NINE WAYS TO - CitySourced

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city's mobile app has led to a decrease in 311 call center costs. The cost for organizations to respond to residents is
9 NINE WAYS TO

PROMOTE YOUR GOVERNMENT

MOBILE APP

A Guide for State & Local Government Leaders

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Your mobile application has deployed; now it’s time to promote it across your organization and community. The following provides a step-by-step template that you can customize for your organization. Follow this template as you implement each channel shift strategy for the best results. 1. Establish Baseline Data • Gather data which your organization currently uses to gauge and report your success. Reference ‘Data Collection” section below. 2. Execute Channel Shift Option • The choice is yours! Pick an option the “Channel Shift Menu Options” section below • Typically, first option selected is via “Call Center/ Live Agents” 3. Collect Initial Data Findings (4-6 weeks after Step #2) • Gather updated data for the exact criteria established in Step #1. 4. Analyze your channel shift data. 5. Rinse and Repeat for each of the methods provided.

BONUS STEP: ENJOY YOUR SUCCESS!

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EMBRACE THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, BE TRANSPARENT, AND IMPROVE YOUR CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT

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YOUR ORGANIZATION NEEDS TO EXPAND Why? Expand access, especially for under served socioeconomic and demographic groups. In addition, electronic reports reduce informational call volume.

Dollars Don’t Lie. According to Pew Charitable Trusts, it costs an average of $3.40 to answer a call, with some cities paying as much as $4 or $5 per call. Our customers save approx. $8,000 in the first 12 months after starting their mobile civic engagement platform with CitySourced. [view case study] CHANNEL

COST PER TRANSACTION

Walk-in

$9.00

Web Chat

$7.00-$7.50

Live Phone Agent

$4.50-$5.30

Email

$2.50-$3.00

Phone Self-Service

$0.45-$1.85

Web Self-Service (online)

$0.24-$0.65

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While saving money that have also experienced a

15% increase in the number of people using smartphones to connect with the city’s services, according to Information Services Manager Justin Cure. The growing popularity of the city’s mobile app has led to a decrease in 311 call center costs. The cost for organizations to respond to residents is expensive. CitySourced is helping state & local government execute a fundamental shift in how they engage citizens.

CHANNEL SHIFT BEST PRACTICES Our experts recommend executing two of these channel shift methods at a time, but depending on resources you may want to do more than two at a time. We’ve broken down the options into three categories based on the channel type. Pick and choose from the list below; we can work with you to help you customize your approach if you need additional guidance. Introduce these channel shift options to other departments; collaboration will increase your results and maximize your efforts for a larger ROI.

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INSPIRE CITIZENS AND BUILD OPEN COMMUNICATION

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EXISTING CHANNELS #1 Print Media – One Page Flyer Create your own version or use the CitySourced copy given to new customer for ‘download day’. Example of great events to distribute these flyers at: • Town Hall Meetings • Service/Volunteer Days • Any Public Event • Graffiti and Other Clean Up Days It’s important to make sure the types of issues that can be reported with the mobile app are included. Save money by using your in-house print shop. CitySourced can work with you to prepare your flyers with screen-shots and mock-ups of your new app. You can also enlist the services of a marketing company to push your efforts to the next level, be sure that you don’t forget to keep mentioning the app to your citizens throughout your events.

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#2 Call Center - Live Agent or Recorded Messages/ Voice Mail First, you’ll need your call center employees to understand the type of issues which can reported using the app. Provide them a copy of your One Page Flyer or a simple list of report types. Also, direct call agents to the website where download instructions are available. Add the following script to any call related to reporting issues: “Did you know that you can submit these types of issues using your smartphone, with just a few clicks?” Interested Caller: “Great! You can download the free app now by going to {App Download URL}.” Not Interested: “That’s fine. If you ever want more information on the smartphone app, please visit our website and click on {Name of Mobile APP} or call us for help.”

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Work with your IT Department to understand technical requirement you may need for your Recorded Messages/Voice Mail. Then, add the following script to the appropriate recorded phone waiting messages: “Thanks for holding. Did you know that you can report common issues, such as {fill in a few report types} 24/7 using our free smartphone app? Go to the iTunes app store or Android Market, search for {Insert App Name}, and download.”

