Welcome to my Process Doc page. Here you will find all of the documents that I have been developing throughout the semester. This process doc contains all of the elements of my final social media strategy for The International Fund for Animal Welfare.

PROJECT PROPOSAL AND INTERVIEW SUMMARY

Because of my passion for protecting the environment and wildlife, I would like to make a social media strategy for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The International Fund for Animal Welfare needs a social media strategy because it does not have an Instagram, which is the easiest and most effective way of reaching young adults. I believe that young adults, who are just entering the professional world and beginning to make money, would be the best audience for this organization. Animal welfare is becoming a bigger interest with younger generations, and young adults who are starting to make money would be the most likely to contribute to such a cause. I think a great way to reach people my age on an animal welfare social media platform is to show before and after pictures of animals and animal species that the organization has helped. This shows the difference that potential donors’ money would bring about, and make them more inclined to want to help the cause.

My choice to use the International Fund for Animal Welfare was inspired by the words of my interviewee. I interviewed a girl in one of my school organizations about her healthy eating and fitness Instagram that has gained a good amount of followers. I learned a lot about how much organization and professionalism it takes to run a public Instagram account. Kristen Bryk, creator of DormRoomDietetics, says that she created her Instagram account because of her passion for healthy living and nutrition; and she wanted to make social media part of her career so that she could share this interest with the world. This spoke to me, and helped me to decide on my organization because it is something that I am extremely passionate about and would enjoy spending awareness. In addition to her take on inspiration, Kristen informed me of some of the logistics of running a social media account. She said that she tries to follow her schedule of Instagramming every other day, but doesn’t stress when she forgets or is unable to post. Additionally, she said that she is always inspired to create new content, because her posts are simply doing what she loves.

BRAND PERSONA/ ANALYSIS

The chief characteristics of the social media presence and brand of the International Fund for Animal Welfare include professionalism and passion. This organization has a generally widespread social media presence, including Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook account for the International Fund for Animal Welfare is very professional and detailed. The account’s “story” (which states what its main goal and stance is), reads

“We are at a tipping point. Animal populations are depleting at such a rate that a single life can be the difference between losing and saving an entire species. Healthy animal populations are vital in maintaining the health of ecosystems.

People are responsible for much of the degradation to our natural world and therefore, we must all be active participants in its conservation. We invite you to join us as we work to create a better world for animals and people.”

The account includes an abundance of photos and videos to demonstrate the plight that the organization works to solve. In the “Information” section of the Facebook page, all contact emails and phone numbers are listed so that supporters of the group may reach out and learn more about the organization. The International Fund for Animal Welfare posts frequently, about 1-2 times a day. The account has over 700,000 likes and over 700,000 followers. Overall, I feel that this Facebook page is well designed and successfully grabs the attention of potential followers.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Twitter account is slightly less professional than its Facebook page. Its Twitter contains more casual and informal language, so as to reflect the relaxed atmosphere that Twitter is meant to have. I think this approach is more effective in reaching younger generations. It has over 72,000 followers, and over 9,000 tweets. The International Fund for Animal Welfare Twitter accounts posts with about the same frequency as its Facebook account – about 1-2 times a day. This frequency is ideal as the account is regularly active, without being overly excessive or annoying. The Twitter account uses media, whether images or videos, in almost every post – making each post more attention grabbing, informative and descriptive.

The international Fund for Animal Welfare does not have an Instagram account. This is important to note because I believe that Instagram is the ideal social media platform for reaching younger generations, and I believe that younger generations are more concerned with the plight of animal welfare than older generations.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

The International Animal Rescue is a very similar organization as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and therefore would be considered a direct competitor of my organization. The International Animal Rescue has a very active social media presence. It has social media on all the (in my opinion) primary social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. In general, I would say that the brand of this organization’s social media would be passionate, determined and informal. The International Animal Rescue’s Instagram is extremely impressive. In its biography section at the top of the account, the organization has a short and simple description of its primary purpose which reads

“Dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of suffering animals.”

Right below this it says “Give something extra special this Valentine’s Day. Adopt Gito.”

