1

Social Media Recommendation

Report:
Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
Allison Richman
Shayla Buryska
Jintian Li

Table of Contents
Page Number

Content

Executive Summary

Introduction

5-7

Facebook

8-10
11-14

Instagram
Twitter

13-14

Conclusion

15

References

Social Media Recommendation Report

Executive Summary
In order for the Caregiver Coach Program to expand its marketing and
advertising techniques to
reach more potential and current clients it is recommended they utilize the
following social media sites.
The following is a brief overview of the content of this report:

Facebook
Leading social network in the U.S. with over 1 billion users

Comprised of target population (56% of internet users over 65

are on Facebook)
Through different features (statuses, posts, and photos)
Facebook allows the CCP to connect and engage with current and
potential supporters of the CCP
Allows for networking with other organizations in the La Crosse
community
Increases fundraising and helps with volunteer recruitment
Strategies on how to professionally and efficiently use Facebook
Case Study: UNICEF

Instagram
Newer form of social media that allows users to post photos and
captions
Displayed pictures can be used to show experiences, or to
market and advertise.
Strategies on how to professionally efficiently use Instagram
Case Study: Ben & Jerrys, Mercedes-Benz, and Levis

Twitter
Popular social media platform that allows one to post within 140
characters
Allows for connections to be formed and facilitates
communication with followers and fellow organizations
Allows the CCP to efficiently get messages across in 140
characters or less
Strategies on how to professionally and efficiently use Twitter:
reaching out to people, keeping the flame alive and stepping up to
action
Case Study: Charity: Water

Introduction
It is very exciting to hear that the Caregiver Coach Program has recently
been approved to use social media. The utilization of social media will
enhance and benefit the Caregiver Coach Program (CCP) greatly. As we
know, the CCP has provided numerous caregivers and seniors with the

appropriate support and services in the La Crosse Community. By marketing

and advertising through social media the CCP can expand even further. This
report will provide the CCP staff with recommendations on why and how to
efficiently and professionally use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Since the Caregiver Coach Program has not used Facebook before, there are
matters that need attention, which help CCP staff use Facebook effectively.
We will provide some effective tips to achieve the CCPs goal successfully. In
addition to Facebook, are two of the most popular social media now. In order
to maximize the benefit for the CCP, we also recommend these two social
media sites as potential tools to achieve the CCPs goal in our report. We will
introduce them and discuss how to use them effectively.

We hope our recommendation report can help the Caregiver Coach Program
function well. We believe this program will be more appealing to La Crosse
County through social media and and potentially reach citizens who may
benefit from the CCP's services

Facebook
What is Facebook?

Facebook was originally designed as just a place to chat with friends and
meet new people, but over the years it has transformed into something
much bigger. Businesses, large and small, as well as nonprofits are utilizing
Facebook to create and promote brand awareness. Currently, Facebook has
more than 1 billion users, 25 million of which are small businesses and
nonprofits (Pew Research Center, 2014). Facebook allows users to create
profiles, upload photos and video, send messages, and display information in
posts. These features would allow the Caregiver Coach Program (CCP) to
accomplish so much in terms of advertising and marketing for their program.

How Facebook can Benefit the CCP

Currently, 71% of online adults say they use Facebook which makes it the
leading social networking site in the U.S (Pew Research Center, 2014). More
than likely, this very large population of adult users consists of current and
potential supporters of the CCP. Additionally, 56% of internet users over 65
are on Facebook which is also a large target population of the CCP (Pew
Research Center, 2014).

Facebook would allow the CCP to create a page that displayed information
about their program including items like their purpose, mission statement,
contact information, and hours of business. Beyond that Facebook would also
provide a platform that allowed the CCP to directly engage with users.
Through posted Facebook statuses and photos the CCP could keep the public

up to date on past events, future events, relevant articles and research.

These statuses and photos allow for followers to comment and initiate
conversation. Facebook will also allow the CCP to keep the program
connected to other organizations in the La Crosse Community. One benefit of
being linked to other similar organizations is that it might draw potential CCP
clients to the CCP page.

Additionally, the CCP can utilize Facebook to reach out to local community
members for both volunteering and fundraising purposes. The CCP can
attract volunteers by posting photos and videos of past volunteers, their
stories, and past volunteer events. This way people can see what to expect
when volunteering with the CCP and get excited about future events and
helping out. This is more encouraging than simply posting a message asking
for volunteers. The CCP can also help fundraising efforts by using Facebook.
According to a recent research study conducted by Nonprofit Engage, using
social networking sites like Facebook on average increased fundraising
results by up to 40% (2011).

How to Effectively Use Facebook

To professionally and effectively utilize Facebook in a business setting, the
user should keep posts under 80 characters, post at least once every couple
of days, and respond to comments within 1 hour and no later than 24 hours.
Posts, statuses and photos, should include enticing content that is relevant

and interesting to followers. The page should display as much information as

possible and be linked to the CCPs website. Having these two web pages
linked will attract more Facebook users to the CCP website and increase
awareness of the program and the programs mission.It is recommended that
the CCP make their Facebook page public so as many followers can see the
page as possible.

Facebook Success Story

As previously mentioned, Facebook is utilized by all sorts of companies and
programs both big and small. One example of a successful nonprofit utilizing
Facebook is UNICEF. In a case study completed by Savvy Panda, UNICEFs
utilization of Facebook was examined (2013). Although UNICEF is a much
larger scale program than the CCP, the CCP can still benefit from looking at
how they use Facebook. The case study found three large benefits from
UNICEFs utilization of Facebook. To begin, Facebook gave UNICEF the
platform to visually tell stories by posting photos that elicit emotional
responses (Savvy Panda, 2013). This strong imagery really pulls in followers
much more than just a written story. Secondly, Facebook has allowed UNICEF
to reach nearly 5 million users and engage in conversation with over 180,000
users. This interaction promotes awareness and action for the program.
Lastly, Facebook has driven more users to their website more than ever
before. This has also led to an increase in donations made and number of
volunteers committed to UNICEF (Savvy Panda, 2013).

Overall, the Caregiver Coach Program could benefit greatly from using
Facebook much like UNICEF has.

Instagram
What is Instagram?
Sometimes seeing statuses gets old for the reader. While Facebook allows
one to post photos, it can become hard to switch the mind between looking
at photos and looking at status updates. Instagram allows one to look
through only pictures, and still get an obvious message of what the user is
trying to convey.

Instagram is one of the newer forms of social media, and all of the postings
are comprised of pictures. One can use these pictures to show experiences,
or to market and advertise. The CCP could use Instagram for both of these
purposes if allowed future access to this social media platform. While
Instagram is mainly just a collection of pictures, there are captions that can
be used to describe more of what the picture is about. Within the captions
one can also use hashtags. So a La Crosse Caregiver Coach Program hashtag
could be used to increase the CCPs web presence.

Since the program already been approved to have Facebook, that can be
used to help initially advertise for the new Instagram page to get more
followers. No matter the number of followers, the program could start to post
pictures of their event days, or even take pictures of posters that have been
made for advertising. This way when people come to follow the account, they
will already have an idea of what they will be seeing in the future from the
program on Instagram.

Instagram Success Stories

Many companies have already used Instagram to boost their web presence.
They are much larger companies than the CCP, but Ben & Jerrys, MercedesBenz, and Levis are just a few examples of how Instagram dramatically
increased their marketing potential. Ben & Jerrys was trying to promote their
new flavor, and with the help of Instagram, 17% more of the US population
heard about the new flavor. Mercedes-Benz had a 54% increase in website
visits after utilizing ads on Facebook and Instagram. Then there was a 580%
increase in website visits after they combined ads with personal posts on
Facebook and Instagram. Levis was then able to reach 7.4 million people
with their Instagram account (Instagram Business). So while these
companies are much larger than the CCP, their results are still inspiring.

How Instagram can benefit the CCP

Fast Company gives Instagram users and business owners ideas on how to
use Instagram to promote their business (Gillett, R.). The first is to feature

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customers using company products. While the CCP doesnt have specific
products, they could feature clients using their services, with their given
consent to do so. The next strategy is to take the CCPs followers behind the
scenes. This could include posting a picture of setting up for an event, or
even a picture of office workers smiling as they are going about their daily
tasks. The next strategy is to host contests and prizes. This is where using a
hashtag really comes into play. A hypothetical example would be to say that
there could be a contest to see which support group could come up with the
most creative group photo. Users would then post their support group photo
to their personal Instagram account with an example hashtag being
#CaregiverSupportGroupsLaCrosseWI. A couple other hashtag examples
could be #CCPLAX or #LaCrosseCCP. This way the users that follow people
who use the CCP (and dont use the CCP themselves) are made more aware
of what the CCP offers. The CCP Instagram account manager could then click
on that hashtag and see all the photos that used that hashtag, and pick the
winner from there and post it to the CCP Instagram page. Fast Company also
gives more examples such as mimicking your fans, promoting new products,
and how to better use hashtags. The first three examples given though
would be the most useful to the CCP.

Before posting a photo with CCP members in it, it is important to get consent
from them prior to posting the photos. This could be as simple as verbally
asking, or could be more formal and could be in the form of a written

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document with signatures. This is important because it is recommended to

have an Instagram account that is meant for a business or company to be
public. Having a public account allows other Instagram users to see all the
photos that the CCP has posted in the past. If the account were private, a
user would not be able to see the photos, they would have to request to
follow the CCP account, and the account owner would have to approve the
follow request before the user would be able to see the photos. In order to
gain as many followers as possible, its advised to have the account be
public to avoid the hassle of approving every follow request. Plus, with a
public account, more users can immediately see what the CCP is all about.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so instead of taking the time to type out
those thousand words, one might as well post and intriguing photo on
Instagram instead.

Twitter
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social networking site that allows one to post messages within
140 characters with pictures or videos. Twitter has quickly become a popular
social media platform in our lives. According to the study Information,
Community, and Action: How Nonprofit Organizations Use Social Media
(Lovejoy and Saxton, 2012), the authors state that 73 of the 100
organizations were found to have Twitter accounts (p. 340). Clearly, Twitter

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accounts in nonprofit organizations has become an increasing trend, and will

be a strong potential marketing/promotional outlet for the CCP to use.

How can Twitter promote the CCP effectively?

A study titled Tweeting Social Change: How Social Media Are Changing
Nonprofit Advocacy (Guo and Saxton, 2014) reported that, similar to other
social media sites, organizations on Twitter have use of two dynamic tools:
connections and messages (P.63). The connection is between these
organizations and their followers. The article says that highly engaged
organizations can thus use these connections to keep a finger on the pulse
of the community while ensuring their own messages reached the broadest
community possible (Guo and Saxton, 2014, P.63-64). If the CCP wants to
reach the largest number of local residents who need help, engaging with
people is very important and can be accomplished through a platform like
Twitter.

Another benefit of using Twitter is the fact that the messages are efficient
and short. With a short message, people can quickly get an idea of what the
CCP is and be drawn to get more information. There are three ways to do
this: reaching out to people, keeping the flame alive, and stepping up to
action.

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The first step is reaching out to people. Advertising: the internet, TV, or an
advertising board can encourage people to get engaged with CCPs Twitter
account. Using a hashtag is also a good way at this stage. As Guo and Saxton
(2014) said in their study, hashtags thus facilitate information dissemination
by categorizing messages around specific topics; organizations can use
hashtags to find tweets on the same topic or help others find their tweets
(p. 71). CCPs staff can hashtag some key words of their program to reach
larger audiences. (e.g. #caregiving, #caregiver, # support, etc.) People who
are interested in those topics will easily find information from those hashtags
and will most likely get engaged with the CCP.

The second is to keep the flame alive. Guo and Saxon (2014) explain that
this second stage involves deepening and building emergent ties (p.71)
and advocacy at this stage is mainly a relational practice (P.71). At this
step, the CCPs staff can create messages directly to its followers through
Twitter. For example, targeting or hashtagging the La Crosse community in
the CCPs tweets as dialogues increases their interaction. Thus, it will show
the care to the residents and the communitys and CCPs goals will be
achieved. For example, the CCPs staff can post a tweet like: Are you a
#Caregiver? Caregiver Coach can help you!

