2011

Abraham Harrison LLC – Case Study

Goethe-Institut Washington

Abraham Harrison LLC: Case Study – Goethe-Institut

Challenge:

To boost local awareness of Goethe-Institut Washington’s summer courses and cultural events in the short-term and build a strong social media following in the longer term. Engage directly at first, while simultaneously preparing the Institut staff to be able to handle social media interaction on their own.

Goethe-Institut is an internationally known organization whose mission is to promote German language and culture around the world. Goethe-Institut Washington tasked Abraham Harrison LLC with the challenge of reaching out to the local community to raise awareness via social media of its cultural offerings and German language courses. It had a very limited social media presence through which to strengthen brand awareness, expand existing communities and increase support of the organization.

Abraham Harrison LLC: Case Study – Goethe Institut Strategy/Tactics:

Create interest in the German culture by actively engaging in conversations and highlighting the tradition and quality of the Goethe-Institut Washington’s offerings.

Abraham Harrison took the Institut’s Facebook and Twitter profiles from a nascent stage and built and strengthened them in both reach and content. After increasing the following base, the gains were capitalized by providing interesting and sharable content and constantly monitoring and engaging with the audience. A blogger outreach to 800 local bloggers was followed by a “meet and greet” at the Goethe-Institut Washington to entice the bloggers to spread the word about about the Institut.

Work on the Institut’s social media properties was shared and monitored by both the Institut and Abraham Harrison as a way to achieve immediate goals while also engaging in experiential training for the Institut staff.

Abraham Harrison also conducted a formal, in-person training day with the Goethe-Institut Washington staff as a final step to ensure their team was ready to take on responsibility for ongoing social media efforts.

Abraham Harrison LLC: Case Study – Goethe Institut

Results:

Drastically increased brand awareness via online mentions and strengthened presence in social media and the broader Washington, DC community.

Ensuring an engaged, interactive community was as important as the aim of increasing the base in Facebook and Twitter. With the advice of Abraham Harrison, Goethe-Institut Washington was able to better understand the users of such social networking sites and provide interesting and engaging content. The public is attracted to these sites not just for information about classes and events, but also to give their input in discussions and polls. The Institut is now connected to the local blogosphere and continues to build relationships with bloggers interested in the Institut’s offerings. The staff is trained and the success has continued as Goethe-Institut Washington’s online presence continues to grow.

Further Questions? We look forward to speaking with you again soon!

Roman Rien Business Development Abraham Harrison www.abrahamharrison.com rrien@abrahamharrison.com