City of Morgan Hill Communications Assessment

links to other digital assets; add longer Descriptions and multiple Tags to all videos to enhance their Search visibility on both YouTube and Google. o Post multimedia, especially videos and photos, whenever possible. These types of posts are much more engaging and allow the City to tell longer, more compelling stories about the City and/or community. o Make an effort to minimize “auto-posts” to Facebook and Twitter from Constant Contact, as these posts do not display as well as posts created via a social media management tool or natively from Facebook.com, Twitter.com, or their respective apps. o Consider adding “Service Areas” to Nextdoor.com as a layer in addition to the City’s 22 defined Neighborhoods. o Ensure all City-related social media sites somehow link to the City’s official Social Media Policy. This is usually done through “Bio” or “About” sections. 4. Drive Social Media Audience Growth The social media audience being reached—while growing—is not large. The fixed cost of producing these communications are not being sufficiently leveraged across a larger audience. To that end, the City should invest in audience growth tactics and long-term strategies that may cost more in the near future but yield higher outreach results and better leverage Maureen’s time. Action Steps o Increase paid engagement strategies across social media, but with an emphasis on Facebook (“Boosting” Posts and Promoted Content). The majority of spending should be geographically targeted at those living in Morgan Hill. o Monitor the outcome and engagement results of the advertising to identify what works and what does not work, and how it plays with the online audience. o Experiment with advertising geared at driving users to take an action like registering for Nixle or signing up for Constant Contact. o Integrate common non-controversial popular culture elements into City videos and posts to generalize the content to a broader audience. o Identify a specific hashtag lexicon for use within the City that can be adopted by both the City and residents alike to engage in an online dialogue and aid the City in listening to the online community. Example: the popular Facebook Page “It’s Ours. Our Morgan Hill.” uses both #morganhill and #ourmorganhill. o Promote the City’s social media platforms and campaigns at community meetings, such as PTA meetings, Chamber meetings, Neighborhood Watch meetings, and non-profit organization meetings to gain awareness and participation by prominent community influencers. o Develop campaign strategies that promote resident engagement and feedback. Examples include resident-submitted photos of the City, identifying resident’s “favorites” about the City, or inviting the creative community to submit concept videos or time-lapse videos.

51