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When Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, it caused a total collapse of the traditional communication infrastructure. People on the island turned to radio and social media as a lifeline. Family members on the mainland searched for information they could easily share via text.

In government, the word “marketing” often carries a negative connotation. But whether you call it outreach or communications or marketing, government often has a need to get key information to the public.

In 2017, it was nearly impossible to turn on the news or go on social media without hearing stories about hurricanes across Texas, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

The USAGov Outreach team regularly collaborates with government agencies to promote their missions, programs, and services. However, most agencies only learn they can easily work with us by word-of-mouth.

So, you've probably heard: We have a new name.

The USAGov team wants to share our 2017 predictions with you! We asked staff members about their goals for USAGov and all of government digital services and we got plenty of great  ideas. Here are six of our favorites:

Every first week of every month, USAGov's marketing team sends an office-wide email newsletter to give an update on past and current marketing efforts and campaigns. It’s how we try to help keep the rest of the office in the know. The monthly newsletter can spur a content idea, a future marketing endeavor, and act as a reminder of what's coming up that month that contributors need to be aware of. It also gives a heads up to our Analytics Team about what promotions could be the causes of increased website visits, email, and social media traffic.

GobiernoUSA, just like USA.gov, is part of a unique effort with a large mission, to guide people to the government information and services they seek. We cover a lot of topics in Spanish via our website, social media platforms, email sends, and contact center. One of the communication channels we focus a lot of attention to is social media; and we routinely measure how our efforts are going.

We recently marked the end of an era at USAGov as we transferred management of our  publication distribution program to the Government Publishing Office (GPO) facility in Pueblo, Colorado. The decision was difficult, but necessary to focus more resources online.

Anyone engaged in content marketing or content production probably owns a robust editorial calendar.  A calendar that is quickly updated, helps keep deadlines and is flexible can serve as a helpful blueprint of your content activities for the year.