Delib recently put together a 15 Ways To Maximise Participation With Your Budget Consultation guide, which included interesting ways to promote your simulator. Some of the best ones featured in the guide were:
Offering a Prize-Draw
A small incentive can help drive participation numbers and can increase exposure as other participants spread the news via word-of-mouth and social media. The Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA) chose to hold a prize-draw for £100 worth of shopping vouchers for those who used its simulator, which was promoted on their official Twitter and Facebook page.
Official Websites
Posting a prominent link on your authority’s homepage an easy way to get interested local citizens to engage with your simulator. Further online promotion can be through social media channels, as done by Brighton & Hove, who encouraged the use of the #budgetbh hashtag on Twitter to talk about the budget consultation.
Even more innovative ways which you can promote your Budget Simulator are:
Cardboard Standees
Life-size cardboard standees are a great promotional tool as they’re inexpensive, easy to install and eyecatching. The Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA) are using fifty 5ft-tall cardboard cutouts of their personalised Budget Simulator character placed in local authority areas to promote their simulator.
QR Codes
QR codes allow smartphone users to use their camera to read a code which directs them to a specific website.
Southend-on-Sea placed QR codes for their Budget Simulator on local bus stops but they can be placed practically anywhere. One easy way to utilise this technology is adding the QR code on traditional promotional materials, such as flyers or magazine adverts. To learn more, read the post on the blog post on Southend-on-Sea’s use of QR codes and Mashable’s guide on how to use and make your own.
Press Releases
Press releases in local literature and websites are a simple and effective way to promote your simulator. Alongside the traditional method of advertising in community newsletters and council literature, Southend-on-Sea also managed to get the websites of local schools and blogs of Councillors talking about its Budget Simulator.
For more information on using Budget Simulator as part of your budget setting process please contact Ben Fowkes on 0845 638 1848.
