For Ben Hayle, Communications Manager in Blaine, Minnesota, managing a city’s digital presence isn’t just about posting updates—it’s about being a responsive and unified voice for the community.
In a world where public information moves at the speed of a scroll, Ben and his team needed a tool that felt less like software and more like a teammate.
Since switching to Social News Desk, Hayle says the platform has become an indispensable part of their daily operations. “Social News Desk is truly like having another person on our team,” says Hayle.
A Unified Command Center
Managing multiple social channels for a municipality can often lead to a fragmented workflow. For Blaine, the power of SND lies in its ability to bring every channel into one view.
“It allows us to be able to quickly post information to a number of places all at the same time,” Hayle explains.
“Having the integration of all of our social channels in the same place allows us to get that messaging out quickly, and allows us to follow up with residents also really quickly.”
The Power of Collaboration
When a communications team isn’t always in the office together, visibility is key to avoiding overlapping messages or missed opportunities. Hayle highlights the SND Calendar as a game-changer for team synergy.
“We can see what each other are working on. We often are sharing notes on the calendar, sharing upcoming events… it allows us just to collaborate when we’re not always all in the office together.”
A Strategic Edge with Nextdoor
One of the standout features for the City of Blaine has been SND’s unique integration with Nextdoor. While many platforms overlook this hyper-local channel, for a city government, it is a primary line of communication.
“Not every social media management platform has that integration or that ability to work with Nextdoor,” says Hayle. “For us, that was a huge win coming over to Social News Desk. It’s actually increased our usage of Nextdoor a ton because it’s not an afterthought now—it’s just part of our workflow every day.”
More Than Just a Vendor: A Partnership
Before SND, Blaine utilized a different management platform that Hayle describes as “expensive and burdensome,” with customer support that “pretty much vanished.” The transition to SND was a breath of fresh air.
From the initial implementation to daily use, the focus has remained on the human element. “We were really looking for a partner, and we had that from day one,” says Hayle. “From our very first meetings, we felt like this is a team that is going to be there for us when we need them.
Anything we needed, we were able to reach out to the team at Social News Desk and get an answer quickly.”
Efficiency by Design
Whether it’s using Scheduled Interactions to have links ready in the comments or managing resident feedback without leaving the dashboard, Hayle notes that SND has eliminated the “90% rule”—where they used to do most of the work in a tool but still had to go to the native platforms to finish the job.
“Everything can happen right on the Social News Desk platform. That’s a huge bonus for us.”
For the City of Blaine, Social News Desk isn’t just a scheduling tool—it’s the engine that keeps their community informed, engaged, and connected.
Discover how Social News Desk’s unified dashboard and Nextdoor integration help municipalities streamline their communication, foster team collaboration, and maintain a direct, responsive connection with their residents.
See more customer success stories to learn how real-world government and news organizations use Social News Desk to manage, monitor, and master their social media presence with ease.
