CASE STUDY
How Professional Social Media Transformed Ridgefield Park, NJ
The Challenge…
In 2022, long-time Ridgefield Park residents were running the majority of town events and services, with no one to pick up the slack when they retired.
The largest demographic of the town - younger adults - was not involved in traditional town events or essential volunteer emergency services. New families moving in were unaware of local events, businesses, volunteer opportunities, or the Fourth of July Committee - just to name a few.
Ridgefield Park’s social media accounts were unpolished and lacking followers and engagement. There were typos and grammatical errors, and technology was not being effectively deployed.
The town desperately needed to appeal to a larger demographic, to stop its rich history from fading.
That’s when Mirth & Joy stepped in.
The first ten days…
In late 2022, Mirth & Joy opened a new Instagram account for the the town with the name @ridgefieldparknj. We had the following goals:
Findability
People were already searching for the town's account. To make it easy to find, we chose a clear name.
Shareability
To encourage the sharing of town posts, we followed the accounts of neighboring towns and local businesses
Followers
Findability, shareability, and the use of reels was, and still is, an effective way to build follower numbers
Within just 10 days the new Ridgefield Park account went from 0 to 287 followers
It grew to over 3000 followers by the end of 2023
This represents almost a quarter of the town’s population.
Highlights & Successes
Since 2022, Ridgefield Park has witnessed increased community engagement from all demographics, in all areas of the town, at community projects, events, and volunteer opportunities.
After adding posts to Instagram and facebook, the previously poorly attended town Archery Clinic had enough attendance that lines were created to take turns.
Nature walks doubled in attendance and continue to steadily grow due to social media posts, and have also boosted volunteerism in the preserve.
Concert attendance increased on average 15% with some residents seeing a live stream and leaving the house to join.
A first time fundraising event sold out and generated 50 donated prizes from local businesses entirely through social media outreach.
Business visibility increased, especially those without social media or the capacity to market themselves
After a call for submissions on social media, we created reels from residents’ photos with a very positive response.
Local high school students are now involved in covering town events. Getting them showing up in the community, and giving them real world experience for a resume or college application.
The town has gained attention from the NJ DEP, ANJEC, Bergen County Commissioners, local chamber of commerces, just to name a few.
We have built relationships entirely through organic social media, resulting in opportunities to highlight our events to a larger audience - with several features in the local paper and local news channels.