---

## author: Davis, Allison

date: D:20260408092016-05'00'

---

## City Council Workshop Meeting

## Ash Conference Rooms

April 08, 2026 | 5:30 PM

Note: Item 1A Subject has been revised. Please disregard all previous versions of this agenda.

This City Council Workshop meeting is taking place virtually and at Woodbury City Hall in the Ash

Conference Rooms. Members of the public may attend the meeting in person and may also join the

meeting using a computer, tablet, or smartphone and accessing the virtual meeting link at

woodburymn.gov/VirtualMeetings.

Public comments will be accepted during the meeting both in person and virtually. Virtual

questions should be submitted via the online Q&A feature within the virtual meeting link.

Questions regarding the meeting will be taken between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at

651-714-3524 or at council@woodburymn.gov. Questions received after 4:30 p.m. will be

responded to in the next three to seven business days.

Please note that all agenda times are estimates. Unfinished workshop items will be carried over

to the end of the Council meeting.

5:00 p.m.Dinner – Cherry Conference Room

The intent of the workshop session is to provide a forum for City Council and City staff to discuss

more in-depth Council items, exchanging viewpoints and visions prior to the item being set for

Council action at a regular meeting of the City Council. Workshop sessions are neither a public

hearing nor an open microphone session. No formal votes will be taken and any direction from

Council will be in consensus format. The workshop session is not recorded.

## Workshop Agenda

## 1.Workshop Discussion Items

## 1A.Closed Session Item Related to Litigation Status, Strategy and Settlement

Negotiations Regarding Raymond Lee v. City of Woodbury, Pursuant to Minn.

## Stat. 13D.05, Subd. 3(b) – Cherry Conference Room

26-61

1B.Review of Social Media Audit – Ash Conference Room 26-62

2.Administrator Comments and Updates*

## 3.Mayor and City Council Comments and Commission Liaison Updates*

4.Adjournment

## Watch the Live Meeting

## Woodbury City Council Workshop Agenda

April 08, 2026 | 5:30 PM

Items under comments and updates are intended to be informational or of brief inquiry.

More substantial discussion of matters under comments and updates should be scheduled

for a future agenda.

The City of Woodbury is subject to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis

of disability by public entities. The City is committed to full implementation of the Act to our services, programs, and

activities. Information regarding the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act is available from the Administration

office at 651-714-3500. Auxiliary aids for disabled persons are available upon request at least 72 hours in advance of an

event. Please call the ADA Coordinator at 651-714-3500 (TDD 731-5796) to make arrangements.

## 1A

## City of Woodbury, Minnesota

## Office of City Administrator

## Council Workshop Letter 26-61

April 8, 2026

## To:The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

## From:Jeffrey J. Dahl, City Administrator

## Subject:Closed Session Item Related to Litigation Status, Strategy and Settlement

Negotiations Regarding Raymond Lee v. City of Woodbury, Pursuant to Minn. Stat.

13D.05, Subd. 3(b)

## Summary

The City Council will conduct a closed session to review and discuss staff and City Attorney updates

and recommendations related to the active litigation regarding the property located at 8130 Afton

Road.

## Recommendation

Staff recommend Council provide direction on the presented information.

## Governance Mode

1

Fiduciary - Stewardship of tangible assets, oversees operations and ensures efficient and

appropriate use of resources, legal compliance and fiscal accountability.

Strategic - Setting priorities, reviewing and modifying strategic plans, and monitoring

performance against plans. Focus is the “ends” rather than the "means”.

## Fiscal Implications

Any financial commitments and necessary budget allocations would be made via future council

action.

## Policy

## Chapter 24- Zoning

## 2040 Comprehensive Plan

1

Items marked “fiduciary” are primarily business-oriented topics; “strategic” items are primarily related to long-

term strategies or goals; and “generative” items are primarily meant to produce new thoughts or ideas.

## Council Workshop Letter 26-61

April 8, 2026

Page 2

## Public Process

A previous closed session was held on August 28, 2024 with the City Attorney providing a summary

of that meeting at the September 25, 2024 meeting.

## Background

This matter involves the City’s 50 percent ownership of a 9.1-acre parcel of real estate located to the

west of the city hall campus. The City acquired its interest in the property in 2008 when the prior

owner passed away and has jointly held that interest with Raymond Lee since that time. The City’s

original interest in this property was related to wetland preservation and tree preservation of the

areas abutting the city hall campus.

