Culver City Extends Strategic Communications Support Contract with Tripepi Smith
On June 26, 2017, the City of Culver City extended Tripepi Smith’s Communications Support engagement with the City to June 2018. Tripepi Smith’s work with the City of Culver City began with a Communications Assessment in 2016, followed by strategic communication support services through the first half of 2017. The Culver City Council voted 5-0 to extend the engagement.
A number of Tripepi Smith team members are combining their various areas of expertise to: train staff on social media and email marketing best practices; identify customer service and engagement opportunities on social media; stay abreast of City Council policy decisions and related public comments; co-manage the City’s main social media sites; monitor media coverage of the City on a local, regional and national scale; develop stronger relationships with community organizations and local media; provide a monthly report on important communication platform metrics; and offer Communications advice for City projects and during crises.
“Culver City’s extension of our engagement, supported by both the City Council and City Staff, is a strong endorsement of our efforts to help the City tell its story. Culver City is becoming a leader in the creative economy, so we have a lot of great wins to talk about with the community,” said Ryder Todd Smith, President of Tripepi Smith.
Tripepi Smith’s efforts have resulted in noticeable positive outcomes for the City of Culver City. For example: in the time since Tripepi Smith started assisting with the City’s social media management, there has been a 434% increase in the number of main Facebook Page Posts per month, a 243% increase in the number of main Twitter account Tweets per month, a 1,057% increase in monthly Facebook Post Reach, and an 872% increase in monthly Facebook Post Engagements. The City also began making more frequent use of Facebook Page “Boosted Posts” and Twitter “Promoted Posts” to reach anywhere from 9,000-14,000 people located in or near (or otherwise connected to) Culver City.
The significant ramp up in communications was a result of both the Tripepi Smith engagement and major contributions from Culver City Staff who have partnered with Tripepi Smith every week to develop stories, provide background or participate in calls. The engagement is a true partnership.
Each month, Tripepi Smith also produces a report for City management and the City Council on communication/social media metrics, a list of notable local/regional/national media mentions, and snapshots of social media Boosted/Promoted Post performances. Each quarter, the Tripepi Smith team leads a meeting with City Department heads meet to review these communication metrics, highlight communication/engagement successes, share lessons learned, and collaboratively fill out a 12-month content calendar of key City events, projects/programs, and topics of interest.
At the June 26 City Council Meeting, Councilmember Meghan Sahli-Wells stated: “We’ve gone through a communication revolution, which has been incredibly successful. I’m really glad that we’ve been able to improve outreach and do better by the community by using the channels that the community uses: Twitter and Facebook. Using those platforms and improving the website have been a great enhancement for the City.”
About Culver City
Culver City is a five-square-mile, urban community of 39,000 residents surrounded mostly by the City of Los Angeles but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. It is centrally located on the Westside near Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles International Airport. Culver City is particularly known for its well-run public school system, “small town” charm, growing high-tech and creative economies, and a dynamic downtown that is regionally known as a destination for restaurants, live theater, and art galleries.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a marketing, technology and public affairs firm located in Orange County, CA. Its clients include for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies throughout the state of California. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provide a competitive advantage for organizations seeking to leverage the Internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm also provides full content creation services, including: ghost writing, collateral development, photography, video production, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith clients include: City of Culver City, City of Rolling Hills Estates, City of Tracy, City of Cupertino, City of Duarte, City of Daly City, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Santa Ana, City of Paramount, City of El Cerrito, City of Indian Wells, City of Yuba City, NHA Advisors, Cal Choice, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Rowland Water District, Valley Water Company, California Contract Cities Association, California City Management Foundation, League of California Cities, Institute for Local Government, Renne Public Law Group, Inland Empire Utilities Agency and Climatec Energy Services.