Special districts ranked the importance of keeping the public informed of the great work you do 9.3 out of 10 in our recent survey. Phew, we were a little nervous for a minute there!
You also indicated 67.3% of you use social media for this purpose and that 52.6% of you would like to improve how your district uses social media.
Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we thought the community might benefit by seeing examples of special districts who are doing social media well.
You’ll see for each district we selected we list out “What we love” about their approach to social media. There were eight different things about their pages and activity that caught our eye. The point is there isn’t a set recipe for social media. But you do need to be consistent and show off the great work your district does. Then use things like humor or photos or interactivity to keep folks engaged while you deliver your messages.
Without further ado, we give you three great examples of special districts doing social media well.
What we love
Striking imagery > Check!
Consistent cadence of posts > Check!
Showing off the great work they do > Check!
Providing updates on projects > Check!
The Port of Newport’s Facebook page makes it feel like work is getting done. Project updates are posted every few days with a healthy dose of images. After all, who doesn’t enjoy the sight of freshly poured concrete!
The impression they create on social media is consistent with their stated mission to "Build and maintain waterfront facilities, and promote/support projects...". Not only that, but the style of their imagery bridges (no pun intended) their social media and website. They feel like the same place.
What we love
Personality > Check!
Engagement > Check!
Consistent cadence of posts > Check!
Showing off the great work they do > Check!
All you need to know is the Jefferson County Library District has a porcupine on it’s Facebook page. Their social media is oozing with personality both in the fun, informative videos they create and how their librarians actually participate in their social media.
Equally impressive is how they reach out on social to engage the community - literally. “Which do you prefer: Print, Kindle, or Audio books?” is the question they posed to the public on their Facebook page. 39 comments came flooding in. A creative, simple, and safe way to bring attention to your district.
What we love
Humor > Check!
Educational > Check!
Consistent cadence of posts > Check!
Showing off the great work they do > Check!
Why does a mosquito district have over 5,000 followers on Facebook? Because they’re really good at it!
From their hilarious “Don’t Bring Back the Aedes” video to their “Bite Back” series there is a lot of engaging content on San Gabriel’s social channels.
Their humorous content draws you in and then they pepper in highly informative content like how to prevent mosquitos, which repellents work best, and whether bug zappers are effective.
