13A

Water agencies utilize social media advertising on an ad hoc basis. Water agencies use social media to inform the public about things like droughts or public outreach programs, each of which has a beginning and end. So, when looking into advertising by public agencies it helps if there is a major issue such as a drought to see how they use social media ads. Well, the drought is over and so is much of the communication being done by water agencies via social media ads.

 

Currently, for the most part water agencies are posting information, and true advertising. The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) just launched a Instagram contest for May, Water Awareness month which appears on Twitter & Facebook.

 

I do not view water agency social media advertising as particularly effective for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t think that they reach new people in general. Most of the people who view water agency social media advertising are in government, media, or associated with the water or environmental industry. In other words people who already “get” the message.

 

The other reason, is that using social media to communicate with the public is new to public agencies and few have staff that truly knows the medium or has the time to dedicate to produce content.

 

Today, I think that traditional advertising used by water agencies is more effective because it reaches a broader audience. However, it is costly. The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) recently began a new advertising campaign that has a budget of 4.8 million. I believe that as time goes on and water agencies become more dedicated to social media advertising it will ultimately become as effective as traditional advertising.