Think Smokey the Bear 2.0.
Here’s an example of a government Facebook page that works really well.
World: Meet Birdie NYC on Facebook.
The goal of Birdie is help meet the goal of GreeNYC: decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 30% over the next 30 years. This is the initiative of Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability Director, David Bragdon. Birdie is the mascot of this project and knows how to party optimize engagement.
Here are 6 elements of how and why Birdie NYC Facebook page is totally rocking it out.
1. Communicates directly with fans in a direct, funny, current way encouraging more to reach out. Birdie replies directly to the fan with an encouraging response. This “real” engagement is fresh and works to get people to notice and take action. Working to make a city greener is not necessarily a new concept. So to get a new result, you have to try something different. Here are some examples:
Direct:
Funny:
Adorable:
Current:
2. Poses challenges/questions to engage community and catalyze their creativity and feedback. Here Birdie asks fans to send their best rendition of him, letting their creativity go wild. Participants get a earth friendly tote that they can carry around the city, getting the word out even more. Smart bird!
3. Leverages tons of pictures and videos to demonstrate how Birdie is out and about on the mean streets of NYC, speading the word about his mission.
Pictures:
Video:
4. Communicates mission (make NYC greener) through creative tips that make people take notice:
5. Easily findable comment policy that many seek to emulate:
6. Page se rves as good hub for other content/communications relate d to Green NYC.
Overall, Birdie’s Facebook page has a huge potential to engage citizens in NYC to go greener and accomplish accomplish its goal of reducing greenhouse gases. Additionally, by including K-12 programs, this will surely be a huge hit and a game-changer.
There are a ton of other good examples seeking out of this site. Take a spin around for yourself to learn more.
Lots of great stuff going on over at GreeNYC. Nice work!
Hey! Is government even allowed to be this creative?
Looks like some staff are enjoying their jobs. Great site; I’ll have to pass it along to our “green” team here at the City.
Had never seen a Social Media Customer Use Policy before – that’s interesting b/c it would cover all of your social media channels.
Thx for sharing.
Sure enjoyed reading this. Your real world use was eye-opening and fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I love it when a city or county gets creative. Excellent. I just passed it on to Omaha’s Eco site coordinator.
Excellent idea! It’s really a challenge to convince some that iconic images really work in telling a story in a compact way…
This is an excellent case study, @Lauren, thank you for sharing!