For cities and smaller municipalities, community outreach programs often come with disappointing results. A major problem is that most cities still rely on traditional marketing channels, like printed flyers or direct mail, to reach their audience. These methods are expensive, time-consuming, and provide little return on investment. As a solution, they need to switch their focus to mobile marketing. By converting community outreach strategies from paper to digital, cities will connect with their communities in ways they never thought possible.
Digital Community Outreach Strategies
Traditional marketing wastes time and money by sending messages to people or businesses that shouldn’t get them. This type of blanket coverage no longer works in the digital era.
Instead of casting a broad net, mobile marketing targets the right people at the right time and through the channels they use every day. For that reason, you it should play a major part in all of your community outreach strategies.
Let’s take a look at five ways text and email marketing can improve your community outreach efforts.
1. Getting People on a List
Cities and smaller municipalities using traditional marketing methods have a difficult time building their lists. It’s a manual process that’s time-consuming and prone to errors. The best way to grow a list of recipients is through keywords texted to a short code. The keywords indicate which campaign they are interacting with and capture valuable personal data. This overcomes the problems of the past by automating the process. Identifying the target market is an essential step in the development of an effective outreach plan.
2. Direct Contact Through Text Messages
Local governments are becoming more familiar with sending texts to the public, especially during an emergency. It’s one of the most immediate and effective ways to communicate with a target audience. But they don’t always have to be about an emergency. People want to receive the latest information on events and promotions.
People prefer to get information through text, and over 90% of texts are read within three minutes. Text messages are typically brief, which makes them easy to compose, and the entire process is automated. Plus, it’s easy to gather data on open and click-through rates.
3. Educate the Community Through Email
Email is probably the oldest digital marketing tool in the shed, but it continues to be one of the primary ways people communicate. Because of this, it’s one of the most effective community outreach methods. Successful email marketing is a combination of many factors that begins with your list and the things that interest them. Plus, newsletters and other important community information delivered through email fills the gap that local newspapers covered.
Most people also check their email on their phone, so it has become much more convenient. It’s also a great way to encapsulate several topics with engaging graphics. And, just like texts, gathering data is straightforward.
4. Issue Spotting with Digital Surveys
Digital surveys and have more complete responses and faster response rates than paper-based surveys—higher response rates and more participation. The primary reason why these are so successful is that they are sent via text with a link to a digital questionnaire.
Surveys help cities gather important information about the events and services that people want and need. Accuracy and improved feedback help to gauge what matters most to the community. Best of all, the results can be shared at committee and council meetings with complete confidence. Today’s outreach strategies are more interactive and dynamic than ever before.
5. Digital Coupons Increase Attendance at Community Events
Selling as many tickets as possible creates a lot of stress for event organizers. A coupon or discount increases the value proposition for people that aren’t familiar with the event. They are more willing to try something new.
Because of this, it’s time to consider some new ways to get more people at local events. Sending digital coupons and discounts via text is a great way to get more people interested in going.
Time to Transition to Mobile Marketing
Cities can provide effective outreach programs through mobile marketing. It’s convenient and straightforward to use. The same is true for the audience. Most people are on their phones for an average of five hours a day. They do everything on it, from entertainment to shopping and news. It’s time for cities to transition their marketing away from ineffective programs and take advantage of what mobile has to offer.