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Communications report: Kirkland newsletters, social media and podcast show steady reach; staff plan mailed newsletter, chatbot and dedicated safety channels
Summary
Communications staff presented a 2024 year-end dashboard showing stable newsletter subscriptions (about 9,200) and a high open rate (43%), steady website traffic and growing podcast downloads. Staff previewed planned initiatives including a mailed newsletter, an Ask Kirkland chatbot and dedicated police and fire social channels.
The City of Kirkland’s communications team presented a year-end dashboard on Jan. 21 summarizing email newsletters, social media, earned media and web traffic for 2024 and outlined priorities for 2025.
Communications Program Manager reported that the city’s flagship email newsletter, This Week in Kirkland, had roughly 9,200 subscribers and an average open rate of about 43%, a rate the presenter characterized as strong for public-sector email. The team listed top items that generated clicks (events, design contests and high-interest program pages) and noted other city newsletters that produce steady engagement, including the events guide and business-facing e-news.
Social-media analytics showed the highest engagement for public-safety posts across platforms; staff plan to pilot or expand dedicated Police and Fire department channels to improve outreach. The city’s podcast, This Week in Kirkland, registered cumulative downloads just under 7,000 for 2024 and continued growth in early 2025, and the city’s main websites recorded roughly two million visits across the year.
The communications team proposed several 2025 initiatives: a mailed printed newsletter to reach non-digital audiences, a website chatbot (Ask Kirkland) to answer routine questions, and improved public-facing materials to help residents find council packets, signed documents and meeting videos. Staff also said they will add instructional pages and outreach ahead of the 1Meeting rollout. The council reacted positively and suggested printing extra mailed newsletters for distribution at libraries and community centers and underscored the need to track how different content types (video, longform text, alerts) drive engagement.
