Streamline Blog

We’ve heard from a lot of districts that using email to better communicate with the community is a priority, but they just don’t know where to get started. How do you find email addresses and what do you include in the email?

As a special district, how do you combat the often-heard sentiment, "They just don’t do that much..."? While your district may not be directly competing with anyone, keeping your community informed ensures everyone knows the value you are providing.

Late last year, a bill was filed in the Florida Legislature to dissolve all of the state's 58 Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Images are arguably the most powerful part of your special district website. Your audience is naturally drawn to view them first, and when done right, they leave a lasting impression.

Jackie Vaughn has been serving the Lockwood Fire Protection District, in the tiny town of Volcano, California, for more than 20 years.

One of our favorite customers (ok, you’re all our faves, of course) reached out with an amazing guerrilla marketing story: Fire chief Ben Stange of Polk County Fire #1 decided to purchase a few hundred yard signs for his community that read, “Stay Home. Save Lives.” He knew this was a chance for his department to stay visible and connect with the community during a time when people were feeling really isolated. But how to distribute them during Oregon’s stay at home order?

I know, I know … the majority of special districts aren’t spending money on billboard advertising. So why am I writing about billboards? Our online attention span is now hovering around 6 to 8 seconds, and that just happens to be the amount of time a driver has to process the information on a billboard while driving down the freeway. People have been studying the effectiveness of billboard advertising for much longer than the internet has been around - so if you’re trying to get the attention your district deserves, these takeaways can be really helpful.

[This is the first of a series of posts on the subject.] We often speak with folks at special districts who feel that “promoting” the district (whether via a website, social media, or other means) is unnecessary because - and this is a direct quote: “We aren’t competing with anyone.” Nothing could be further from the truth! Educating the public about the important work your district does is vital for a number of reasons.