#3 Utility Bills Add a message to utility bills or add a separate insert about the free app. Make sure to include 1) name of the app 2) the types of issues which can be reported 3) the App Download URL

#4 Social Media Use your existing social media channels (ex. Facebook and Twitter) to promote the mobile app. Share a link on these sites at least once per month. Also, you can create a custom Facebook widget where residents can create a new report directly from Facebook.

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UNDERSTAND AND REACH YOUR AUDIENCE IN A WAY YOU NEVER IMAGINED 10

DIRECT AND PRINT #5 Print Newsletters Print newsletters are used for a variety of reasons and while we fully support the use of digital marketing and promotion we do not think that this medium is useless! Maximize your efforts by using your existing newsletters to promote internally.

#6 Email Marketing Campaigns Most governments have an email sign-up, use your existing email marketing distribution to promote the app. Governments that have email lists are getting 30% more engagement from their communities. Partner with the CitySourced marketing team to help you succeed in promoting your app.

#7 Billboards and Public Posters (Benches/Bus Stops) These public areas have great visibility and are located exactly where the mobile app will be most effective. We can help you with creating copy, creating visuals, or adding a QRcode for reidents to download the app directly from their smartphone device.

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MASS MEDIA #8 Radio PSAs Public service announcements provide your community with powerful public service messages. Radio PSA’s are the most widely used medium to deliver public service messages. The number of local radio stations far exceeds newspaper and television mediums. Contact the local radio stations and discuss how the app can impact the local community. Record a 30 second recording or schedule a live session.

#9 TV Spots Your government may already have a franchise agreement with the local cable provider. If so, may advertise for free or at significantly discounted rates. In addition, local access channels can display show an information screen about downloading your app. As you can see there are a plethora of channels that you can take advantage of once your app is developed, tested, and launched.

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FIND THE DATA YOU NEED 13

DATA COLLECTION Select from the following list of key performance metrics to measure your organization’s success. Also, add any additional metrics that you already record. The more data you can collect, the better we can highlight your organization through collaboration between your organization and ours. For any metric calculated, we need to use the same method of collection throughout our entire measurement period as you measure change overtime.

Call Center Metrics • Call Time Avg (do not include abandon calls) • Abandon Rate • Average Wait Time (do not include abandon calls) • Cost per Contact: a common measure of operational efficiency. Often calculated by total call agent payroll costs (salaries and benefits) divided by total number of calls handled. • Percent of Calls Handled: All answered calls by total calls presented to call agents.

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Service Request/Work Order Metrics • Service Request Generation Time: Amount of time between the citizen creating the request and the Service Request/Work Order being generated. • Response Time: Amount of time it takes to complete a service request. Service metrics are often included in Service Level Agreements between the contact center and service departments/agencies. • Self-service Deflection Rate: Call deflection occurs when a customer is able to self-solve their support question or service request on a website, IVR or other automated system. Self-service is an important strategy to reduce costs per contact by offloading calls. • Service Level and Average Speed of Answer: Service level, the percentage of calls answered in a defined wait threshold, is the most common speed-of-answer measure in the call center. It is typically stated as X percent of calls handled in Y seconds or less. Average speed of answer (ASA) represents the average wait time of all calls in the period.

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UTILIZE OUR MARKETING SKILLS We hire experts in the government industry, that includes markerters. Utilize our marketing team to push your

marketing forward. Our markerting team is constantly on the look-out for new stories and data. If you @CitySourced on any social channels we will always help you promote, we love to

see our customers promoting those awesome civic engagement apps! CitySourced also partners with some of the leading marketing agencies for government organizations, we encourage you to ask your account manager about how you can be involved with these partnerships.

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ABOUT CITYSOURCED Since 2008, CitySourced has been helping organizations improve their service request systems. The CitySourced software tools and methodologies enable these organizations to effectively analyze and manage their civic

engagement services. They are supported by our experienced and knowledgeable staff and extensive network of business partners. A full-service civic platform, CitySourced supports the implementation of mobile capabilities on desktops, online services, and mobile devices. These civic platforms are flexible, customizable, and easy to use. Contact us for more information on how to improve your mobile app promotion and keep citizens engagement with your mobile app.

[email protected] Give us a call at: 424-270-9438

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