If it seems like just about everyone uses social media, well, that’s because they do: Roughly 95% of internet users are interacting with these platforms.

That’s not lost on motor vehicle and law enforcement agencies, which are embracing social media for communicating with the public—and finding success and some surprising results in the process.

‘Go All In’

Sean Duryee, commissioner, California Highway Patrol (CHP), recognizes that some law enforcement agencies may shy away from social media out of concern that it may seem unserious or diminish their reputation. Instead, he advises agencies to “Go all in—that’s the way that you’re able to reach the public you serve most effectively.”

CHP, which won a 2025 AAMVA Communications Award for its social media efforts, serves a large state with 102 area offices in urban and rural regions. Their key social media objectives include increasing community engagement, promoting road and public safety, enhancing transparency, and supporting public relations and recruitment efforts.

“Truckee’s got more followers than people who live in the community. They’re followed by people nationwide, so they’re kind of a model for a small area on how to interact with the community.”
Sean Duryee Commissioner, California Highway Patrol

According to Duryee, they’ve successfully leveraged X to quickly inform the public about road safety issues, such as freeway conditions in Los Angeles. “When the freeway gets blocked at 2 a.m., our dispatch center has access to post that real-time information,” he says.

Truckee is a historic mountain town near Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass. CHP’s Truckee social media accounts have successfully leveraged humor to spread serious public safety messages. A Facebook post warning people that cold weather drains batteries faster featured a video of a stranded electric vehicle in the snow set to the song “Electric Boogie (The Electric Slide).”

The text included an alert that I-80 was closed over Donner Summit and a safety message: “Charge up. Slow down. Carry chains. And don’t test Mother Nature.”

That post garnered more than 3.3 million views. CHP Truckee’s social media success has been a welcome surprise. The office serves a population of just over 500,000 in Nevada County and unincorporated Placer County, yet it has more than 1 million followers across three platforms (X, Instagram and Facebook).

“Truckee’s got more followers than people who live in the community,” Duryee says. “They’re followed by people nationwide, so they’re kind of a model for a small area on how to interact with the community.”

He attributes the popularity to striking a balance between humor and sincerity. “Our public affairs officer up in Truckee has a knack for communicating in a sincere way that relates to the community and using humor in a way that still ties to our mission,” Duryee says. “Truckee just seems to have built that clientele base, and then, like anything in social media, once it gets going, it kind of builds like a little fire, they get more and more followers, and then that’s contagious.”

Be True to Your Brand

Every agency wants its social media to catch fire for the right reasons. The key is to establish a voice that fits your agency’s brand and purpose.

Since John Marasco, director of the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles, joined the agency in 2022, he has been focused on improving the customer experience. He started
a social media campaign to highlight the DMV’s positive side.

“We give out 360,000 licenses in any given year, and between 14,000 and 17,000 of those go to 16- and 17-year-old new drivers. It’s a magic moment when you get your first license. You’ll be driving for the rest of your life,” Marasco says.

His team installed backdrops at every DMV office featuring the New Hampshire DMV logo and big letters at the top that read “I got my license!” When new drivers pass the driving test, they’re invited to get a photo taken in front of the backdrop. Often, their driving examiner will join them.

With the driver’s permission, the New Hampshire DMV posts these photos in their Facebook feed, and they invite the drivers to post them, too. “They can send that to their family members, and everybody who looks at the picture on the phone immediately knows what the photo is all about. That has been a home run,” Marasco says.

“We give out 360,000 licenses in any given year, and between 14,000 and 17,000 of those go to 16- and 17-year-old new drivers. It’s a magic moment when you get your first license.”
John Marasco, Director, New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles

He credits the campaign with improving the image of customer service at New Hampshire DMV offices, and the agency also won a 2024 AAMVA Communications Award for it. In addition, the popularity of the “I got my license!” campaign gave the DMV a social media following it can use to spread other messages related to public information, education and partnerships.

During the REAL ID push, they partnered with Rob Gronkowski, a former professional football player for the New England Patriots, to create a video reminding people to get their REAL ID. “In the video, I asked him if he would spike my REAL ID, and he did. That got a lot of play on social media and helped get more people to migrate to the REAL ID,” Marasco says.

While Marasco and “Gronk” had some fun with their public service announcement, it worked because it delivered valuable information about a DMV service. “It’s not part of our mission to be cute just to get more followers,” Marasco says. “I’ll take what we have for followers and do it in a comfortable, professional way.”

Know Your Audience

To effectively communicate with your audience on social media, it’s important to know which channels they use for which types of information.

The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, part of the Department of Revenue, uses several social media channels to meet its audience where they are. Over the last two years, they’ve made efforts to think strategically about the content they post on each channel.

For example, for YouTube, they created a video series of employees talking about road safety and what to bring to a driver’s license office when you’re getting your credential. This helps Coloradans see the human side of the DMV while giving them useful information. On Facebook, they will run a series of posts aimed at vulnerable populations, helping them spot suspicious text messages to avoid scams.

“It was the first time that we leveraged an influencer to help drive something that we were trying to market on social media. This is not a typical thing in government, but it was a great opportunity for us to market something positive and get the word out.”
Electra Bustle, Senior Director, Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles

They take a more creative approach with TikTok and Instagram. Leading up to Colorado’s 150th anniversary this year, the governor’s office held a community competition to design two new state license plates. Members of the DMV team learned about a social media influencer who created a 150th anniversary license plate submission.

“We reached out to him and asked if we could utilize what he had done to push out information about the competition on our channels,” says Electra Bustle, senior director, Colorado DMV. “It was the first time that we leveraged an influencer to help drive something that we were trying to market on social media. This is not a typical thing in government, but it was a great opportunity for us to market something positive and get the word out.”

On TikTok and Instagram, the collaboration garnered over 8.1 million total views, 2,600 comments and 1,307,800 likes. The Colorado DMV also received an AAMVA Communications Award for this social media campaign.

Bustle thinks it’s important to think about social media as a communication loop. “Not only are we pushing information; we’re also getting information. So when things aren’t working well, and we see a lot of comments on Facebook, we’re not ignoring them. We’re actually feeding that into our customer experience review,” she says.

They recently used this feedback to improve their website.

“We have spent a lot of time and effort getting to know our customers, and we still get to learn from them every day. That’s what’s really important with social media—it’s about that relationship,” says Elizabeth Kosar, communications director, Colorado Department of Revenue.

A New Direction

While social media presents new opportunities for motor vehicle and law enforcement agencies, many may not know how to get started or feel they don’t have the right resources. Kosar recommends looking for staff members with talent and passion for social media, which doesn’t necessarily require training in traditional media or marketing.

This is one reason social media can be a cost-effective marketing tool. You may be able to leverage existing staff who have a knack for social media, or, like Marasco, you may only need a part-time staff member to manage the social media calendar.

An effective social media strategy also saves time by taking your message directly to your audience. “It’s much better than a press release, where you’re waiting on newspapers to pick it up,” Bustle says. “With our social media, we are controlling that message and can reach a much broader audience.”

Ultimately, agencies can’t ignore the reality of how people find information today. “It’s more cost-effective, but it’s also a necessity,” Duryee says. “We have to transition toward these social media platforms if we’re going to be effective in getting our message out.”