Social Media and Content Marketing

1.0 Social Media Listening

The Sponsor a Gambian Girl (SaGG) Foundation has requested WBS Social Media Clinic to execute a social media audit, and based on the findings and data collected present different social media and content recommendations. Predominantly, there was developed a principle in journalism that aims to provide structure, tangibility, and answers to a number of important questions known as the Five W´s; Who, What, When, Where and Why. Nonetheless this principle is also applicable when conducting a social media audit, and will be used for guidance when performing the audit for SaGG, in addition to looking into engagement.

1.1 SaGG Social Media Audit

(Table 1.1. Social Media Audit for SaGG)

Sponsor a Gambian Girl has an online presence on five major social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. A key takeaway from the audit is the social media platforms uniformity and identicalness. There was little variation in content across their platforms, where content and captions are one and the same. Posting the same content everywhere is a bare minimum strategy where companies know they need to get content out but they don’t know what else to post to stand out (Chen, 2021). The audience is not the same across all channels, and therefore, it is significant for companies to tailor the content according to the platform’s audience to maximize the performance. The engagement rate calculated for SaGG is at 1,86% which by industry standards is considered average/ok.

1.2 Assessment of Competitors Social Media Presence

(Table 1.2. Social Media Audit for SaGG competitors)

When conducting a social media audit for a brand it is important to also look into its competitors. Two main competitors for SaGG are Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) and Africa Educational Trust who is now a part of Street Child. First, CAMFED has a similar social media presence to SaGG with the use of photos, hashtags, links, videos, infographics etc., their frequency of publishing content, and purpose. They also have a significantly larger following, and an engagement rate of 2% across all platforms which is meaningful in their quest. Second, African Educational Trust (AET) uses the same social media platforms as SaGG, though their content is tailored to meet their audiences’ expectations by differentiating content across their platforms. This differentiation might be the reason why AET has the highest engagement rate out of all three organizations with a score of 3.5%.

1.3 Investigation of Consumers/Donors´ Social Media and Content Habits

In a report provided by Co-Founder of SaGG, Annetta Paps-King, the intended target audience for the organization are females in the ages between 20-40 years old. Demographics preferred platform and usage vary depending on their gender and age group, therefore, from SaGG choosing their priority platforms to conducting market research, demographic data is key to understanding which platforms, content and potential campaigns they should implement (Sprout Social, 2022). According to recent reports by Statista Research Department, the top social media platforms SaGG´s target audience use is Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Instagram is primarily used by the 20-29-year olds, Facebook is primarily used by 25-35-year olds, Twitter is primarily used by 20-40-year olds, LinkedIn is primarily used by 30-64-year olds, and YouTube is primarily used by 15-55-year olds. After uncovering which social media platforms the target audience use, the next step is to discover what type of content they prefer. As previously mentioned, each platform´s audience has different expectations and tailoring content to each platform will help SaGG excel. See table 1.3 for consumer´s social media & content habits.

(Table 1.3. Social Media Audit for Consumer´s Social Media & Content Habits)

A large part of creating interesting and engaging content is to follow and keep up with market trends. For SaGG that means to obtain knowledge on the latest news related to charities, global crisis, or anything that will affect the organization on social media. There are several trends that could impact charities in the upcoming year, as; a lingering uncertainty post-pandemic, rapid inflation, cybersecurity related to threats and fraud, a continued decline in donors, and the fundraising environment evolving (Charities Aid Foundation, 2022).

2.0 Social Media Goals

2.1 Social Media Recommendations

Based on the data and insights collected in part 1.0, it is clear that SaGG needs to focus on differentiating their social media content. There was little to zero variation in content across the platforms, which is perceived as a lack of understanding of what the different platforms can offer. As shown in table 1.3, there is a detailed list of what consumers content habits or preferences are for each platform, and this can help SaGG navigate what type of content they should implement for each platform to optimize their content. For example, SaGG will not reach 20-year olds with the same content intended to reach 40-year olds. See part 2.2 for content recommendations that will optimize SaGG´s content, and noticeably enlarge their future engagement rate.

Another social media recommendation is to focus on SaGG´s YouTube channel. A large part of the foundations intended target audience use this platform on a daily basis, and YouTube has the ability to connect SaGG to a global audience. The platform allows brands to create playlists around specific topics that are relevant to SaGG´s target audience (Business, 2020). With well-optimized videos, SaGG can have a massive reach to help them achieve the foundations marketing objectives (Business, 2020).

2.2 Content Recommendations

2.2.1 Social Media Content Calendar

In the audit it is uncovered that the foundation publishes content every 2-3 days, and sometimes twice a day. Therefore, the first recommendation for SaGG will be to establish a social media content calendar to organize their upcoming content, and strategize which platforms to use. A social media content calendar is considered the best way to plan and organize upcoming content (Hootsuite, 2021). Below is a suggested content calendar for SaGG for the upcoming week 4^th of April until the 10^th of April.

(Table 2.1, Social Media Content Calendar for SaGG)

2.2.2 Instagram Infographic

The second recommendation is an infographic for SaGG´s Instagram. In table 1.3 it was identified that consumers enjoy educational and inspirational videos, texts or photos, and therefore, it is suggested that SaGG will launch a monthly, regular infographic focusing on a girl who has been sponsored through SaGG. The goal is to show followers the impact SaGG has on the girls in The Gambia. The infographic will be no longer than 60 seconds, and follow a sponsored girl in a day in her life at school, with friends, and doing homework, in other words simply being a child.

2.2.3 LinkedIn Post

The final recommendation is a LinkedIn post. LinkedIn is a phenomenal platform to create awareness and reach potential sponsors due to its professional audience, and similarly to Instagram, the audience on LinkedIn prefer educational and inspirational content. There are numerous of foundations that SaGG can partner with to create interesting and educational content for LinkedIn. For instance, The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) briefly highlighted how girl’s education can prevent child marriage. The recommended content is to either interview the foundation or quote the report on the importance of girl´s education.