accurate and prompt idea sharing between governments and the public. Our agency partners with local leaders nationwide to unlock social media’s full potential based on their strategic vision. Let’s connect to explore possibilities tailored for your community engagement objectives!
Resources
- Measuring Social Media ROI and Impact for Municipalities
- 5 Common Facebook Constituent Comments for Local Government & Suggested Responses