How do you engage residents in water management through effective communication and a clever content strategy?

To achieve the goals of Waterschap Zuiderzeeland, we implemented a long-term content strategy. This strategy included various creative formats that ensured the message would stick and create recognition, ultimately turning the target audience into fans. With a distinctive design that aligned with the water board’s identity, the content, and the audience, all content was connected across channels. 

We also developed the visual tagline "Waterschap Zuiderzeeland, keeping the land above (clean) water," which immediately and clearly communicates what the water board does. 

We ensured continuous visibility with campaign flights, serving all content formats simultaneously in each flight. This allowed the formats to complement and reinforce each other, enhancing the overall results of the flight. By working per flight, we could monitor the content closely and make adjustments as needed. 

We developed the following creative formats: 

• ‘Even peilen’ (hero format): A high-end production where a presenter and a resident set out to find answers to water-related questions from the target audience. This engaged residents in the importance of the water board. 

• ‘Waterwerkers’ (text format): Portraits and interviews of real "water heroes" that showcase the work of the water board. 

• ‘Jouw water, ons water’ (visual format): Authentic content shared by a proud employee. 

• ‘De Tuin van nr. 27’ (human interest format): Water awareness at a personal level, where residents showcase their gardens and share tips for a climate-friendly garden. 

• ‘De Waterplaat’ (user-generated content): Followers of the water board share their most beautiful photos on Instagram. 

Additionally, we helped the water board present their "mandatory" content, such as board meeting announcements or project updates, in a more organised manner. We advised using a fixed emoji at the beginning of each social copy for every section, making the different sections immediately recognisable. 

The paid campaign primarily ran on Facebook and Instagram, as the majority of the target audience is represented there. YouTube (organically) was also used for video content. Certain content was organically shared on LinkedIn as well, reaching other stakeholders – a nice bonus.