Marketing and outreach

Who cares about signs? Well, it turns out, a lot of people! On-site marketing, such as banners, posters, and signs, have proved effective at increasing park use and physical activity. Parks departments deploying these kinds of publicity have experienced a 62 percent increase in users and a 63 percent increase in physical activity.

As a park advocate, you will find that marketing and outreach are some of your easiest tools to increase park use. Throughout the country, community members are using tools like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Meetup to promote their local parks, promote events and activity groups, and organize advocacy campaigns. Do you regularly use your local parks to walk or play pickup basketball? Try posting on social media to get the word out and increase participation.

Additional Resources

• City Parks Alliance: Active Parks, Healthy Cities: Recommendations From the National Study of Neighborhood Parks
• RAND Corporation: How Can Neighborhood Parks Be Used to Increase Physical Activity?
• City Parks Alliance, The Trust for Public Land, The Rand Corporation: The First National Study of Neighborhood Parks