## Written By:Eric Searles, Assistant Community Development Director

## Approved Through:Janelle Schmitz, Community Development Director

## Attachment:

## None

## 1B

## City of Woodbury, Minnesota

## Office of City Administrator

## Council Workshop Letter 26-62

April 8, 2026

## To:The Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

## From:Jeffrey J. Dahl, City Administrator

## Subject:Review of Social Media Audit

## Summary

At the end of last year, the City of Woodbury hired an external consultant to conduct a social media

audit. This was previously done in 2023, with a plan to conduct an audit every two years to keep up

to date on best practices in an ever-changing industry. At this workshop, staff will briefly review the

2023 audit recommendations, share the results of implementing those changes, and review the

2025 social media audit and recommendations.

## Recommendation

Staff recommends that Council listen to the presentation and provide feedback on the City’s social

media strategy and audit recommendations.

## Governance Mode

1

Generative - Identifying key questions, anticipating future challenges, framing of issues,

development of options. Problem-framing. What to pay attention to, what it means, and what to

do about it. How does it fit with our mission, vision and values?

## Fiscal Implications

There are no fiscal implications at this time.

## Policy

The social media audit and strategy discussion can be tied to the city service critical success factor

as we strive to offer excellent customer service and information in an innovative and reflective way.

## Public Process

This is the first public process for this item.

1

Items marked “fiduciary” are primarily business-oriented topics; “strategic” items are primarily related to long-

term strategies or goals; and “generative” items are primarily meant to produce new thoughts or ideas.

## Council Workshop Letter 26-62

April 8, 2026

Page 2

## Background

In 2023, the City of Woodbury conducted its first social media audit, led by an outside consultant.

The consultant reviewed the City’s social media platforms and corresponding analytics over a three-

month period. Based on the results from that analysis, the consultant put forward recommendations

for the City to consider implementing. The City used many of the findings in the audit to create and

implement a citywide social media strategy, beginning in 2024.

As a result of implementing the new social media strategy, the City saw engagement numbers

exponentially increase including doubling engagement numbers on Instagram and tripling them on

Facebook. Council gave the direction to conduct a social media audit every two years to keep up with

the changing trends in this industry so we can best inform and engage our growing community.

## Written By:Shelly Schafer, Community Relations Manager

## Approved Through:Jeffrey J. Dahl, City Administrator

## Attachment:2025 Social Media Audit

## Social Media Audit

## City of Woodbury

Jan. 7, 2026

## Inside This Audit

• Inside the numbers – City of Woodbury accounts

• City of Woodbury Stakeholder interviews

• Other local city governments on social media

• Strategic recommendations for 2026

## The Summary

Three big takeaways

• You’ve made strong progress since 2023, but some

issues persist.

• Residents are telling you (through data and interviews

with council leaders) that they want more people-first,

recap-first and short-form content.

• 2026 needs clearer goals, a unified voice and an

adjusted strategy.

What’s improved since 2023?

•Facebook posts down from 30 → 14 per month.

Major progress!

• Far fewer branded graphics and shared posts

• Instagram carousels and Reels now core formats

• LinkedIn audience doubled

• Public Safety still driving strong engagement

What still needs improvement?

• Event promotion posts continue to underperform

across all accounts

•Branded graphics still not working (2023 → 2025

no change)

• Average watch time for videos remains low

• Too much job-posting on LinkedIn

• Lack of unified brand voice across three pages

Community size

Note: Numbers in parenthesis = 2023 data

## FacebookInstagramLinkedin

City of Woodbury12,859 (2023:

9,763)

4,269 (2023:

3,097)

2,000 (1,071)

Parks &

## Recreation

9,500 (2023:

7,524)

## N/AN/A

## Public Safety

19,000 (2023:

15,812)

## N/AN/A

## Engagement

Note: Numbers in parenthesis = 2023 data

## FacebookInstagramLinkedIn

City of Woodbury51 (2023: 23)

63 (2023: 49)

## 33 (N/A)

Parks &

## Recreation

## 42 (2023: 6)N/AN/A

## Public Safety

135 (2023:

113)

## N/AN/A

## Key Audience Trends

• Audiences continue to lean female—usually by as much as

70/30%.

• You’re trending older with audiences—even on Instagram. Your

primary audience is 35-54 year-olds.

•You’re still not reaching many 18-34 year-olds across

platforms—but your new TikTok presence could solve that a bit.

