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Cloverdale subcommittee debates trimming paid Cloverdale Connect presence, boosting newsletter and social media
Summary
Staff proposed reducing or removing the city's regular paid page in the Cloverdale Connect print product in favor of targeted ads and stronger use of the city newsletter and social media; the subcommittee asked staff to return with ad pricing and to test alternatives such as utility bill inserts.
Cloverdale staff recommended reducing the city's paid presence in the local Cloverdale Connect print product and shifting outreach dollars toward the city's newsletter and social media.
At the meeting the staff member leading marketing said the city previously ran a monthly full-page Cloverdale Connect item at $1,700 but had already reduced that to a quarterly half-page at about $1,100. The staff member said internal marketing recommended switching to "as needed" advertising rather than a recurring paid page, and suggested running small ads that direct readers to the city's newsletter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Vice Chair Margie Martin and others urged the city to invest in the newsletter and to pursue lower-cost advertising options and outreach tactics such as social media posts, utility-bill inserts and community flyers. One participant suggested testing an ad that simply points readers to the newsletter and the city's social channels as a lower-cost way to build subscribers.
Staff agreed to bring back advertising quotations and a recommendation on whether to continue a standing Cloverdale Connect presence or move to on-demand ads. The clerk and communications staff also described efforts to grow newsletter subscriptions (about 240 subscribers at the time of the meeting) and to improve newsletter formatting and consolidation so it is easier for residents to read. The city said it will also pursue consolidation of the utility and other payment processors to reduce redundancy and administrative burden.
No council-level decision was made; the subcommittee asked staff to return with ad pricing and an implementation plan for using targeted ads and newsletter growth tactics.
