Internet Marketing Case Study – City of Columbus

Company/OrganizationCity of Columbus Internet Marketing Case Study

City of Columbus

Industry

Government

Goals

  • Utilize social media to promote the State of the City Address for the City of Columbus, using Mayor Coleman’s Twitter handle
  • Create an ongoing conversation with Columbus residents and the media

Challenges

  • Building Mayor Coleman’s brand before, during and after the 2011 State of the City Address
  • Organizing the most influential online media contacts to attend the State of the City Address
  • Address the questions and concerns coming in on Facebook and Twitter efficiently, accurately and quickly
  • Create interaction with the identified hashtag, #SOTCbus

What we did

Webbed Marketing assisted the City of Columbus with the promotion and coverage of the 2011 State of the City Address. This was the first time the City used social media to promote an event or speech. Leading up to the event, Webbed Marketing used Twitter (via Mayor Coleman’s Twitter account – @michaelbcoleman) and Facebook to promote attendance and raise awareness of the event. We also encouraged those who could not attend (attendance was capped at 1,000) to follow Twitter and the hashtag #SOTCbus for live updates throughout the address. In the days leading up to the address, we asked the general public to submit their questions for Mayor Coleman via Twitter and Facebook, and the top three would be answered on these outlets following the event. Additionally, we reached out to local bloggers who regularly covered key issues that we knew would be mentioned in the Mayor’s address, such as downtown development and the environment. We provided these bloggers with an advanced copy of the speech and priority seating at the event.

Webbed Marketing also sat in the press room with Mayor Coleman after the event to answer questions that came in on social networks, and the answers were posted on Facebook and tweeted the following day.  Mayor Coleman appreciated that social media channels are just as important as the mainstream media outlets, and he was enthusiastic to participate in the Q&A.

Outcomes/Results

Three of the bloggers we reached out to tweeted live from the event and wrote blog posts following the event. Webbed Marketing provided live updates from Mayor Coleman’s Twitter handle and Facebook page during the address.  Additionally, we provided live updates on multiple other City of Columbus Facebook pages, providing only the issue-specific information that would be of interest to each page’s targeted audience. We also monitored the online conversation surrounding the event. In total, more than 50 people tweeted live from the State of the City Address using the #SOTCbus hashtag, and Mayor Coleman’s Facebook page received more than 90 comments and 300 likes.

By answering the general public’s questions for Mayor Coleman on Facebook and Twitter the days following the event, we were able to keep the buzz around the State of the City Address going long after the speech was over.