• Your LinkedIn audience—while new—is right on point with an

emphasis on government workers and operations personnel.

## City of Woodbury - Facebook

•Total Followers: 12,859 (2023: 9,733)

•Total posts: 54 (July-Oct.)

•14 posts per month

•51 engagements per post

•41 likes

•5 comments

•5 shares

## City of Woodbury - Facebook

## City of Woodbury - Facebook

## City of Woodbury - Facebook

## Formats

•Photos: 14 posts – 86 (19) engagements per post

•Carousels: 7 posts – 37 (72) engagements per post

• Branded graphics: 6 posts – 34 (33) engagements per post

•Links: 1 post – 30 (19) engagements per post

•Videos: 23 posts – 23 (32) engagements per post

• Events: 3 post - 4 engagements per post

## City of Woodbury - Facebook

## Themes

•News: 9 posts – 93 (35) engagements per post

•People: 7 posts – 59 (5) engagements per post

•Events: 9 posts – 31 (31) engagements per post

•Contests: 8 posts - 21 engagements per post

•Holidays: 4 post – 14 (1) engagements per post

•Education: 18 posts – 8 engagements per post

•Programming: 4 posts – 6 engagements per post

•Jobs: 2 posts – 4 engagements per post

## City of Woodbury - Observations

In 2023, 35 of your 90 posts I audited were shared posts, and

those posts generated just 12 engagements. In 2025, you only

had 1 shared post in the audited period and it generated 5

engagements. I’d suggest stopping the sharing of all posts on

your Facebook feed.

In 2023, you also shared 18 branded graphics that generated 33

engagements. In 2025, you cut that frequency to 6 branded

graphic posts (they’re still generating 33 engagements per post,

interestingly). Nice work!

## City of Woodbury - Observations

Your posting cadence on Facebook feels better than in 2023—14

posts a month is much more effective (and manageable) than the

30 posts a month you were averaging in 2023.

23 of your 54 posts from July-Oct. included a link in the text.

Social media platforms are driving just 3% of all traffic to the City

of Woodbury web site—a trend I’m seeing across all industries

and sectors. I’d stop including links in any posts and include more

key messages right in the text itself.

## Content Observations

You’ve leaned more heavily

into Reels content on

Facebook—23 of your 54

posts from July-Oct. were

## Reels. However, those Reels

are averaging just 23

engagements per post (less

than half the average). And

they’re the same Reels as

Instagram even though your

audience on Facebook is a

little different.

## Content Observations

Your video content—largely—is not

being seen either. Your last 10

videos on Facebook averaged 54

seconds in length but average watch

time per video was just 8 seconds.

What’s more, some videos were

more than one minute long (see at

right)—would probably suggest

cutting most videos to 45 seconds or

less.

## Content Observations

Carousel posts recapping

Woodbury events are typically

outperforming the average in

terms of engagements. If

you’re not already, I’d suggest

making these types of carousel

recap posts a standard

practice for all big Woodbury

events.

## Content Observations

On the flip side, these “Event”

posts are always

underperforming. Your last 3

Event posts generated just 4

engagements per post. There

are other, more effective ways

to promote upcoming events—

I’d suggest using social to recap

events with carousel posts vs.

using events and other posts to

promote them.

## City of Woodbury - Instagram

•Total Followers: 4,278 followers (3,060)

•48 total posts (July.-Oct.)

•12 posts per month

•68 engagements per post

• 66 likes

• 2 comments

## City of Woodbury - Instagram

## City of Woodbury - Instagram

## City of Woodbury - Instagram

## Formats

•Photos: 11 (16) posts – 49 (60) engagements per post

•Carousels: 8 (25) posts – 99 (56) engagements per post

•Reels: 26 (5) posts – 71 (41) engagements per post

•Videos: 1 (2) posts – 31 (26) engagements per post

•Branded graphics: 2 (8) posts – 18 (13) engagements per

post

## City of Woodbury - Instagram

## Themes

•Recognition: 5 posts; 133 engagements per post

•News: 9 posts; 123 engagements per post

•Event recap: 5 posts, 92 engagements per post

•Other: 2 posts; 62 engagements per post

•Event promo: 10 posts; 39 engagements per post

•Contest: 5 (7) posts, 38 (38) engagements per post

•Education: 6 posts, 34 engagements per post

•Jobs: 3 posts, 19 engagements per post

•Holidays: 3 posts; 14 engagements per post

## City of Woodbury - Observations

•Your cadence of 12 posts a month on Instagram feels perfect—I would

recommend that exact cadence in 2026 as it will give you more time to

create carousel and Reel posts.

