Liberty Parks & Rec shares marketing tips to reach more residents
The City of Liberty and Liberty Parks & Rec have prioritized curating a great Public Relations and Marketing team whose members work in sync to share, inform, entertain, and assist residents.
A Solid Structure
Liberty Parks & Rec in Missouri has a dedicated Marketing Manager who provides all marketing support for the department, including social media, email newsletters, the department website, print media, and more. This manager works with programmers and other division managers on the timely promotion of each program. Parks & Rec also has a Community Engagement Manager who coordinates the department’s community events and a variety of other projects throughout the city.
These two positions are part of the city-wide PR team led by the Assistant Director of Public Relations, and they collaborate closely with the Public Relations Specialist and Tourism Strategist to share information with Liberty’s residents and visitors.
Best Practices For Effective Outreach
Parks and rec marketing is multifaceted, more than most other industries, because there are many programs, services, projects, improvements, and activities happening throughout the department. A variety of stakeholder groups receive information ranging from families and adults to seniors and more. The Marketing Manager must consider each message’s target audience and how best to reach them.
Going further, every division in Parks & Rec has something happening year-round (which is awesome!), but it can be overwhelming to share all the information with the community. Setting expectations with department staff about when and how to share content is essential to successful marketing. The following are a few tips and tricks from Liberty Parks & Rec’s Marketing Manager to help jumpstart marketing efforts or keep a marketing team on track:
- Organization is key! Information comes at marketing leaders quickly from all divisions and program managers. Tracking the requests is the first order of business. Find a routine that works—for Liberty’s marketing team, that means using a combination of tools, including online calendars, Monday.com to track deadlines, Sprout Social to schedule social media posts in advance, and note-taking for everything that can be captured.
- Maintain several outlets to share information. Liberty Parks & Rec has Facebook (Liberty, MO Parks & Rec), an official website (libertymissouri.gov/LPR), Rainout Line (a contact cancellation line), YouTube (primarily for video storage to embed elsewhere), a monthly e-newsletter distributed via Constant Contact, a monthly print utility bill insert, digital display screens at the Community Center, print materials at the Silver Center, and more to share departmental information with as many people as possible.
- Share events with magazines, blogs, and news outlets in the community. Add events to local calendars to gain more viewers (this is usually free!).
- Start the year with a roughly sketched content calendar of events that lists annual happenings, and be sure to include evergreen content ideas. When there isn’t time-sensitive content, it’s great to consult a list of evergreen topics to work on. Pick ideas that will drive engagement and interest from the target audience, but that can be published anytime during the year. On the other hand, when the schedule gets crazy, leaders will be thankful to have a handle on what’s coming next.
- Balance content to highlight every division throughout the parks and rec department. This is all about relationship-building. Reach out to managers weekly, ask what they are working on, request any shareable photos (or offer photography services), and ask about upcoming projects. The goal is to showcase a variety of content that includes all divisions.
- Promote community events often. Liberty Parks & Rec has about 12 public community events planned jointly by the Public Relations and Parks & Rec Departments throughout the year. The calendar includes trail scavenger hunts, dog park and pet-friendly events, discounted swim or sprayground events, and much more. These are all ways to get the community outdoors to enjoy park amenities in addition to the bigger events on holidays like Veterans Day or July 4. In addition to the usual communication channels, the department promotes these events through boosted Facebook events, print handouts, and yard signs and/or banners at parks where the events are scheduled to take place.
- The following is an example of how departments can attract residents to a park’s amenities and encourage them to learn more about other programs: For Liberty’s Trail Hunt events, kids find hidden items along a trail to piece together clues and turn in a completed activity sheet at the Community Center to receive a prize. Not only do they explore a park that they may not have visited before, but they also check out the Community Center, which might convince them to become members. For the prize, each child receives a branded Liberty Parks & Rec Activity Book that includes color-by-number information sheets about each programming division, park, and much more. This gets kids (and their parents) involved, and they are exposed to all the opportunities offered by Liberty Parks & Rec. It’s a great tool to show off the department.
- Not all print is dead. The department regularly uses “4-Ups” to promote events or other programs. Four of these designs fit on an 8.5x11” sheet of paper and are easy grab-and-go flyers for Community Center visitors or event attendees. Each one includes QR codes, a small bit of information, and an eye-catching photo that draws in the audience and communicates all relevant details and registration links.
- Always be ready to snap a photo or take video. The goal is to market in a creative and dynamic way. This means the audience needs to see realistic photos and videos of community members having a great time. Visuals give an idea of what it’s like to visit a certain park, join a new group exercise class, or take a group swim lesson. A department can never have enough images!
- New this year—Liberty Parks & Rec launched its own Facebook Page – Liberty, MO Parks & Rec. It’s important for the department to tell its own story, and Facebook helps. The team can post a short video of pickleball games or a simple photo of seniors at an event. Visuals like these offer a realistic perspective of what it’s like to experience area programs.
- Create a monthly e-newsletter. Liberty Parks & Rec’s Destination Connection E-Newsletter is sent out every month through Constant Contact. For any department launching something similar, the newsletter can include content that has already been shared on other platforms; however, the email distribution list is likely a different audience, so the info may be reaching residents for the first time. Also, repeated information can serve as a welcome reminder in the event that social media followers have scrolled past it without paying attention. Click and open-rate data from Constant Contact are helpful in understanding community interests and identifying events or initiatives that should be more widely promoted.
- Brand everything. A department’s logo should be shown on every piece of marketing material. It’s crucial to keep the brand top of mind and take credit for all the amazing programs, services, and events on offer.
- Spotlight the staff. Every parks and rec department has a group of talented public servants working behind the scenes. These people-centered features are a hit with community members!
There are many tactics leaders can use to share information and get the community excited, not only about where they live but also about what’s happening around them. The tips in this article only scrape the surface of how best to market to a community. There are more strategies to discover and test. But what’s critical to remember is that parks and rec departments are important and exciting, and leaders must spread the word!