CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English
  • Home
  • >
  • 🏛️ Blog
  • >
  • Promoting community engagement: 4 takeaways

Promoting community engagement: 4 takeaways

By Ilona Lodewijckx Civic Engagement, Civic Tech 13/07/2020
CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English

When setting up a community engagement project, a strong communication strategy is the most important tool in your toolbox.

This article is an extract of our Essential Communication Guide, which features tips from experts and inspiring case studies to help local governments launch online engagement projects. You can download the full resource here.

How do you describe your project’s purpose? How do you reach your target audience? And how do you inspire citizens to engage?

A communication strategy that engages your community doesn’t require a huge budget, but it does require planning, creativity and consistent effort. That’s why we’ve created an extensive communications guide to help you set up your strategy, craft the right messages throughout the process, and boost the engagement of your project. You can download the full resource here.

Below, we’ll lift a tip of the veil and dive into four key things to remember. 

1. Mix different channels

When communicating about project online, it’s a good idea to combine different channels. If you manage to mix emailing, direct traffic, website referrals and social media, you’ve struck gold. There are different ways to tap into each of these channels. If you have the budget, you can invest in extensive campaigns and reach a wider online audience. But even through organic reach and targeted messages, you can create awareness and increase engagement on your platform. Besides, combining these four channels in your communication strategy also makes sure you reach a diverse audience. 

That’s that for online channels. But some of your audiences might not always be easy to reach in the digital realm. To boost the impact of your communication strategy, you’ll have to spread the word offline, as well. Combining online and offline channels is a sure-fire way to diversify the audience that hears about your project. Get press involved, send physical introduction letters or invitations, or collaborate with local partners who can help you tap into a new audience.

2. Start with a bang

A good start is half the battle. When launching a citizen engagement project, a strong start really makes all the difference. If your residents hear about your project in the very first week, all messages after that will serve as reminders. A kick-off event, for example, is a great way to not only mobilise the press, but also genuinely engage with your community and raise awareness through word-of-mouth. Another great way to leave an impression is to craft a strong, consistent, and visual look-and-feel. This helps to make your project both memorable and recognisable. 

The visual look-and-feel of Leuven’s citizen engagement campaign was both memorable and recognisable to the city’s residents.

3. Quick sharing of results

Once you’ve launched your project, it’s important to keep the momentum high. Don’t let your residents’ attention fizzle! Instead, keep them updated as soon as you have something to share. A quick follow-up on the initial messages keeps everything fresh in the public conscience and drives more engagement. It offers an opportunity for new citizens to get involved, but also engages your community with the progress and shows the participants that their voice matters.

You shouldn’t start spamming your citizens with emails, but sharing regular updates about the project’s developments is crucial. What is the current status of a project? Which ideas are popular? What are the newest ideas? Do other citizens agree with these ideas? And what happens when the project moves into a new phase? By sharing insights, specific ideas, or clear calls to action on social media, in your existing newsletters, and via partners, you can boost community engagement.

4. Find ambassadors!

A good way to draw attention to your platform is by convincing politicians to share personal messages about the project. This immediately gives the project a political layer of legitimacy and importance. Besides, messages that are shared from politicians’ personal accounts will lead to a wider online reach and prove to your community that their (elected) leaders support the project. 

City asking for ideas on how to spend the empty homes tax $. Estimated to bring in $30M. Only requirement is it needs to be related to affordable housing. You can vote on your favorite idea here https://t.co/j816zHYv57 #vanpoli

— Gregor Robertson (@gregorrobertson) May 3, 2018
The Mayor of Vancouver shared the city’s citizen engagement project on his personal Twitter account, which gives it an extra layer of legitimacy and helps to reach a wider audience.

Besides politicians, you can also approach (community) influencers or partners to share your message. The wider your network of ambassadors, the wider your reach will ultimately be. 


How did we learn this? From our community! In our free guide, you’ll find multiple cases of how local governments have benefited from these communications strategies. Download it here and set up a strong communication strategy for your citizen engagement project.

Download the guide

You May Also Like

CitizenLab Team USA
Civic Engagement 16/06/2022
Introducing CitizenLab’s Team USA
AI for community engagement
Civic Engagement 15/06/2022
How to leverage AI in community engagement
Civic Engagement 14/06/2022
6 tips for multilingual community engagement
Civic Engagement 14/06/2022
What is placemaking and what are examples of it?
Creative community engagement
Civic Engagement 14/06/2022
6 examples of creative ways to engage your community
Written By
Ilona Lodewijckx

She/her. Digital Content Creator at CitizenLab. Copywriter. Em dash (—) enthusiast.

Solutions
  • All solutions
  • Strategy & Budgeting
  • Planning & Public Spaces
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Mobility & Infrastructure
  • Neighborhoods & Community Development
Platform
  • Platform features
  • Services
  • Plans
  • Schedule a demo
Academy
  • Resources
  • Blog
Company
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Partners
Get in touch
  • +44 79 2676 4670
  • +1 530 270 3403
  • Contact form
Blog
Why a participatory budget helps you reach a more diverse audience
How Wichita used public participation to address affordable housing issues
Introducing CitizenLab’s Team USA
© 2022 CitizenLab: Community Engagement Platform. All rights reserved.
By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
CookieLawInfoConsent1 yearRecords the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.
geot_rocket_citysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_countrysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_statesessionNo description available.
PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
STYXKEY_geot_countrysessionNo description
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
bcookie2 yearsLinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID.
langsessionLinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting.
lidc1 dayLinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_gat_gtag_UA_65562281_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
_gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
undefinedneverWistia sets this cookie to collect data on visitor interaction with the website's video-content, to make the website's video-content more relevant for the visitor.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
intercom-id-p4lr69wg8 months 26 days 1 hourNo description
intercom-session-p4lr69wg7 daysNo description
loglevelneverNo description available.
trx_addons_is_retina1 yearThis cookie is used for checking if the user has a retina display.
wp-wpml_current_languagesessionNo description available.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
CookieDurationDescription
AMP_TOKEN1 hourThis cookie is set by Google Analytics and contains a token that can be used to retrieve a Client ID from AMP Client ID service. Other possible values indicate opt-out, inflight request or an error retrieving a Client ID from AMP Client ID service.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo

Please share your location to continue.

Check our help guide for more info.

share your location