•However, maybe you balance out content formats a bit. 26 of your 48 post

from July-Oct. were Reels. Meanwhile you only had 8 carousel posts (your

top-performing format). Aim for a 50/50 split, but you may benefit by

leaning 60/40 carousels vs. Reels.

• Much like the last audit, you had a number of posts with an actual link or

“link in bio” language. But we know social media is only driving 3 percent

of all traffic to the City of Woodbury web site. I’d focus on keeping people

on Instagram and measuring awareness, engagement and watch time as

your key metrics.

## Content Observations

Event recaps are

performing much better

than event promo posts

(a trend I’m seeing with

other industries, too).

Your 10 event promo

posts averaged 39

engagements per post

whereas your 5 event

recap posts averaged 92

engagements per post.

## Content Observations

Not surprisingly, your

top two performing

formats on Instagram

were Carousels (99

engagements per

post) and Reels (71

engagements per

post). I might

recommend limiting

yourself to just these

two formats in 2026.

## Content Observations

Your last 10 Reels on Instagram

averaged 38 seconds long and

average watch time for those

videos was 6 seconds (16% of all

videos).

The videos that worked best were

your shorter, more fun videos (18

seconds or less) which had

average watch times of 8 seconds

(44% of these videos).

## City of Woodbury - LinkedIn

•Total Followers: 3,060 followers (N/A)

•21 total posts (May-Oct.)

•4 posts per month

• 33 engagements per post

• 30 likes

• 2 comments

•1 share

## City of Woodbury - LinkedIn

## City of Woodbury - LinkedIn

## City of Woodbury - LinkedIn

## Formats

•Carousels: 4 posts – 30 engagements per post

•Photos: 6 posts – 32 engagements per post

•Branded graphics: 5 posts – 49 engagements per post

•Link: 1 post – 16 engagements per post

•Videos: 5 posts – 13 engagements per post

## City of Woodbury - LinkedIn

## Themes

•People: 6 posts; 60 engagements per post

•Recognition: 4 posts; 31 engagements per post

•Jobs: 9 posts, 17 engagements per post

•Programming: 1 post, 9 engagements per post

•Holidays: 1 post; 4 engagements per post

## City of Woodbury - LinkedIn

•You doubled your following on LinkedIn from 2023 to 2025 and you’ve

established a steady cadence of posts with just 3-4 posts a month.

Nice work!

• However, you’re over-indexing on jobs posts—almost half of your

posts over the last six months were posts promoting open jobs.

Instead, plan for a 80/20 mix where 80% of your content focuses on

people, awards and culture and 20% focuses on promoting open jobs.

• Proof of that? Your top two most successful content buckets from May-

Oct. were ”people” and “awards” generating 60 and 31 engagements

per post—far above the next bucket (Jobs) at 17 engagements per

post.

## Content Observations

Every time you recognize City

of Woodbury employees with

photo or carousel posts, this

content is almost always a top

performer. Your 6 ”people”

posts from May-Oct. generated

60 engagements per post and

your 4 ”award” posts generated

31 engagements per post.

## Content Observations

Instead of using your LinkedIn page to

promote open positions, use it more to tell

people the story of what it’s like to work for

the City of Woodbury. Focus on people,

recognition, culture and your office/work

environment. Your 9 jobs posts from May-

Oct. generated just 9 engagements per

post.

## Web Findings

## Web Findings

Organic social is driving very little traffic to the City of Woodbury web site—

less than 3% of overall traffic to the City site.

So, including links in social posts isn’t an effective strategy for traffic driving

in 2025 (I’m seeing this across industries and sectors).

## Web Findings

## Web Findings

Your top 10 most visited pages on the City of Woodbury site can give you

a good barometer around what to build future social content around (i.e.,

Lookout Point and birthday parties!).

Maybe look at the top 50 quarterly for content ideas.

## Parks & Recreation - Facebook

•Total Followers: 7,524

•Total posts: 45 (Aug.-Oct.)

