The Brentwood Communications Committee on May 29 reviewed a recent communications audit and a department report on social‑media metrics, and set a June meeting to receive a final communications plan and logo drafts from consultant Raftelis.

Michelle, communications manager for the City of Brentwood, summarized year‑to‑date social metrics and said some engagement numbers were down because the city has “started sharing a lot more of meeting reminders” that inform residents but do not generate high interaction. “Those don't necessarily garner a ton of engagement or anything online, but they serve as an important reminder to our community members that these meetings are occurring,” she said.

The nut of the discussion was that lower engagement does not necessarily indicate worse outreach; staff said the mix of content has shifted toward utility posts (meeting notices, storm updates) that register impressions but few clicks. Michelle told the committee that a sharp uptick followed storm coverage beginning May 16 and that further increases are expected as summer events and park openings are promoted.

Committee members asked about measurement methods. Michelle said the city uses Sprout Social for scheduling and analytics and tracks impressions, engagements and clicks; she added the city does not automatically capture engagement when posts are shared to private community pages and that more sophisticated view‑tracking would require additional tools or a manual audit. Lois Truman, committee member, noted improving coordination with the Brentwood School District and Anne Jefferson’s unofficial Brentwood page and said she had “seen an improvement, a big improvement online” in shared information.

Staff outlined other audit action items: working with Placer.ai to study shifting demographics and tailor messaging to younger, single professionals; lowering written content to an eighth‑grade reading level for social and newsletter copy; creating meeting‑specific YouTube playlists for easier access to archived meetings; and evaluating platform strategy (for example, the committee discussed whether to reduce effort on X in favor of Instagram). Michelle said approximately half of current social posts have been edited toward the lower reading level so far.

The committee also reviewed the status of a draft communications plan. Michelle said Raftelis will present the final plan and logo drafts at the committee's June meeting; the plan and proposed logos will be posted to the agenda in advance so members can review them before the meeting. If the committee approves the plan, staff expects to forward it to the Board of Aldermen for final approval while the branding refresh continues as a separate work stream.

The committee approved the consent agenda (minutes) earlier in the meeting and had no additional immediate actions on the audit report. Staff said they will bring options for condensing meeting reminders and for further analytics at a future meeting.