Positive Stories Your Agency Should Be Sharing on Social Media

Government social media is vital for crisis communications because it disseminates news quickly and broadly. Its broad reach also helps communicators inform community members about updates and policy changes. We’ve seen how important these messages can be throughout the pandemic and during extreme weather events — government social media provides a lifeline for many residents in their communities.

While these posts are vital, you don’t want everything you post to be serious announcements or emergency alerts. Community program successes, employee milestones, and local color all have a place on your social media pages. Sharing these positive stories about your agency, school, or locality can build trust and give community members more insight into your achievements. And if you do it right, you also might boost your engagement rates, improving the reach of those emergency messages you want everyone to read.

Positive Post Examples

Are you looking for ideas about what kinds of positive stories to post for your agency or school district? We’ve rounded up four great examples of content that gets some of our customers’ attention and engagement on social media.

1. Celebrating employees’ hard work

Corvallis School District in central western Oregon shows its employees’ hard work on its social media pages. Its leaders regularly use Facebook to highlight what teachers are doing in the classroom. One of its counselors collected student artwork this past June and published an online “zine” to celebrate Pride Week and showcase student talent. The school district posted the link to the zine and some images of the art inside, giving credit to the counselor for his idea and the students’ contributions. You can read more here about how Corvallis School District uses social media and mitigates risk using CivicPlus’ Social Media Archiving software.

Sometimes, civil service feels like all criticism and no praise, as controversial stories are more likely to make the news. Public agencies and school districts give employees positive recognition by sharing their accomplishments and milestones on government social media. These posts also humanize governments by giving them human faces. Community members gain more insight into the people who keep governments running, which can increase their trust in the institutions themselves.

2. Promoting programs and sharing their successes

Parramore Kidz Zone in Orlando, FL, is a city-funded initiative to improve the well-being of the city’s most disadvantaged children. The city runs a Facebook page to publicize and promote programs supported by the initiative. Using this page, they can promote related events, advertise free resources, and share success stories with the community.

For instance, the Parramore Kidz Zone often shares posts from Black Bee Honey, a nonprofit group that teaches students business skills and entrepreneurship. It also promotes healthy, local foods in a largely food desert area. When the city shares stories of Black Bee Honey events and sales, they do more than raise awareness. Showing residents how tax dollars make a positive impact helps the City to build trust with its community. It can also further the success of the programs they’ve invested in by promoting them online.

Read more about the city of Orlando’s online presence and work with our Social Media Archiving software here.

3. Share can’t-miss attractions

CivicPlus customer Casey, IL, is known for its larger-than-life tourist attractions. A giant rocking chair, mousetrap, and golf club are just a few of the small town’s enormous attractions. They even have the world’s largest mailbox. People come from all over the country to post a letter from Casey, and the increased tourism has given the town an economic boost. So, to keep a good thing going, Casey showcases its impressive landmarks on its government social media account.

On its @bigthingssmalltown Instagram, you’ll find photos of attractions, local event promotions, and Casey merchandise. The content aims to share what makes Casey great in attracting visitors and supporting local businesses.

Advertising your locality’s best features through photos can help increase tourism from people far away and closer to home. Sometimes, even your residents don’t know how beautiful local parks and buildings are until you show them. You may even increase hometown pride.

4. Photograph great local events

Photographs are important for events and landmarks. While most communicators know to announce events with dates and times, a picture is worth a thousand words. Help your community members see what an event is like and picture themselves enjoying the fun. If your event lasts more than a day, take pictures on the first day and share them. If your event is annual, post pictures from last year’s festivities.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) knows that promoting local events with photos on government social media is a great way to increase interest and boost attendance. For the last 30 years, the CTA has run its Holiday Train and Bus every year. The six-car Holiday Train and Bus are staffed by Santa’s Elves and decked out for the holiday season with lights and decorations. Most importantly, Santa himself is onboard, ready to give gifts to the city’s youngest commuters. The CTA publishes the schedule online, but the most essential part of the event promotion is all the photos they share on social media. The festive colored lights and happy kids make for the best advertising.

Don’t be Afraid to Brag

Because of the all-business relationship between government and social media, public agencies and school districts may worry about posting less serious content. Social media is a communication tool to inform community members, not to get likes. You can also build trust with your community by showcasing the positive impacts of your agency or school district. Besides, it’s okay to toot your own horn sometimes — after all, it’s not bragging if it’s the truth.

Though you didn’t come for the likes, each post’s engagement does factor into the reach of your future posts. So try posting positive stories and see what the community reacts to them. If positive stories boost your engagement rates, you’re also increasing the reach of your future messaging. That’s especially important when you’re communicating during a crisis.