12B

I believe that water agencies can use coupon networks to promote programs. I’m not aware of any that are using them now, but I’m pretty sure that will change.

A few years back (before coupon networks existed) I was tasked at work to develop a car wash coupon program. The basics of the program was to negotiate with car washes that re-circulate (reuse) wash water to accept discount coupons in exchange for being promoted as water smart by local water districts. The program was never implemented partly because we felt that it would be difficult for water districts to promote a coupon program. With the advent of coupon networks that is no longer the case. 

Water districts are monopolies, and as such, having a Yelp account probably would not make much sense. However, if you were to search for my employer there are reviews on Yelp. It is something that we from time to time check in on and if a reviewer raised a legitimate issue in their review, we would take the time to see if we needed to make changes. So far, that has not happened yet, but its another way for us to assess how the public views us. 

Sent from my iPad

12A

I don’t think I’m going to be able to come up with four additional online marketing tools that water districts can use. Water districts not trying to drum up business, the primary use of social media by water districts is to push information out to constituents. Examples would include; incentives, new rules or laws, or to push a program(s) such as landscape water efficiency. In fact, many times we are telling our customers minimize the use of our product such as was the case during the latest drought. So, our social media needs are different from a business that seeks to keep and find customers.

 

The only additional online marketing tool that I know if useful for water districts is Nextdoor.  If you are unfamiliar with Nextdoor, it functions like a community bulletin board. Users can post information on a newsfeed that can be viewed only by other users in their local Nextdoor “neighborhood”.  For example, lost cats and dogs are common posts, or inquiring about police activity.  Nextdoor is organized into “neighborhoods” that are sections of cities. Water agencies are easily able to target community messages, such as announcing a meeting or event to the Nextdoor users their service territory.  It’s turned out to be a really useful tool for local water agencies.

 

Water districts do use Google apps, but not for marketing to an online audience. We may use Google Docs & Google Earth for example to help create new programs that the public can participate in, but not as a marketing tool, the Google offerings are used behind the scene to create front facing materials.  If you are in a business that collaborates with others businesses or you have multiple locations/and/or partners, Google’s apps are a great way to work together and share. 

11B

I commented on the following Blogs:

Davina Croft
Sonya McAurthur
Jordyn Getz

Week 11A

Newsletters are an important method of communication for many government agencies. For water agencies, they are used to inform the public of required reports, such as annual water quality reports, incentive programs, education programs, and keep customers up to date on any capital improvements projects.

Newsletters are a great way for a water agency to communicate to customers on current news topics in the water industry as well. A great current example is lead in water supplies. Ever since the problems in Flint Michigan, there has been increased scrutiny of the lead content in water. This has led to the state passing new laws regarding lead testing and a number of new stories about lead testing. Using a newsletter a water district could address the issue of lead in water on a local level.

Generally, water districts put out newsletters a few times a year. If, a water district is municipal its news is generally included with the rest of the city’s information and those newsletters are commonly sent out once a month.

Week 10B

I'm having a hard time coming up with labels for a government agency blog. I'm don't think that communicating with constituents using a blog is the best way for and agency to communicate. It would be more appropriate for a law making entity, such as a legislature or an agency like the EPA to have a blog. These agencies would have many different efforts going on simultaneously.
Being able to name each individual process in a blog would be crucial.

I posted on the following blogs
Andrew Sterk
Carlo Alison
Davina Croft

Week 10A

Adding human interest content to blog posts seems critical to developing an on-going relationship with customers. When thinking about this assignment I thought about the TV show “Cheers”. The show starts off with an iconic theme song that symbolized what the bar in show is all about.

Similarly, I think that people would prefer to engage in your blog if they felt like they know you as a person. Additionally, I think having some sort of personal reference makes it easier to people to respond or post on your blog. Most people find it easier to talk with people that they know rather than strangers.

Working in government, many times it is not appropriate to offer a personal touch. Many government communications must be limited to factual information and must not appear to favor any person or group.