Introduction
How do you earn public trust when you’re spending their money, instead of chasing sales, KPIs and leads? We’ve chatted with Shelby Abner, Community Relations Senior Manager for the Town of Brownsburg. Needless to say, their work needs a high level of transparency since they’re accountable not to sponsors, but to residents’ tax dollars.
"The biggest struggle in government communications is that people naturally don’t trust it. When there’s a lot of red tape and confusion, it’s hard to know what’s real. Being able to share more stories through Prowly has really helped."
Why the Town of Brownsburg chose Prowly
Shelby carefully evaluated all the other tools available on the market and Prowly stood out to her, not only for having all the features that bigger PR teams use, but also for its nonprofit-friendly pricing. She highlighted that, as opposed to other tools, Prowly doesn’t charge per press release, which worked great for their strategy in pitching media outlets.
Quick onboarding, even faster results
Employees who work in the public sector are stretched thin in terms of both budget and time. Instead of a huge learning curve, Shelby was positively surprised that she was able to get through the entire platform within 45 minutes. No need to frantically call the IT team for help, no complicated walkthroughs to get started. She managed to get straight to work.
Initially expecting to publish her first press release within a week, she ended up scheduling one on that very same day. Prowly’s quick onboarding and easy-to-use platform helped her build momentum and confidence that she’d made the right move by choosing Prowly.
"The time savings have been immeasurable. Before, I had to use multiple tools, track everything down manually, and piece together the report - it took about half a day. With Prowly, everything’s already there. I just pick what I want, and it builds the report for me. The last one took maybe 10 minutes."
Prowly picked up what Google Alerts missed
One of the first big “assignments” for the tool came during a tornado. Google Alerts picked up only two mentions while Prowly picked up over 1,000 mentions within hours.
“National news outlets like the BBC and New York Times picked us up. And we had no idea until we started using Prowly.”
Those mentions helped show that Brownsburg’s emergency response was being recognized at a national level. In turn, Shelby was able to share these stories with the town’s leadership, showing that real-time coverage is an asset for accountability.
Turning local stories into public trust
Shelby is fully aware that the public doesn’t always trust the government. “When there’s a lot of red tape, it’s hard to understand what’s real,” she told us.
However, she used Prowly to do more than just share good news. For example, when Brownsburg took a long time to build a splash pad, people began to ask questions and received all the answers they needed when she used media coverage to show locals that the project didn’t even use up all of their budget, thanks to careful planning.
Storytelling is a central part of any public relations strategy, but without explaining the process, timing, and budgeting in cases like these, it can come under scrutiny from the public. In this case, the result was overwhelmingly positive (and backed by good coverage!).
Helping small businesses get big coverage
Brownsburg is a place that over 900 small businesses call home. Most of them cannot afford a solid PR team, so Shelby helps them out as much as she can. When a local business called Bryan Herta Autosport received local and state coverage, Shelby used Prowly to further pitch the story and monitor coverage. After all, their job is also to promote the town itself, along with the people and businesses in it.
The same goes for acts of generosity around the Brownsburg tornado. Shelby put in the necessary work to make sure to highlight all the local businesses that helped both residents and first responders in giving back and serving the community.
The impact? Every good business story supports Brownsburg’s aim to lower the tax base for residents by attracting and retaining more commercial development. Additionally, more journalists began to come to conferences and council meetings to hear more and more about the town’s development and future plans.
"We have our local contacts, but statewide coverage contacts change so often. Prowly helped us keep them updated and make new connections. It also led us to niche magazines and independent writers we wouldn’t have found otherwise."
The vivid impact reporting had on the town’s council
The public usually has tons of unfavorable things to say and, when things turn for the better, approval is almost always silent. Before Prowly, Shelby’s reports included a win here and there, with a clipping that hardly gave any context.
Now, with Prowly’s analytics, she can show concrete numbers, sentiment analysis, reach, AVE, and credibility.
It’s a new kind of strategic conversation, less defensive and more transparent, especially when it’s backed by real data that’s understood by people who don’t delve into the world of public relations metrics, or don’t understand the way the industry works on a deeper level.
"Before we got Prowly, we were just saying, here's the coverage, here's where it was posted. But with Prowly, we were able to really drill down on those analytics, and the stakeholders were super impressed. They could finally see how much it was worth, and here's what we actually received back from this piece."
Gaining people’s trust with media coverage
Shelby’s work goes beyond simple public relations wins. She’s dedicated her day-to-day duties to the broader strategy of making Brownsburg a place that attracts people and businesses, resulting in lower taxes for everyone.
Prowly helped Shelby tell real stories to real people. Furthermore, Shelby helped the people of Brownsburg get the spotlight they deserve, going from local recognition to national. This was all supported by effortless coverage reports that showed the actual impact of their campaigns, showcasing how a solid strategy builds the community stronger with transparency and trust.