There is then a link where users can donate any amount of money to a baby chimpanzee that the organization recently rescued from a cardboard box where it was left to die. I really like how the organization customizes its Instagram to the upcoming holiday AND provides a direct link in order to give followers a quick and easy way to donate money. This very popular Instagram page has over 154,000 followers, and usually posts every 2-3 days.

The International Animal Rescue Facebook page is also very impressive, with more than 350,000 likes and followers. In the “About” section of the Facebook page, there is all of the contact information listed in case followers want to learn more about the organization. There are several different subsections here including a short company overview, general information and awards that the organization has won. The frequency of posts here differs, but it seems as though it is normally every few days. The International Animal Rescue’s Facebook account uses many pictures and videos, making the page descriptive, eye-catching and inspiring.

CONTENT EXAMPLES

1. The first Instagram post I chose from the International Animal Rescue is an example of good content because it demonstrates what the organization successfully does. The post gives an almost before and after effect in that it demonstrates the abilities that the organization has in taking its donors money and putting it to work. This is visually and emotionally rewarding for all of those who have donated money to the cause.

2. The second post I chose is an example of drawing on Instagram users’ heartstrings so as to gain more potential followers and donors. By showing a baby animal in need of help and attention, the organization nudges its followers to feel more emotional and therefore feel more inclined to donor their money to help this baby animal. It shows that the organization is capable of helping the animal, as long as its donors do their part, as well.

3. Lastly, my third Instagram post from the International Animal Rescue grabs its followers’ attention by using a celebrity endorser. After using this quick attention-grabber, the post turns to ask for audience involvement. It becomes a plea for help, listing out the steps in a simple and easy to follow style that Instagram users can take to join this celebrity in helping to make a difference.

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Policy:

This Social Media Policy exists for the purpose of guiding all employees of The International Fund for Animal Welfare in their use of social media platforms. Social media services include blogs, online forums, chat rooms, wikis, message boards, electronic newsletters, social networking sites and all other platforms in which users are capable of providing and receiving information from others.

Procedures:

The following rules pertain to all professional uses of social media on behalf of The International Fund for Animal Welfare in addition to all personal uses of individually maintained social media when referencing The International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Employees must understand and obey all of the following documents belonging to the The International Fund for Animal Welfare when using and/ or referencing The International Fund for Animal Welfare: Employee Handbook, Code of Conduct and other organization policies.
Employees must acknowledge that what they choose to publish on social media platforms affects the image of The International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Employees must be aware that the material they publish on social media platforms will be visible to the public for a long time.
Employees may NOT, under any circumstances, release confidential information regarding The International Fund for Animal Welfare. Should there be any question about what information is considered confidential or not public, employees may review it with a superior.
Should an employee feel the need to publish content regarding donors, members, current and/ or former employees or other persons related to The International Fund for Animal Welfare, that employee must first receive appropriate permission from the individual(s).
Should a situation arise in which an employee using social media feels may be perceived as hostile, that employee must politely separate his or herself from the situation and bring the issue to the attention of superior.

STYLE GUIDE

Principles
- Treat everyone with dignity and respect
- Be professional and appropriate
- Appreciate followers, supporters and donors
- Understand the various elements of the organization
- Support those who support you

Voice and Tone
- Make sure to not speak too formally, as you want to reach younger generations
- Use casual tone with a hint of professionalism to show you are knowledgeable about the subject
- Write with positivity, inclusivity, passion and energy
- Be genuine and open about the plight, but do not try to make people feel badly
- Create posts that reach people on a deeper level, in other words, create connections with followers

Content Types
- Primary: Instagram
- Secondary: Facebook
- Tertiary: Snap Chat and Twitter

Grammar and Usage
- While trying to maintain a casual voice, be sure to use appropriate grammar and punctuation
- You may use abbreviations and acronyms (if you know that they are popular and widely used)
- While still maintaining appropriate grammar, try to keep posts short and sweet so as to keep our followers’ attention
- Hashtags are acceptable when using a short, simple and catchy phrase to sum up the point of the post. Don’t go crazy with them – one hashtag per post

Web Style
- Use fonts that are EASY to read; if you have to question if it is clear then do not use it
- Use italics or capitalizations to emphasize the main point of the post
- Do not use every color of the rainbow because this will make posts look childish. Choose different and well-matched color schemes for each post. Black, white and gray are always classy and acceptable.
- Do NOT go crazy with the filters. Basic filters look better and make it easier to see what’s going on in the photo.

