For Local Government municipalities, having an active social media presence with relevant content posted regularly can help boost your citizen following. Often times, finding relevant content to help keep your citizens engaged is the primary reason why social media accounts aren’t updated on a regular basis.
Having worked around Government for the past 5 years from the outside, and sometimes within, Hashtag South Africa has thousands of great social media examples of how local governments are utilizing social media to communicate and engage with their citizens. Here are our top seven proven examples of ways you can utilize social media to engage your citizens.
- Crime Prevention and Police Assistance
Police departments are posting crime prevention tips, time sensitive information such as Amber alerts and using social media channels to seek information on wanted criminals in the area.
- Emergency Alerts and Severe Weather Updates
Severe weather and other emergencies can occur very quickly with little or no warning. Social media channels can help municipalities communicate important safety information to the affected areas in a short amount of time. Of course, not everyone is on social media so you don’t want to rely on it for all of your emergency communication, but many communities have set it up as a major part of their communication plan.
- Activities and Class Registration
Several Parks and Recreation departments use social media to remind the community of upcoming activities and classes to register for. Within the social media post they’re linking to an online registration form to boost participation by making it easy to sign up.
- Town Halls and Council Meetings
For the municipalities that offer live or archived video of public meetings, sharing links to the video on social media can remind citizens of the service and encourage them to view and participate in local government matters.
- Public Service Announcements
Public Service Announcements (PSA) are an effective method for raising awareness of issues that affect your community. Municipal examples of PSAs on social media include general health, safety and fiscal tips from various departments. YouTube videos can be a quick and easy way to convey a message, but even images and ads posted to Facebook and Twitter with a caption can be just as effective.
- Construction Updates and Road Closings
Road construction can be frustrating, especially when it affects your daily traffic route. Posting updates about possible delays or routes to avoid can help ease your citizens’ frustration.
- Job Applications
To help fill open job positions, municipalities are posting them on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter with links to full job descriptions and instructions on how to apply. With many municipal websites offering online job applications, one or two posts on social media can get several people to apply and add new followers.
Hashtag South Africa is a Technology company focused on Social Media. Contact us today
