Causeway Coast & Glens Council using social media 'totally ineffectively'

At last night's Leisure and Development Committee meeting, Councillor Darryl Wilson raised significant concerns about the ineffective use of social media and public relations to promote local services and facilities.

Councillor Wilson highlighted the deficiencies in the Council's PR strategies, pointing out the lack of adequate promotion for leisure centres, art centres, community centres, and events. He stressed that despite a substantial wage bill of nearly £40 million, the PR efforts remain woefully inadequate.

Wilson remarked that the Council has competent managers who could handle PR tasks, yet there is minimal engagement on social media platforms. "Our facilities deserve better promotion," he asserted.

Wilson expressed frustration over this long-standing issue and noted that he has advocated for improved PR since 2014, but little has changed. "If this were the private sector, heads would be rolling," he remarked.

Wilson cited specific, alarming examples of poor PR practices, including ineffective social media posts and failed advertising campaigns. He mentioned an incident involving a dead hyperlink in a promotion for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day event, which resulted in wasted resources and lost engagement.

"We're not selling our wonderful facilities effectively," Wilson lamented. He said there are empty tennis courts in underused community centres and that the Council is missing out on potential users because they don't know what's available or how to access them.

Councillor Wilson proposed a quarterly report on the usage figures for all leisure centres, art centres, community centres etc. This report will also include detailed advertising strategies and their effectiveness.

Wilson said that the Council needs to be competitive with its facilities. He said if the Council can't be competitive, to "sell them".

Councillor Cara McShane praised the council's social media efforts for events. "Our event promotion on social media is fantastic. The live updates and radio coverage have been very positive," McShane said.

Director of Leisure and Development Pat Mulvenna acknowledged the positive and negative feedback, saying;

"Thank you for your comments. It's encouraging to hear the positive feedback. However, I fully acknowledge your concerns. As you mentioned, our corporate-level PR is exceptionally light. Our teams are doing their best, despite PR not being their primary responsibility, and resources are limited.

"This issue has been discussed at the SMT level, and our ongoing organisational review process is looking into ways to improve this. We recognise that our self-promotion is lacking, and our website is not serving as the window to the borough that it should be.

"Rest assured, this matter is under active discussion, and we aim to make improvements. In the meantime, I am happy to provide usage figures at the next L&D committee meeting."

Causeway Coast & Glens Council using social media 'totally ineffectively' - Councillor Darryl Wilson