Why we chose Instagram?
Arguably the most popular social media today is Instagram. Instagram is a photo-based application that allows users to view, interact, and comment on one another's photos. When talking to Cheryl Pavlik about what media Elkton Area United Services uses, Cheryl mentioned they only use Facebook and we took it on ourselves to create, grow, and promote Elkton Area United Services through a new Instagram account. Instagram also has a convenient feature to have all of their posts linked to Facebook, and we have been posting on both platforms consistently over the last three months. Editing Over the span of three months we posted 29 times, were able to gain 186 followers, and put the purpose behind Elkton Area United Services into the minds of viewers. We did this mostly by utilizing Canva, an editing-website to create all of our Instagram posts: adding brand colors and creating effective captions and appealing aesthetics. After using Canva we transferred the photos to Instagram to post and update daily stories. Posting Schedule Leading up until the week before Great Community Give we decided to post twice a week (Monday and Wednesday). We wanted to grow a following but didn't want to overwhelm our audience with too many posts. This schedule proved effective and lasted until April 10th, when we decided to post every day and have a constant 'Instagram Story' for viewers to see if they visited our profile. With less than a week before Great Community Give, we pushed hard to gain attention and interest, and during this time we gained close to 100 followers in this week alone. Gaining Followers With all social media, it is important to have a following. To gain followers of Elkton Area United Services we first followed everyone who was on the old Elkton Area United Services Account. After this, we befriended similar non-profits from around the area and reached out to who they were following to see if they would be interested in checking out our non-profit. By using this approach, we found interested and passionate supporters, some who even spread the news of our new Instagram account! Countdown / Story In addition to our posts on Instagram, we created 24 hour stories and a pinned countdown showing the time left until Great Community Give. These two variables made our page relevant to anyone who opened Instagram and served as a constant reminder of the time left before Great Community Give Education Lastly, we taught Cheryl Pavlik, the fundraising coordinator at Elkton Area United Services, how to use Instagram. We taught her how to post, put up stories, and even how to "like" and stay involved with other accounts. We found this important so Cheryl Pavlik can continue using the account once we have graduated. Many of our meeting times consisted of us teaching her how to best utilize this platform in the future. |