DANCE MARATHON

AT TH

E

UNIVERSITY OF F

LORIDA

S O C I AL M

E D I A S

T R A T E G Y BY C

A R LY BR E I T

B A R T

TABLE OF CONTENTS1. Executive Summary2. Social Media Audit3. Social Media Objectives4. Online Brand Persona and Voice5. Strategies and Tools6. Timing and Key Dates7. Social Media Roles and Responsibilities 8. Social Media Policy9. Critical Response Plan10.Measurement and Reporting Results Photo:

Hercampus.com

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe primary focus for our social media channels in the

2016-2017 school year will be growing our online community and increasing donations to Children’s

Miracle Network.

We will accomplish these goals by:1. Publishing more multimedia content that features Miracle Families and their stories2. Encouraging discoverability for an older age bracket instead of solely targeting students

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDITThe following table represents Dance Marathon at UF’s current

social media presence to date. Social Network

Account Follower Count

Weekly Activity (average of September data)

Twitter @FloridaDM

5,733 3 tweets

Facebook Page

@FloridaDM

13,381 3 posts

Instagram @DMatUF 4,485 6 postsLinkedIn Dance

Marathon at the University of Florida

478 0 posts

YouTube UFDanceMarathon

426 (subscribers)

0.5 videos

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT (CONT’D.)The following table represents our competitors with a social

media presence. Though we encourage supporting every nonprofit, we recognize the importance of standing out in a

saturated market. These nonprofits also work to end childhood illness and they excel on the following platforms.

Competitor Social Media Profile

Strengths Weaknesses

Ronald McDonald House

Facebook Page: @RMHCGlobal

Almost 900k likes, frequently posts pictures of the kids donations benefit, high engagement rates

Lack of video to complement posts, no upcoming events

March of Dimes

Twitter: @MarchofDimes

Verified, features logo/purple, 6-to-10 posts a day, frequent photos

Does not directly engage with followers

Make-A-Wish Instagram: @MakeAWishAmerica

Prominently features children receiving wishes, colorful and high quality images

Longer captions may not attract as many followers to engage

SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT (CONT’D.) • After assessing the current social media platforms for Dance Marathon at UF, I

can see that there are places to improve and strategies to continue employing moving forward. • The Facebook Page is the most successful platform. The photos and videos saw a high

rate of engagement and the most shares of any other platform.

• The Instagram posts received a strong ratio of likes for the amount of followers the account has, averaging around 200-300 likes per post.

• The LinkedIn account has a solid number of followers, but managers aren’t maximizing the potential. They could use this platform to reach professionals who want to better their public image and donate to Children’s Miracle Network.

• The Twitter could also be better utilized. By directly engaging followers, engagement and advocacy could improve on this platform.

• We can learn from our successful “competitors.” The Make-A-Wish Instagram page features children receiving wishes and inspires followers to help make more ill children smile. We should feature Miracle Children as much as possible, rather than focusing on captains and volunteers. The March of Dimes Twitter is much more successful than ours because they tweet more engagement-worthy content at a much higher volume.

SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVESLeading up the event, our social media goals will be to drive donations to by increasing followers on all of our accounts, publishing meaningful and inspiring content focused on the cause and directly engaging with followers.

These are our specific goals:1. Increase donations on participants’ Donor Drive pages to

$3 million – an increase of $600,000 from DM at UF 20162. In order to make goal number 1 a reality, we need to

increase our followers and engagement rates on every platform a. Increase Facebook Page likes by 8,000 through paid

promotion and share-worthy mediab. Increase Instagram followers by 2,000 by posting more

photos of the kids

SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES (CONT’D.) We need to expand our demographic beyond UF students who

participate in the event. Though it is important to cater to their content needs, we need to take the extra step to

engage social media users who are older, more established in their careers and more likely to make a donation to Children’s Miracle Network. This includes UF alumni,

medical professionals and, of course, parents.

ONLINE BRAND PERSONA AND VOICEADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE OUR BRAND

• Compassionate• Determined• Excited• Community-oriented• Positive

WHEN INTERACTING WITH POTENTIAL DONORS WE ARE• Encouraging• Inclusive• Energetic• Thankful

ONLINE BRAND PERSONA AND VOICE (CONT’D.)Great execution of our brand from some of our channels:

ONLINE BRAND PERSONA AND VOICE (CONT’D.)