•15 posts per month

•42 engagements per post

•31 likes

• 6 comments

•5 shares

## Parks & Recreation - Facebook

## Formats

•Events: 5 posts; 63 engagements per post

•Branded graphics: 13 (19) posts, 4 (4) engagements per post

•Carousels: 5 (13) posts, 70 (11) engagements per post

•Photos: 9 (9) posts; 38 (6) engagements per post

•Links: 2 (5) posts; 6 (3) engagements per post

•Text: 4 (2) posts; 5 (3) engagements per post

•Video: 7 (1) post; 45 (6) engagements per post

## Parks & Recreation - Facebook

## Themes

•Promotion: 11 posts; 20 engagements per post

•Event recaps: 2 posts, 31 engagements per post

•Event promos: 13 posts, 46 engagements per post

•Programming: 3 (24) posts, 7 (4) engagements per post

•News: 11 (7) posts, 82 (3) engagements per post

•Other: 2 posts; 7 engagements per post

•Education: 2 posts, 11 engagements per post

•People: 1 post, 51 engagements per post

## Parks & Recreation - Observations

•Went from 24 posts a month in 2023 to 15 posts a month in 2025—a much

more manageable and effective cadence for a smaller organization. I would

even ratchet the cadence back a bit more to 10-12 posts a month given

your average engagement rate.

•The page also went from 6 engagements per post in 2023 to 42

engagements per post in 2025! Part of your success in Aug.-Oct. was

providing video and photo updates of the progress on Woodbury Central

Park.

•35 of your 45 posts from Aug.-Oct. were either event promos, news or

promotional posts. That’s far too much content designed to promote the

city’s activities—and not nearly enough designed to drive city pride and

recapping all the great events you organize.

## Content Observations

Using Reels to give community

members updates on key city

projects is a perfect use of

short-form video. I would

suggest leaning into more of

this creative, short-form video

that provides key updates to

community members in 2026.

## Content Observations

Event posts like this rarely

outperformed the average in

terms of engagement. In fact,

3 of your 5 event posts from

Aug.-Oct. generated fewer

than 10 engagements per

post. Instead, I would

suggest using Facebook as a

place to recap these events

via a carousel post full of

pics of people at the events.

## Content Observations

These types of promotional posts

did not fare well in Aug.-Oct

generating on average 20

engagements per post (and if you

take out the post at right, which

generated 172 engagements, the

remaining 10 promo posts

generated just 5 engagements

per post). I’d suggest minimizing

this content bucket to 1-2 posts a

month at most.

## Woodbury Public Safety

## Public Safety - Facebook

•Total Followers: 15,812

•Total posts: 55 (Aug.-Oct.)

•18 posts per month

•135 engagements per post

•119 likes

•7 comments

•9 shares

## Public Safety - Facebook

## Formats

•Branded graphics: 5 (15) posts, 19 (90) engagements per post

•Photos: 20 (13) posts, 123 (155) engagements per post

•Carousels: 17 (13) posts, 179 (174) engagements per post

•Events: 6 posts, 8 engagements per post

•Reels: 6 (3) posts, 115 (63) engagements per post

•Text: 1 post, 194 engagements per post

## Public Safety - Facebook

## Themes

•Events: 14 (12) posts, 42 (52) engagements per post

•People: 19 (10) post, 167 (197) engagements per post

•Community: 9 posts, 154 engagements per post

•Education: 9 (8) posts, 27 (54) engagements per post

•News: 6 (7) posts, 232 (149) engagements per post

•Jobs: 1 (3) posts, 62 (40) engagements per post

•Holidays: 2 (2) posts, 277 (34) engagements per post

•Volunteer: 1 post, 21 engagements per post

•Fun: 1 post, 92 engagements per post

•Other: 2 posts; 184 engagements per post

## Public Safety - Observations

•18 posts a month is a little high—I would try to ratchet back frequency to

about 12-15 posts a month to free up time to work on even better video

content.

• Good mix of formats—however, would significantly cut back use of branded

graphics and shared posts and lean into photo and carousel posts, which

are working the best.

• Much like other pages, branded graphics are often hard to read and contain

way too much text. I would suggest using original imagery for these posts

and include the text that is on the branded graphic right in the text of the

post.

• Combination of original photography and focus on the public safety

employees is working best for this page—consider leaning even more into

this content as a way to build trust with the community.

## Content Observations

Carousel posts recognizing

Woodbury police and

firefighters are almost always

your top performers (and were

in 2023, too). I would suggest

making a minimum of 4-5 of

these types of posts every

month.

## Content Observations

All video content shared from

Aug.-Oct. was traditional,

journalistic-style video

(horizontal, long-form)—and

those posts averaged 115

engagements per post.

