HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9970 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9970
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 13, 2016
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Y SUBJECT: GOVDELIVERY EMAIL SERVICE
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On January 1 , the City of Fort Worth will launch a new enterprise-wide email subscription service.
We have partnered with GovDelivery to provide one tool for all departments to use for email
communications and resident engagement.
Today there is no consistent email service being used by departments. Departments currently
use a variety of vendors, we do not have consistent branding and our audience lists are
segmented. GovDelivery will allow us to have one email service that will have:
• Subscriber Choice
o Frequency— Daily or Weekly
o Email or Text
• Consistent branding
• Advanced analytics
• Write Once — Publish Multiple Times
• Cross promotion with other agencies
GovDelivery serves more than 1 ,800 government organizations around the world. There are 58
organizations in Texas that currently use the GovDelivery email service. The service is used
exclusively by government organizations and has helped partners to double their audiences
through the first year. They partner with organizations to help build and improve digital
relationships with residents and stakeholders.
Subscriber Choice
In the GovDelivery system, subscribers will be able to choose the subjects they want to receive
updates on and the frequency for receiving those updates. They can also choose to receive email
or text message updates. Subscribers can also subscribe through text messaging.
Branded Templates
We have developed branded templates for the GovDelivery
notifications. This branding will be consistent across the city "':;b ' �m• • • p �w�••M• •••• o-
so that it is easy for subscribers to recognize that the email ...
is coming from the City of Fort Worth. emK .....,
Analytics
GovDelivery allows us to expand our current analytics for emails. We will be able to see who
opens our messages, who shares them and what messages are left unread. This will provide
valuable information as we determine what messages we need to improve and expand.
Write Once — Publish Multiple Times
When we post a story or update on the website, GovDelivery will allow us to also share this
information on social media. This allows us to take away some of the manual posts that we
currently do for each story.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9970
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 13, 2016
Page 2 of 2
Y SUBJECT: GOVDELIVERY EMAIL SERVICE
rFrn
Yg7'3
Cross Promotion
One of the unique features of GovDelivery is the ability to cross promote our email subscriptions
with other agencies using the service. When subscribers sign up for our lists, they will have the
option to sign up for other agency updates who are part of the GovDelivery network. Likewise,
when people in our area subscribe to other agencies through GovDelivery, they will be given the
option to add the City of Fort Worth to their subscription list.
When we launch the new service, we will offer a limited number of topics for people to subscribe
to. This list will be expanded as we build up our subscription lists.
We will also offer overlays, web forms and subscription links on our website to drive website
visitors to subscribe.
We are currently working with departments to gather email lists and develop templates for the
new service. We will also be promoting the new service through all of our available
communications channels.
We will be meeting with council offices to offer this tool if you are interested in using it for
communicating with your constituents.
If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Gutt, Director of Communication and Public
Engagement, at 817-392-6248.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS