Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

About Pennsylvania Women Work (PAWW) PAWW is a nonprofit organization that was officially formed in 1993, when it branched off from other organizations serving women in Pennsylvania. The mission, as stated by the organization is as follows: The mission of Pennsylvania Women Work is to promote the economic self-sufficiency and ensure the empowerment of single parents, displaced homemakers and individuals in transition and to advocate for educational and economic equity. PAWW strives to carry out this mission primarily through the New Choices program, which is a free service that provides women with classes including career development, intro to computers, Microsoft Office, typing, English, and math. These classes are offered at 13 sites throughout Pennsylvania; these sites serve 24 counties. This program exists to assist women in transition create a better lives for themselves and their families. Most clients are single mothers, widows, displaced homemakers, and displaced workers. The New Choices program gives these women the opportunity to gain the skills and confidence to further, or in some cases, create their careers. In addition to New Choices, PAWW has a Working Wardrobe at the Pittsburgh headquarters. This closet of business appropriate clothing has been donated to PAWW from organizations, companies, and individuals. Women in need are welcome to take a total of two outfits per month to help them in job interviews and work situations. PAWWs Pittsburgh office (headquarters) consists of only a handful of employees, with only the Executive Director working on a full-time basis. PAWW is supported by a Board of Directors (BOD) and Corporate Advisory Committee (CAC); this group (mostly women) is well-connected in the Pittsburgh professional arena. Who? PAWW is trying to reach three audiences: 1. Current/former clients and potential clients: this mainly includes women, low-income heads of households, single mothers, and widows 2. Board members, potential funding resources: again, mainly includes women, especially mothers who can empathize with clients and understand the importance of organizations fighting for womens rights and helping women in need. This audience is comprised of business people in the Pittsburgh area.

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

3. Community partners, local businesses: it is a goal to build relationships with other local nonprofits to gain exposure. Making PAWWs impact visible to local businesses is important to develop relationships with potential sponsors and supporters. Why social media? PAWW does not have room in the budget for marketing and advertising purposes. Social media marketing makes sense for this organization because it is free (besides the cost of having an employee manage the social networks). Additionally, women are more present on social media than men, at 71 percent and 62 percent respectively. Also, African Americans, Hispanics, and urbanites have a larger presence on social media sites overall (Pew Research Center, 2013). Social media is the most realistic option to spread awareness about PAWW. Current social media presence The organization has accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Facebook o 229 likes o The most interaction from board members and clients appears on Facebook o Content includes inspirational quotes and news about PAWW events/programs. Twitter o 328 followers o Seems that a small percentage of followers are people who actually support the organization (i.e. clients, BOD/CAC members, funders); most followers are womens news sites, other nonprofits, etc. o Content includes news about PAWW events/programs. LinkedIn o 26 followers o This account was recently recovered after not being accessed in several months due to unknown login information; obviously, it has not been updated over a long period of time.

Current website Located at the domain www.pawomenwork.org, the organizations website is in dire need of an update. It is unorganized, unclear, and practically inaccessible from a mobile device. It also does not provide testimonials or success stories from any past clients, making the organization seem stale and illegitimate. The current content management system (CMS) is WordPress. This is

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

inefficient, however, as PAWW does not have the funds to keep an employee who is proficient in HTML code on staff at all times. Therefore, making major updates to the website is a struggle. PAWWs logo, pictured below, is also an issue. It is outdated and does not symbolize the importance or influence of the organization. This, along with the color scheme, is an issue in terms of web presence.

Competition Overall, there are not many organizations in the Pittsburgh region that focus specifically on workforce and education development for women; the following are the main local organizations that compete with PAWW for funders and clients: 1. Dress for Success Serves disadvantaged women by promoting economic independence and business appropriate clothing International, but there is a location in downtown Pittsburgh Referrals only Current web presence: o Website is not exactly unique or modern, but it is functional, somewhat organized, and provides success stories. Current social media presence: o Facebook: 19,962 likes; posts 1 to 6 times per day; content includes information regarding the organizations programs/events, sponsors, womens news, random conversation starters, and pictures (pictures include happenings at the Dress for Success office, sponsors, inspirational or amusing photos, etc.) o Twitter: 5,932 followers; tweets several times per day (at least 6); content includes program/event information, sponsor information, answering the questions of other users, etc. o Pinterest: 27 followers, 2 boards, 94 pins; content is mainly inspirational quotes directed towards women o Instagram: 134 followers, 67 photos posted in roughly 4 months; content is similar or identical to photos posted on Facebook

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

2. Strong Women Strong Girls Role model/mentor based program that encourages women and girls to be powerful and independent National; location in downtown Pittsburgh Current web presence: o Highly functional, clean, aesthetically pleasing website featuring pictures from events and testimonials. Current social media presence: o Facebook: 3,557 likes; posts 1 to 5 times per day; content similar to Dress for Success posting o Twitter: 1,198 followers; 1 to 8 posts per day; content consists of pushing events/programs, womens news, and office news o YouTube: 2 subscribers, 3,509 video views; 73 videos; content includes testimonials from mentors and news from employees o LinkedIn (members only group): 498 members 3. Women and Girls Foundation Fights for advocacy and equality for women Pittsburgh based Current web presence: o Similar to SWSG in that it is clean, functional, and attractive; organized and informative Current social media presence: o Facebook: 1,130 likes; 1 to 6 posts per day; content includes event/program information, support of other nonprofits, and womens news o Twitter: 480 followers; posts occur not necessarily every day; content is mainly womens news o LinkedIn: 5 followers; no information Web strategy PAWWs current website has the following problems: Lack of functionality Outdated Unorganized Loses attention of the user quickly Not mobile-friendly Not visually appealing

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

Employees are not able to update it

Here is a what the current PAWW website looks like:

The most logical solution is to change to a CMS that provides ease of use and high functionality. It appears that Squarespace.com is the most logical CMS for PAWW. Squarespace is an ideal CMS system because it is inexpensive, offers a nonprofit discount and is easy to use. It is not likely that PAWW can keep someone on staff who has experience with HTML. Therefore, Squarespaces ease of use and attractive customizable templates will allow PAWW to maintain a website with minimal hassle. It provides a clean and customizable design and a drag-and-drop edit feature, rather than HTML coding. The PAWW website will be converted to a Squarespace site, pending that PAWW hires a graphic designer to redesign the logo, part of the current rebranding process. Changing the colors/logo is something that the organization plans on doing soon; it would be ineffective to completely redesign the website before the rebranding process is started. The redesigned website will include a less cluttered and condensed menu, testimonials from clients (on the homepage and in a separate section), a newsletter sign-up (on the homepage and in a separate section), social media badges on each page, a clean design, and a mobile site (automatically generated through Squarespace). The website is an essential part of the social media strategy, as it will direct users to the various social media channels. It must impress and interest the user.

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

Here is an example of a website created using a Squarespace template:

Social media strategy First of all, it is vital to get the word out that PAWW is going seriously social. An email blast will be sent (via Constant Contact) to the BOD and CAC, as well as to current and former clients, encouraging them to like/follow all of the PAWW social media channels. The message will be brief and will provide links to each PAWW account, so this process should be fairly painless. As a part of the social media campaign, project directors at all New Choices sites will be informed of the campaign and asked to encourage their students to like/follow PAWW for the latest news about the organization and job tips. PAWW employees will edit their automatic email signature to include PAWW social badges. In addition, these social badges will appear on all PAWW publications (newsletters, flyers, etc.). These efforts should jumpstart the campaign and serve as a way to increase awareness of PAWWs social channels. 1. Facebook is a necessity for PAWW. Facebook is the most popular social network, with 67 percent of internet users having a Facebook profile. Also, users in urban areas are more likely to be on Facebook as opposed to suburban and rural areas. Women are also more likely than men to be on Facebook, however, women are more present than men on social media in general, with 71 percent of female internet users on social media and 62 percent of male internet users on social media (Pew Research Center, 2013). This data shows not only why Facebook is so important to reach PAWW constituents (female, urban clients; female businesswomen), but why social networks in general are so important to the process of raising awareness.

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

One of the keys to the PAWW Facebook page, and all social media channels, is to set a schedule and consistently stick to it. The schedule and plan of action is as follows: 1-3 unique posts per weekday 1-2 posts during the weekend Posts will include: o Promotion of PAWW programs/events o Showcasing PAWW success stories in a segment titled Women of Courage. This title shows continuity because every year at PAWWs premiere fundraising event, a few former clients are recognized with the Woman of Courage award. These posts will be implemented in a variety of ways: photos, simply a quote, a longer story with background information about the individual, a picture with a quote on it, etc. Information will be gathered from program directors from throughout the state. These posts serve to inspire clients involved in the program and attract new clients. It also serves to show current and potential funders the positive difference that PAWW is making. o Another series called Words of Inspiration will also be implemented. This will feature a quote by a famous author, activist, actor, etc. with their picture in order to motivate potential, current, and former clients. See below for an example of a previous post:

o News stories News articles relating to healthcare, civil rights, workforce rights, etc.; basically news pertaining to women o Job search

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

Advice pieces will be posted in order to provide women with tips on how to search for a job, interview successfully, and keep a job

2. Twitter is the third largest social network, with 16 percent of internet users having a Twitter profile. Additionally, Twitter is especially popular with African Americans and those in urban settings (Pew Research Center, 2013). It seems that the main issue on the PAWW Twitter account is that users simply are not engaged with it. When a tweet is posted, it receives very little attention from users following the account. Posting on a specific schedule, rather than sparingly, will improve this. Also, it may be useful to target another specific account, such as Pop City Media or Downtown Pittsburgh, in order to gain more exposure and interest. PAWW must get attention on Twitter from a large news source, foundation, or organization in order to take this channel to the next level. The schedule and plan of action is as follows: 3-10 weekday posts 2-5 weekend posts Posts will include: o Promotion of PAWW programs/events o Job tips/advice o Promotion of other local nonprofit events/programs pertaining to women o Initiate communication with media outlets and sponsors

3. LinkedIn makes sense as a platform for PAWW because during PAWWs New Choices classes, students create their own LinkedIn profiles. It would be useful for students to connect with PAWW on LinkedIn when they first create their own profile; the instructors could encourage them to do so. LinkedIn is the second largest social network, with 20 percent of internet users engaging on it. It is also the only popular professional network (Pew Research Center, 2013). Until recently, the PAWW LinkedIn account was inaccessible due to unknown log-in information. Although the account exists with a summary of the organization, there has never been a post on the account. Since New Choices clients create their own personal LinkedIn accounts; this is an excellent opportunity for program directors to encourage students to follow PAWW on LinkedIn. The schedule and plan of action is as follows: Weekly posts Posts will include: o Pennsylvania job news, job news pertaining to women

Social Media Strategy: Pennsylvania Women Work 2013

o PAWW news, nonprofit news o News regarding the BOD/CAC 4. Instagram is a photo-sharing social network. It is the fifth largest social network at 13 percent and is most popular among women ages 18-29. It is also most popular among African Americans, Hispanics, and urban residents (Pew Research Center, 2013). As PAWW has struggled with seeming like a credible organization, photos taken in real-time will assist in fixing this problem and reaching the PAWW target audience. * PAWW does not currently have an Instagram account. An account will be implemented in order to connect with clients, the BOD/CAC, sponsors, potential funders, and the community. *UPDATE: Now that the social strategy has been implemented, it appears as though Instagram was not the best choice for a new social network for PAWW. Virtually no meaningful engagement has resulted from it. In hindsight, it may be better for this organization to create a Pinterest account. It sees usage from 15 percent of internet users and is five times more likely to attract women than men. Since it is popular with higher-educated affluent women, this would be a viable channel to target potential funders and future board members (Pew Research Center, 2013).