However, these videos would

perform even better if they were

set up as Reels (short-form,

quicker cuts, vertical

orientation).

## Content Observations

You had 6 “Event” posts from Aug.-

Oct. and those posts averaged just

8 engagements per post—well

below your average of 135 per

post. I would recommend stopping

these entirely and use different

marketing strategies to promote

upcoming events. Use Facebook

posts to recap these events vs.

promoting them (a strategy that’s

already working very well for you).

## Discovery Sessions

## • Mayor Anne Burt

## • Council Member Steve Morris

## • Council Member Kim Wilson

## • Council Member Donna Stafford

## • Sam Verdick

## • Elizabeth Owens

## • Anna Kemper

## • Genesis Sudderth

## • Ashley Bednar

## How Leaders See Woodbury’s

## Social Media Today

## Strong Foundation, But Still Fragmented

• Social media content is seen as professional, thoughtful and

much improved (graphics, videos, newsletters, Destination

Woodbury all get praise).

• Social is now viewed as a core tool, especially for public

safety and big projects.

• But channels still feel disjointed – City, Public Safety and

Parks & Rec don’t always look/feel connected.

• Leaders are asking, “Are we actually reaching everyone we

need to?” – especially seniors and new residents.

## Where Stakeholders See Gaps and Risks

## Key Pain Points Residents Are Likely Feeling

• Priority topics under-served on social

• Water treatment plant / “Mount Woodbury”

• Budget & taxes (truth-in-taxation, budget meetings)

• Commission work and major capital projects (e-

bikes/scooters, new public safety building, environmental

stewardship).

## Where Stakeholders See Gaps and Risks

## Key Pain Points Residents Are Likely Feeling

• Voice and purpose are unclear

•Social leans heavily informational; brand voice is not consistent

across pages.

• Unclear whether each platform is for news, engagement or

community-building.

• Measurement and goals

• Share KPIs and results with stakeholders in different ways and

more often.

## What Leaders Want More Of

## Content and Connection Leaders Are Asking For

• Human stories that “put a face with the City”

• Staff at every level, including admins, seasonal workers, plow drivers,

public safety and parks teams.

• Human-interest stories about residents, youth, and Woodbury’s growing

diversity.

• Short, clear, visual explainers

• Simple breakdowns of taxes, budgets, water projects, construction and

why they matter.

•Behind-the-scenes tours and explainers for big projects (water

treatment, new PS building, etc.).

## What Leaders Want More Of

## Content and Connection Leaders Are Asking For

• Stronger reach to key audiences

• Seniors (pairing social with print, email, senior center and facilities).

• New residents and young people (welcome events, TikTok/IG

Reels, youth-focused content).

• More fun and creativity within a professional tone

• Short-form video (Reels/TikTok) under a minute (preferably 30

seconds).

•Authentic, less-scripted content, more trending/humorous moments

where appropriate.

## Competitors – Audience Size

## FacebookInstagramLinkedIn

## Boise

16,000

5,472

1,414

## St. Louis Park10,0004,510

1,657

## City of Savage8,5002,6971,529

## City of Woodbury9,7633,0971,071

## Competitors – Engagement

## FacebookInstagramLinkedIn

## Boise

420478

18

## St. Louis Park585521

## City of Savage4220115

## City of Woodbury2349

33

## Competitor Social Media – What’s working

Short-form video wins everywhere

• Instagram Reels (and TikTok) consistently generate 5–20x more engagement than

## Facebook or LinkedIn

Event recaps outperform event promotion

• Recap posts routinely generate 3–8x more engagement than promotional posts

People-first content drives results

• Recognition, staff stories and community moments outperform branded graphics

and job postings.

Posting more ≠ better performance

• High Facebook volume often correlates with lower engagement

What competitors are getting wrong

## Over-posting on Facebook

•40–55 posts/month with modest engagement is common

Too many branded graphics

• Branded graphics consistently underperform across all cities

LinkedIn used as a job board

• Heavy “We’re Hiring” content leads to low engagement

Underutilized community management

•Cities rarely reply to comments or questions

## Recommendations

Must dos: Channel-specific content

Create a channel-specific content strategy that speaks directly to

key audiences.

Why? Your audiences on your four primary social channels are

different—you need more personalized content that speaks

specifically to those different audiences.

How? Tweak content by platform to speak to the following audiences:

## Facebook = Grandparents, older parents Boomers/Gen Xers;

Instagram = younger parents, Millennials; LinkedIn = potential City of

Woodbury employees, all ages, professional

For example...

