Public Outreach Campaign
Sensis has been working for over five years to advance ZEEVIC’s award-winning vision to integrate electric vehicles into Maryland’s transportation network. When ZEEVIC was ready to reinvigorate their public outreach campaign to increase electric vehicle registrations in Maryland, Sensis developed a strategic public engagement plan that promotes the benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) to a diverse group of Maryland residents. Leveraging the increasing popularity of EVs, the team’s multi-faceted outreach strategy combined the revitalization of the ZEEVIC website, social media accounts, and marketing collateral with a full calendar of statewide community events, integrating broad digital and in-person outreach to educate the public about EVs—and delivered bottom-line results.
Challenge
With in-person engagement traditionally used to expand ZEEVIC’s geographic reach across Maryland, the team had to quickly pivot when the Covid-19 pandemic suspended in-person events. Since Sensis recognized the benefits of virtual engagement long before the pandemic pushed public engagement online, the team was well-positioned to replace in-person outreach methods with digital engagement tools. Using social media campaigns, targeted geo-fencing advertising, and interactive website content, the team was able to continue expanding the reach of ZEEVIC’s messaging to culturally diverse populations across Maryland.
Zeevic’s Refreshed Website Strategies
Pre-pandemic, Sensis put their technical expertise to work resolving security issues on the MarylandEV.org website. The team then got to work on a comprehensive refresh of the website, implementing new content, organization, and design upgrades. With expanded topics and fresh content to help educate and inform potential EV consumers, the MarylandEV.org website was promoted in all marketing materials as the central hub for information on EVs in Maryland.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, the team added a new digital tool, The Maryland EV Journey, to the website to substitute for in-person events. Using a combination of video, audio, motion graphics, and interactive maps, this self-guided tour of comprehensive EV information introduced Maryland residents to the world of EVs—and sustained audience engagement when in-person events weren’t possible.
Targeted Social Media Campaigns
The pandemic suspended in-person outreach—but that didn’t stop the Sensis team’s engagement efforts. Already an effective outreach tool for ZEEVIC, social media began to play an even greater role in building an audience and generating awareness of electric vehicles. After targeted audience identification helped create engaging messaging, paid ad campaigns were launched on Facebook and Instagram. These ads were reinforced with weekly EV-related postings on ZZEVIC social media accounts, reaching hundreds of thousands of Maryland residents and growing an even larger and more diverse audience.
In-Person OUTREACH
With the restart of in-person engagement, the team is again engaging with diverse audiences to expand ZEEVIC’s geographic reach across Maryland. To ensure our messages reach all audiences, the team provides a multilingual staff at community festivals catering to broad audiences. Sensis’ eye-catching booth and signage convey the benefits and advantages of electric vehicles in quick, one-word messages, and our factsheets and handouts, offer refreshed and update in-depth information. The team gathers focused feedback at these events to inform future outreach strategies and messaging, allowing Sensis to pinpoint program areas that can be enhanced to address the public’s growing interest in EVs.
Sensis’ outreach methods continue to offer ZEEVIC sophisticated options for continual improvement and expansion, including expanding targeted audiences, building new tools into the revamped website such as a local EV resources page, and continuing to leverage the power of social media platforms to boost the impact of word-of-mouth messaging.
Ongoing Outcomes
By combining in-person events with digital outreach strategies, the Sensis team continues to amplify messaging, retarget audiences, and effectively champion EV adoption to a wide range of Maryland residents. And the numbers tell the story: in 2023, the combined effort of in-person outreach, digital advertising, and website optimization led to an increased overall message exposure of more than 47 percent. The team’s outreach methods continue to offer ZEEVIC sophisticated options for continual improvement and expansion, including expanding targeted audiences by blending targeted social media campaigns with in-person outreach, building new tools into the revamped website such as a local EV resources page, and continuing to leverage the power of social media platforms to boost the impact of word-of-mouth messaging.