The third step is step up to action. According to Guo and Saxon (2014), at
this stage, advocacy is mainly a mobilizational practice, with organizations

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tweets being used to facilitate public events, direct action, and grassroots
lobbying (73). Since the CCP is aimed to help caregivers solve their
problems and connect them to the support service, they might need to call
people to join their program. Using hashtags to get engaged with diverse
users related to caregivers or providing hyperlinks, such as a link to the CCP
flyer can make an effective call-for-action tweet. The CCP can also tweet
about donation opportunities. If possible, providing pictures or videos can be
even more persuasive.However, it is important to obtain permission from the
photo subjects prior to posting image online.

Twitter success story

There is a successful story called Raise awareness for charity: water. The
Charity Water founder, Scott Harrison, increased peoples awareness of
clean water shortage, and with Twitter users help, the charity raised 250,000
dollars for improving clean water in Ethiopia, Uganda and India.

On Twitters official website, the Twitter team analyzed how this charity
made their goal successfully. They says:
Many of their tweets feature link to sites where followers can donate,
with photos that emphasize the personal nature of their cause. They
also personalize their Tweets with beautiful and iconic pictures of the
work they do to bring clean water to remote areas. A photo of the day
reminds their followers of the charitys important goals. Most
importantly, charity: water personalizes the Twitter experience for their
followers. Finally, a thank-you to their followers, who are instrumental
in meeting the organizations goals and bringing clean drinking water
to the people. (Twitter, 2015)

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As we see, using skills appropriately in Twitter can produce a profound effect.

The Charity Water founder provided a useful link to give sufficient
information, posted pictures or videos to show people suffer from polluted
water, and tweeted dialogue to thank their helpers. The CCP can take this
example as a good model to enhance their influence in Twitter.

Conclusion
Over time social media has shifted from people making individual
connections with each other, to businesses being able to connect with their
consumers. It has become a new form of advertising and outreach to keep
customers coming back, and to gain new ones. The CCP now has the ability
to do the same. With the use of Facebook and other potential social media
platforms, the CCP can now give their clients updates about their programs,
and encourage new clients to join them. There are professional guidelines to
follow when posting to Facebook and other social media platforms, and these
guidelines have been provided to the employees of the CCP. If there is more
confusion or questions about how to professionally use Facebook in the
future, there are many useful pages that can be found through a Google
search, or all of our emails have been provided for personal contacting.

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References
Duggan, M., Ellison, N., Lampe, C., Lenahrt, A., & Madden, M. (2014). Social
Media Update 2014. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from:
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/
Gillett, R. (n.d.). How the Most Successful Brands Dominate Instagram, and
You Can Too.

Bottom Line (Fast Company). Retrieved from

http://www.fastcompany.com/3029395/bottom-line/how-the-mostsuccessful-brands-dominate-instagram-and-you-can-too.
Guo, C., Saxton, D, G. (2014). Tweeting Social Change: How Social Media Are
Changing Nonprofit Advocacy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly,
vol.43, no.157-79. doi:10.1177/0899764012471585

Instagram Business. (2015). Case Studies. Retrieved from

https://business.instagram.com/.
Lovejoy, K., Saxton, D, G. (2012). Information, Community, and Action: How
Nonprofit Organizations Use social Media. Journal of ComputerMediated Communication, 17, 337-357. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.10836101.2012.01576.x/epdf
Michel-Crosato, E. (February 13th, 2015). Web 2.0: How Social Networking
Sites are Impacting Dentistry. Openvito Publishing. (Dentistry Open
Journal). Retrieved from http://rcube.ritsumei.ac.jp/bitstream/10367/6101/1/52112607.pdf

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Nonprofit Engage. (2011). Using Social Media Increases Fundraising by 40%.

Retrieved from:http://npengage.com/nonprofit-fundraising/usingsocial-media-increases-fundraising-40-percent/
Savvy Panda. (2013). UNICEF Case Study: How a Nonprofit Uses Facebook to
Drive Change. Retrieved from: http://savvypanda.com/blog/beginnerlevel/unicef-case-study-how-a-nonprofit-uses-facebook-to-drivechange.html
Twitter (2015). Raise awareness for charity: water. Retrieved from
https://media.twitter.com/success/charity-water