For example...

## Facebook Version

## Tree Lighting Celebration Returns to a Newly Reopened Central Park

Woodbury’s inaugural Tree Lighting Celebration is just around the corner! Join us on Thursday,

Dec. 4 at Central Park for an evening of community, music, and holiday spirit.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m.

Tree lighting takes place at approximately 6:30 p.m.

This event also supports the community food drive — neighbors are encouraged to bring a non-

perishable item if they’re able.

## Enjoy:

• Hot cocoa

## • Live performances from Open Door Community Theatre

## • A message from Mayor Anne Burt

• A food truck

• And a special chance to explore the beautifully renovated Central Park!

Bring your family, invite your neighbors, and help us kick off the holiday season together.

For example...

## Instagram Version

Central Park is glowing again — and so is our annual Tree Lighting

Celebration!

On Dec. 4, we’re lighting up the newly reopened space with hot cocoa,

music, and a whole lot of holiday cheer. Come take a peek at the

renovated park (swipe

), then join us for:

• Live performances

• A message from the mayor

• A food truck + treats

• And the tree lighting around 6:30 p.m.

Want to spread a little kindness, too? Bring a non-perishable donation for

the community food drive.

Grab your people, bundle up, and we’ll see you on the 4th.

## Must dos: Recap vs. Promote

Use City of Woodbury social channels (specifically Facebook and

Instagram) to recap events, instill city pride and create a sense or

FOMO vs. promoting upcoming events.

Why? Your current five posts on Instagram recapping events drove 92

engagements per post while your 10 posts promoting upcoming

events drove just 39. This is a trend I’ve seen across other industries

and sectors, too.

How? Flip the existing approach. Use 3-5 posts a month (carousel

format) to recap Woodbury events and use 2-3 posts a month to

promote upcoming events.

Must dos: No more links

Stop using social posts as strategy to drive traffic to the City

of Woodbury web site—keep people on platform. The goal is

almost always about awareness, engagement and watch time.

Why? Social media is driving just 3 percent of all traffic to the City

of Woodbury web site.

How? Stop including links in almost all social posts. Instead, re-

engineer social content to drive awareness, engagement and

watch time.

For example...

Imagine the same photo, but with a driver

standing next to the plow, waving, or giving a

thumbs-up. Or even better: a quick portrait +

quote.

Caption idea:

“Meet Marcus — he’s been plowing

Woodbury streets for 14 years. He’s on the

road at 4 a.m. during snow events and asks

one simple thing: ‘Help us do our jobs safely

— please don’t park on the street during

snowfalls.’”

From this....To this....

Must dos: Lean into original photos

Eliminate shared posts and branded graphics and lean into

original photography and authenticity across all channels.

Why? The data continues to tell you that shared posts and branded

graphics don’t work—on any channel. Real, authentic content is what’s

working for many organizations in 2025. Lean into photography and videos

that feature not only Woodbury residents, but also City of Woodbury staff.

How? Make sure almost every post across every platform includes photos

or video that feature City of Woodbury staff, Woodbury residents or City of

Woodbury environments (parks, office spaces, etc.).

For example....

## Concept:

A police officer or parks worker walking along the

trail while explaining each rule.

Opening hook:

“E-transportation is exploding in Woodbury — here

are 5 things we want every rider to know.”

Shots could include:

•Officer riding an e-bike (wide shot)

•Officer demonstrating safe passing

•Office showing where to ride with simple gestures

•Quick POV of the trail

From this....

To this....

Must dos: Instagram format focus

Make your City of Woodbury Instagram page a Reels + Carousels

only account.

Why? These are the top two formats for you currently—and it’s not

close (carousels: 99 engagements per post; Reels: 71 engagements

per post).

How? You probably want to eliminate branded graphics and traditional

video here anyway. Moving to a two-format channel is on trend with

what many other larger brands are already doing on Instagram.

Must dos: Stronger hooks for videos

Use stronger, more creative hooks in your videos to capture

more “watch time.”

•Why? Average watch time for your last 10 videos on Facebook was 8 seconds.

Meanwhile, the average duration of those videos is 54 seconds (translation:

People are only watching 15% of your videos).