Posts like this Instagram photo should be more frequent on all of our channels. The picture is focused on a Miracle Child who is directly affected by donations to UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. The caption is positive, grateful and

excited.

STRATEGIES AND TOOLSPAID: We will boost the most popular posts on Facebook every

Wednesday. We will make sure these posts have the link to our website, where people can donate, prominently featured and easily accessible. We will boost this post over a period of three days and we will target Gainesville residents in every age bracket.

OWNED: We will use the hashtag #TogetherWeCan on every post that we anticipate will be shared by many. We will also encourage DM at UF captains, dancers and other participants to use this hashtag. We will inform the Miracle Families about this hashtag and what it means, and we will have the option for them to use it on their social media platforms.

EARNED: Create a monthly video that features a Miracle Child and his or her family. It should detail their journey and how UF Health Shands has changed their life. These videos should be shared on all of our platforms.

Approved/encouraged tools:• Hootsuite• Buffer

TIMING AND KEY DATES• HALLOWEEN -events on campus and in Gainesville, such as the

Moralloween Carnival, will need to be promoted on social media• Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday- encourage people to make a difference

with their money instead of splurging on Black Friday items• Hanukkah and Christmas- encourage participating students to ask

for DM donations in lieu of some gifts• New Years’ Day- play on New Years’ Resolutions to be more

selfless• Valentine’s Day- post content about love and how we can all show

Miracle Children and their families love• The entire month of March- CRUNCH TIME- leading up to the 26.2-

hour event• MARCH 25-26- DANCE MARATHON AT UF 2017- blow up social

media channels with pictures, videos, live streams, and stories from the event. This is the last time to get donations this year.

SOCIAL MEDIA ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• The Public Relations Team is in charge of managing and growing all social media channels. The Overall Director is Claire Daniel.

• The Multimedia Team is responsible for photography and videography leading up to and during the event, and they are to send this content to the PR team as soon as possible. The Overall Director is Lindsay Goldman.

• The Creative Development Team creates graphics and enhances photography, and they are to make engaging graphics. The Overall Director is Tami Moreno.

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICYThis policy applies to every social media user who supports

Dance Marathon at UF, but it should be emphasized the most to the captains, who are responsible for making this

DM the best one yet. 1. We live by our motto: “For the Kids.” Remember that DM is

about making life better for the kids at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. Make sure every post is focused on them and not gratifying yourself.

2. Be sensitive. Most of us do not understand how it feels to be a child with a serious illness. Make sure you are showing compassion.

3. Be hopeful. Focus your posts on the progress we have made and the great things DM has been able to do for the hospital.

4. Stay hungry. These kids don’t give up their fight, so we won’t either. Do not be afraid to be direct in your posts and ask for donations.

CRITICAL RESPONSE PLANScenario 1: A Dance Marathon Captain tweeted a photo of herself and other

captains drinking alcohol at a DM event. The official account retweeted her photo, not realizing that the captains were drinking.

Action Plan: 1. Take a screenshot of the tweet. 2. Delete the tweet and ask the captain to take it off of her personal account. 3. Claire, the PR overall, will decide if any further action is needed. No one else with access to the account should tweet anything without permission from her.

Scenario 2: A DM event was canceled because of a hurricane in the area. After promoting the event for weeks, you now have to cancel and reschedule the event even though families have driven to Gainesville to attend.

Action Plan: 1. Inform followers on every social platform that the event is being

rescheduled. Be as specific as possible as to when it will be. Apologize for the inconvenience and tell followers to stay safe.

MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING RESULTS

Expected Results by January 1: Social Media Data:

Social Network

URL Follower Count

Average Weekly Activity

How?

Twitter @FloridaDM

6,733 7 tweets Using hashtag and direct follower engagement

Facebook Page

@FloridaDM

21,381 5 posts Boost successful content

Instagram

@DMatUF

6,500 6 posts More child-focused content

LinkedIn Dance Marathon at the University of Florida

600 1 post per month

Direct content to philanthropic professionals

YouTube UFDanceMarathon

450 1 video per month

Milestone video about family