Benchmarking

Zencity’s premium benchmarking tool allows you to compare your performance to similar communities so you can identify areas for strategic growth. Access this view right within your dashboard, through the left hand menu, to contextualize local sentiment amidst national and regional trends, as well as to identify performance highlights.

Note: If you aren’t yet utilizing the benchmarking tool but would like to start, please contact your Customer Success Manager or chat us below.

Benchmarking methodology

Your community is placed into two cohorts, as determined by population size and geographic region.

Population size cohorts are created based on the following ranges:

• Less than 50,000 people

• 50,001-100,000 people

• 100,001-200,000 people

• 200,001-500,000 people

• More than 500,000 people

You can confirm your population size cohort by looking at the top of the screen within Benchmarking.

Geographic distinctions are based upon the Census Regions and Divisions of the United States:

• Northeast

• Southeast

• West South Central

• Midwest

• Mountain Plains

• Pacific

You can confirm your geographic region cohort by visiting the U.S. census website.

Benchmarking dashboard

Discourse overview

Summarizes the conversation through three measures:

• Volume of interactions: The total number of interactions in your community about the selected topic or project during the selected time period, as compared with the previous time period. For example, you can find the total interactions about snow removal during the last 14 days, as well as the percentage increase or decrease that represents when measured against the 14 days prior to that.

• Share of total discourse: The comparison between the size of the conversation about the selected topic or project in your community and the average size of the conversation throughout the other communities in your cohort. For example, if a subject comprises 10% of the total discourse in your community, but only 5% in the discourse in the selected cohort, this section will show that your share of total discourse is 2x as high as the average share of discourse.

• Channels breakdown: Breakdown of the channels on which the conversation is happening (i.e. unofficial versus official) in your community and on average within your cohort.

Sentiment breakdown

Shares how residents are feeling—positive and negative sentiment—about the selected topic or project, both in your community and on average within your cohort.

Discourse volume over time

Measures the change over time in the volume of discourse, letting you quickly see and compare conversation trends between your community and the cohort average.

Working with benchmarking data

Benchmarking shows you similar metrics to what you’re used to viewing within your primary dashboard, such as volume of interactions and sentiment analysis. Here, however, all data is presented in a relational format, so you can see how your community measures up against the average of all other cohort members.

Filters

Use the filters at the top of the screen to generate the view that is most helpful to you. You can:

• Expand the time period you’re looking at (past 7 days up until past 90 days)

• Switch between cohort types (population size or geographical region)

• Select the project or topic you want to see data for. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, please contact your Customer Success Manager.

Actions

There are two ways to act on notable data you see right from the page:

• Did you see something shareworthy? Use the “Export Report” button located in the top right hand side of the screen to quickly generate a report you can share with key stakeholders to celebrate your community’s performance or share an area for improvement.

• Did you spot something ripe for further clarification? Click “Request an Insight” at the top or bottom of the screen, fill out the form, and a member of Zencity’s data analyst team will prepare a report for you with a deeper analysis of the issue, topic, or project you wish to learn more about.

FAQs

What cohort types can I compare my community with?

Currently the benchmarking tool enables the comparison of your community with other Zencity partner communities from preset cohorts based on geographical region or population size.

Can I compare my community with a specific group of other cities/on a different subject?

If you want a deeper understanding of a subject not listed under the 'Subject' filter or based on a different parameter of comparison, you can request an insight from our dedicated team of analysts from the benchmarking dashboard.

Can I compare my city with a community that is not a Zencity partner, or with just one other specific community?

The benchmarking tool uses actual aggregated data collected from our Zencity partner communities, so comparison is available with any of the hundreds of other communities using our platform. Comparing your data with just one other community is not possible in order to maintain the privacy of all clients' data; any data you'll see displayed in the tool is compiled by averaging the data of at least three communities.