Communications specialist Amanda Gilbert: social-media reach surges, drives site traffic and donations

Amanda Gilbert, the city’s communications specialist, told the Janesville City Council on Dec. 8 that the communications office posted record social-media metrics in 2025 and used video content to expand reach and drive residents to city resources. “For the year then, Instagram reached 8,700 accounts, which was a 99.1% increase from last year,” Gilbert said. She reported that Facebook content for the year was viewed about 6.6 million times and that the city’s Facebook videos alone were viewed roughly 615,200 times, producing a total watch time she described as “70 days.”

Gilbert said a midyear change at Meta altered how the company reports reach (switching to a “viewers” metric) and left an 11-day gap in tracking; combining available reach and viewers data, she put the year’s individual-account reach at about 708,320, which she noted is roughly 11 times Janesville’s population. She credited collaboration with JATV Media Services and an intern for expanding video output and highlighted top-performing content: an Enchanted Forest/Hollywood Hayride reel (20,508 views) and a Woodman Sports and Convention Center grand‑opening video (13,674 views).

Gilbert emphasized web engagement as a priority: “As a result of that dedicated effort for 2025, we had 20,400 link clicks, a 143 and a half percent increase,” she said, and noted that online campaigns also supported community drives (e.g., collecting 844 packages of pasta for donation). During follow-up questions, she said demographic and location breakdowns are available and that the office primarily reaches Janesville residents while also drawing viewers in Milton, Beloit and elsewhere in Rock County.

Gilbert concluded by offering to answer council questions and thanked JATV and staff who supported the year’s work. The presentation ran during the council’s quarterly communications report and drew brief member questions about targeting and audience metrics.