January 2024 - Parks & Recreation - 51

worked with over the past couple
of years, but [also] utilized even
more influencers to help the KC
metro area vote for the Overland
Park Farmers' Market. It worked as
we won! Many of these influencers
have become frequent shoppers of
the market and regular customers
to vendors, so many of them were
excited about us being the No. 1
market in America, which resulted
in them promoting the market
competition for free! They rallied
behind the market and city and truly
helped us win. "
The City of Overland Park prioritizes
relationship building when
partnering with influencers. " [W]e
will continue to foster the relationships
with the influencers themselves
- caring about who they are
as people comes first, " Stanley says.
" We will certainly work with them
in whatever creative, unique ways
we can come up with that benefit
the market, but also their platform.
It has to benefit both parties for it
to work and seem authentic. "
Building Community
Both Stanley and Adams suggest
that park and recreation professionals
examine their own social
media habits - such as what content
they interact with and what
kind of accounts they like to follow
- when looking to improve their
agencies' social media strategy and
pursue
partnerships
with
social
media influencers.
Stanley says, " In my case,
I
worked with the market vendors
and staff. I asked them who they
see at the market, who they follow
personally and professionally, and
who tags their accounts to establish
a core group of social media
influencers that we might want to
work with. "
" Whether it's a parks and recreation
communications person or a
digital media specialist for the city,
get a group of people together who
are social media forward thinkers
to figure out who your city's biggest
influencers are. From there,
just reach out with your ask. That
ask could be an in-kind partnership
or a paid opportunity. Both concepts
work well. Some influencers
love in-kind offers, [whereas] others
will only want to be paid. Just
figure out what's best for whatever
it is you're trying to promote and/
or your budget, " she says.
Valuing Partnerships
Adams recommends that park
and recreation agencies consider
budget as a factor when pursuing
influencer partnerships and evaluating
social media strategy. " Great
Rivers Greenway is...very fortunate
to have the tax support that
we have, and so we have a budget
to be able to play with social media,
which helps in our success.
It's advertising. So, if your budget
is small, use it strategically. Maybe
you only activate one influencer
this year.... Be strategic, but understand
that a lot of work goes
into this content, and we should be
willing to pay people for their reach
and expertise, " she says.
If funds are not available, Adams
suggests offering influencers
thanks and compensation in other
ways. " Build your relationships,
value people how you can, even if
it's just free swag or hosting a custom
event - in our case, we did a
storytime and a stroll with a mom's
group and a greenway tour and
mindful
meditation
with another
popular influencer. Be creative
with what you can offer people. "
Many influencers provide social
media kits with information on
pricing and performance metrics.
Great Rivers Greenway and the City
of Overland Park prioritize building
relationships with influencers.
Stanley says, " Five years ago, I
wasn't aware of a single social media
kit from an influencer. Now,
the majority of professional, fulltime
social media influencers all
have social media kits with set
pricing and are...operating their
accounts as a [business]. However,
I've learned there's still usually
room to negotiate. "
" It's a game changer... " Stanley
says. " It's also much more cost effective
than traditional forms of advertising.
You just have to be flexible
and creative, as each influencer
will have their own idea of what
works for their account. "
Alexandra Reynolds is Associate Editor of Parks
& Recreation magazine (areynolds@nrpa.org).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | J ANUAR Y 2 0 2 4 | Parks & Recreation
51
PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS
January 2024 - Parks & Recreation

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