GOALS/ OUTCOMES AND ALIGNMENT WITH BUSINESS GOALS

Business Goals:

1. Build a community of followers: a group of loyal supporters is extremely vital in creating awareness of our organization. They are the backbone of any social media campaign. As our number of followers grows, so does the success of our brand and therefore our organization.

2. Boost brand engagement: producing engaging content and responding to our followers is a great way to help our supporters feel heard. It is also a fun and easy tactic that will help bring people back for more.

3. Increase Brand Awareness: post content on a regular basis regarding the questions and concerns our followers may have about the organization. It will keep them engaged and more devoted than if their inquiries were not answered.

We will use a variety of social media KPIs/ metrics to ensure that our tactics are working. This list includes:

Clicks
Likes
Followers
Comments
Shares
Brand mentions
Profile visits

MEASUREMENT PLAN

KPIs are an extremely vital aspect of any successful business or organization. On social media platforms, there are various features that can be used to measure the success of the company’s business goals. The metrics (KPIs) that I realistically could use in my pilot strategy are focused on:

Number of clicks
Number of likes
Quantity of followers
Number of comments
Amount of shares
Amount of brand mentions
Number of profile visits

There are many different tools that I could use to measure the success of my KPIs. For example, there are many apps that exist for social media users to keep track of how many brand mentions they have, how many times their profile has been visited and other metrics. Even more so, these apps can update us on our month-month numbers, and therefore track our progressive success. This information can tell us a variety of different things, such as what changes we make have a big influence on our social media followers and what aspects of our goal plan have no effect on our social media presence and therefore are a waste of time. This ability to track our success progressive successful is an extremely useful tool to the overall success of our social media presence.

In addition to this, the ability to consistently measure our KPIs gives us the opportunity to better understand our audience. Are we reaching our target audience? What tactics are we using that seem to specifically reach our target? Is there another audience that seems to be interested in our organization? What tactics are we using that have reeled in this different audience? How can we strengthen these tactics even more? These are all questions that can be answered by measuring our KPIs, analysing the information and therefore improving the success of the organization.

RATIONALE

I made the decisions for my social media strategy for the International Fund for Animal Welfare based on the approaches and tactics that I have observed through the social media platforms of other non-profit organizations. One of the most important objectives discussed in our readings, specifically by Shields, was audience. Knowing your audience is a major key to a successful social media strategy. For my plan, I decided that my audience would be young adults ranging from 22 to 28 years old. This range includes the people who are just graduating from college and beginning new careers all the way to those who have had careers for a few years now and have been saving money. Animal welfare is an issue that is becoming more and more recognized; it’s definitely a matter that is more important to younger generations than older ones. With that being said, the audience I have chosen is specific because it is a generation that cares more about these issues than generations in the past. Additionally, it is a group that is just starting to make real money, making them more likely to donate to this type of cause.

I chose Instagram because I believe that Instagram has become the most used social media platform of this generation. To have a well-designed and successful Instagram page signifies that the brand is young and modern. Instagram also makes it easier for followers to donate money. Donations are made simple by providing quick link in the captions of posts that users can follow to donate money. This efficiency is imperative as my audience is one that does not like to waste time. People of this generation do not like to take time out of their day; they like doing things quickly and easily. Therefore, this brief and effortless way of donating is sure to increase followers interest in giving money to the organization.

Another reason I believe that Instagram would be the most efficient social media platform is that people can physically see exactly where their money is going. With all of the scandals happening in corporations recently (unfortunately even in non-profit organizations), donors are hesitant to give money away blindly. On Instagram, the organization can use pictures and videos to not only to show the need for money, but also to demonstrate what it has accomplished due to donor money.

Professional Uses of Social Media