The #LimerickandProud hashtag was seen more than 8.6 million times over a seven-day period according to a new report by Limerick City and County Council. #LimerickAndProud started trending on social media on Friday 09 April 2021 in response to an article published online on Forbes.com mentioning Limerick.
The article was removed shortly afterwards by the organisation, saying it failed to meet its publication standards.
Following a letter from the Mayor and discussions with Limerick City and County Council, the Forbes editor has agreed to visit Limerick and host one of their ‘Forbes Top 30 under 30’ events for local entrepreneurs.
Limerick City and County Council commissioned a report to measure the impact of the hashtag over a seven-day period from Friday 09 April to Friday 16 April.
The hashtag gained momentum and was used by 1,669 users on Twitter in the following seven days.
#LimerickAndProud had
- 3,620 posts
- 8,648,235 impressions
- 3,460,203 reach
- 37,872 engagement
This means it was seen by 8.6 million people in the space of one week, with social media users from United States of America, China and Australia engaging.
Over 3,600 posts with the hashtag were generated on Twitter and nearly 40,000 people directly interacted with the hashtag in the seven days.
Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Michael Collins said: “It was so heartening to see the groundswell of support for Limerick following the publication of the article. We need to continue to speak about the positives that Limerick has to offer and ensure the true image of Limerick is portrayed. Thank you to everyone who has been involved and showed your support.”
Laura Ryan, Head of Marketing and Communications with Limerick City and County Council said: “It was staggering to see how much the hashtag gained traction and trended on Twitter, particularly with people from across the world united in their support for Limerick with such a hugely positive sentiment.”
“When you review the social media stats, you can see #LimerickAndProud active across North America, Brazil, Europe, South Africa, India, China and Australia, the Limerick diaspora and those who love Limerick were very vocal in their support!”
“We will capitalise on this goodwill sentiment and continue to promote and showcase the true Limerick spirit and creativity to locals, potential visitors and investors.”
In addition, the Council’s Marketing & Communications team launched four social media adverts to promote #LimerickAndProud and enhance the impact of the grass roots campaign.
The campaign ran through Limerick.ie Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and Limerick City and County Council LinkedIn channels from Monday 12 April to Sunday 18 April.
The content focused on
- Limerick Street Art
- Limerick Edge Embrace
- 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Limerick
- 7 Instagram Worthy Spots in Limerick
The social media campaign ran in conjunction with native posts utilising #LimerickandProud.
The hashtag #LimerickAndProud was created by Cllr Daniel Butler in 2015 following a television documentary about the city.