•How? I’d suggest a combo approach. First, shorten all video content on

Facebook + Instagram so no video is longer than 45 seconds. Ideally, you would

aim for 30 seconds or less. Next, think critically about the first 5-8 seconds of

your videos and brainstorm creative ways to hook people’s attention so they

consume more video content. The goal should be at least 15 second watch time

for a 45 second video (which would mean people would be watching 33% of your

videos).

For example...

• “Did you know...?” hooks - “Did you know 200+ kids use this park every

day?”

• Quick behind-the-scenes reveal - “Ever wondered what it looks like inside

a snowplow?”

• “Before/after” or “then/now” hooks - “Here’s Central Park six months ago...

and here’s what it looks like today.”

• “Person, not the project” hooks - “Meet Isaiah — he’s the person behind

keeping our parks clean.”

• “Myth vs. fact” hooks - “Myth: The city decides your property tax rate. Fact:

Here’s what actually happens.”

Strongly consider: Consolidating accounts

## Consider consolidating Parks & Rec and Public Safety under City

of Woodbury social media accounts.

•Why? #1: Brand cohesion—you’re asking residents to follow multiple pages to

get information about the city. Tone, voice and style is different for each account,

too. #2: Resources—None of the people running these accounts is a full-time

social media professional. One account would make things easier on everyone.

#3: Better content. If you had one channel for all three areas, it would result in

better overall content and results.

•How? Elizabeth and Anna would still contribute content—but all content would

run through City of Woodbury accounts. If Parks & Rec or Public Safety had

special events they wanted even more visibility for, you could consider boosting

posts or creating Facebook/Instagram ads.

What would it look like?

• Weekly or monthly content planning meeting between City /

## Parks / Public Safety

• One shared content calendar (e.g., Google doc)

• One brand voice guide used across departments

## Second priority: Back to UGC

Get back to leveraging more user-generated content on

Instagram.

Why? It was working in 2023! User-generated content was one of

your top performers on Instagram (parks content generated 68

engagements per post and many of those were UGC).

How? It wouldn’t even have to be that many posts—just 2 user-

generated posts a month would go a long ways toward taking the

pressure off staff and building community. Make them Carousel posts

featuring 3-4 pieces of UGC staff has noticed over the last couple

weeks.

## Examples

## Second priority: Adjust LinkedIn

content strategy

Adjust your content mix on LinkedIn to provide more “Why

work for the City of Woodbury” content.

Why? This is the kind of content people look for—and expect—

on LinkedIn. And, in the spots where you are sharing this content

now, it’s working.

How? Adjust your content mix to focus on 1 jobs post a month

and 3-4 culture, people, recognition or work environment posts

per month.

## Examples

Second priority: More fun on TiKTok

Start using TikTok as a channel to have more fun and use

humor and trends as hooks to drive awareness for City

initiatives, parks and programs.

Why? Your competitors’ most successful posts in 2025 have

been content that focuses on having fun (or playing off trends).

How? Use humor, fun and trends as the hook in your videos and

wrap in education and information on parks and programs on the

back end.

Potential ideas:

• “What does a day in the life of a plow operator

look like?”

• “5 things you don’t know about the new water

treatment plant.”

• “POV: You’re a kid seeing Central Park

reopening for the first time.”

Long-term ideas: Consider a City of

Woodbury podcast

Consider a City of Woodbury podcast to compliment your

City of Woodbury newsletters

•Why? Podcast listenership has never been higher and the City of

Woodbury needs an owned, long-form outlet to discuss more nuanced,

complex topics that can’t be communicated effective on Facebook,

Instagram or TikTok.

•How? Could you create a short (15-30 minutes) monthly podcast with

Ashley or Genesis as the host and interview a range of City of Woodbury

staff and residents. For example, in March you could interview the general

manager of Eagle Valley Golf Course to talk about the upcoming season.

Or this fall you could have interviewed the Parks & Recreation Director on

the grand re-opening of Central Park and the changes made.

## Long-term ideas: Use Threads

for “real time”

Use Threads as your real-time social media channel of choice.

•Why? You paused your Twitter account in 2023, but you still have needs around

real-time news and information you want to get out to residents (multiple City

Council members mentions this, too). And Threads now boasts more daily active

users than Twitter.

•How? Use Threads as a place to share real-time news and information residents

care about—like traffic and construction updates. You could also use it for event

promotion posts that you can move from Facebook and Instagram to Threads.

Finally, use it to post “throwaway” visuals you source from residents and City of

Woodbury staff (similar to Northern Lights photo from a few weeks ago).

## Q&A