PREPARED BY: Communications Department
DATE: March 20, 2024
SUBJECT: February 15, 2023 – March 14, 2024, Communications Update
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE:
Provide regular marketing and communication updates to the Board of Health.
| SOURCE | February 15 - March 14 | January 15 - February 14 | DIFFERENCE |
|---|---|---|---|
| News Releases, Media Advisories and Statements, or Notices Issued | 8 | 9 | -1 |
| Media Requests Received | 13 | 18 | -5 |
| Wechu.org pageviews | 94,555 | 110,312 | -15,757 |
| YouTube Channel Subscribers | 1,766 | 1,766 | - |
| Email Subscribers | 7,157 | 7,170 | -13 |
| Emails Distributed | 7 | 11 | -4 |
| Facebook Fans | 19,197 | 19,186 | 11 |
| Facebook Posts | 65 | 74 | -9 |
| Twitter Followers | 8,643 | 8,643 | - |
| Twitter Posts | 68 | 78 | -10 |
| Instagram Followers | 1,662 | 1,637 | 25 |
| Instagram Posts | 37 | 36 | 1 |
| LinkedIn Followers | 1,678 | 1,668 | 10 |
| LinkedIn Posts | 14 | 13 | 1 |
| Media Exposure | 88 | 139 | -51 |
Data Notes can be provided upon request.
Media Exposure Overview Graph
Notes: From February 15 – March 14, we experienced three main peaks of media exposure:
February 26: We were mentioned in a story about Ontario public health units merging, and local stories around a recreational pool closure following a wild animal event.
March 4 – 6: Over these two days, several stories were published with information around student immunizations, measles, and an update on Consumption and Treatment Site provincial reviews.
March 12: Stories were related to an opioid overdose alert issued by the WECHU.
Website Overview Graph
Notes: From February 15 – March 14, we saw very similar website traffic patterns as the previous month, with no notable changes
Social Media Overview Graph
Lighter blue line represents the current month, darker blue line represents the previous month. Notes: We saw minor fluctuations in followers over the month, notably a larger increase on Instagram.
Discussion - Break the Vape Challenge
The Communications Department worked closely with the Healthy Schools (promotion) Department on the Break the Vape challenge. This challenge called for Grade 6 – 12 students to create their own public service announcement video to encourage other students to either quit vaping, or not start vaping.
The Communications Department completed a privacy impact assessment on a new web-based platform to allow students to submit their videos. Additionally, a wide variety of communication outreach was done to promote the challenge, including a new webpage, social media posts (organic and boosted) and a news release.
As a result, the webpage was one of our top five visited sites for five weeks, and all the local media outlets covered the story (via on-camera interviews, radio call-in shows, and from the news release). At the close of the video submission timeframe, close to 100 videos were received. After review, the top videos will go online for public voting, which the Communications Department will continue to assist through public outreach and web support