Saline Council Hears Communications Strategy Pitch for Improved Web Presence

Saline City Council considers a 10-month plan to overhaul its digital communication and boost community engagement.

At its April 7, 2025, meeting, the Saline City Council received a detailed presentation on a proposed communications partnership with Metric Marketing, aimed at transforming the city’s digital presence.

Acting City Manager Elle Cole explained the background of the initiative: “As part of the city of Saline’s strategic plan, city council tasked us with a communications working group to develop a comprehensive communication strategy… the group unanimously recommended Metric Marketing as the most strategic and community aligned partner.”

Metric Marketing CEO Hannah McNaughton outlined the company’s vision. “We’re here to talk to you today about upgrading the digital four corners of Saline,” she said. “Our web presence is digital infrastructure, and it’s a form of outreach and service delivery. Just like a city cannot ignore crumbling roads or buckling sidewalks, the city of Saline also cannot ignore their online presence any longer.”

She emphasized the city’s lack of a clear online strategy. “Saline currently has no formulated or executed digital strategy,” McNaughton noted. “What does success look like… we’re aiming to increase trust and engagement with community members, which we will be measuring.”

The plan includes website improvements, social media engagement, internal communications training, and long-term strategy. “There are a lot of different pieces… from modernizing branding to working on internal communication… and that can be communicated out to the community as well as possible,” McNaughton said.

The project is expected to take 10 months, with most of the work happening in the first eight. In the final two months, the focus will shift to training city staff so they can manage the new systems themselves, without needing ongoing help from outside consultants.

Councilmember Nicole Rice highlighted the value for taxpayers. She said that if the city paid separately for everything included in the plan—like a communications strategy, search engine improvements, and staff training—it would cost much more. “It would be much more expensive than this would be,” she said.

McNaughton, who lives and works in Saline, stressed her commitment to the community. “We are very interested in the success, continued success, of Saline as a community,” she said. “It’s a very important thing to me to help to make sure that this community continues to be successful.”