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IVEY COMMUNITY
CONSULTING PROJECT 2011:

LONDON EMPLOYMENT
HELP CENTRE

Albert Ng Sandra Rzasa Gabe Michaan Mary Yao

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Executive Summary

London Employment Help Centre (LEHC) is a not-for-profit organization that specializes in

helping individuals obtain employment through the services they offer. LEHC faces the
challenge of increasing market share with a limited amount of resources. With this in mind,
we have identified that the best strategy is to increase awareness by engaging in social
media, which will translate into additional clients that use the LEHC.

Social media is becoming more and more prominent in the business world as well as in the
not-for-profit community. Additionally, the amount of users is growing, specifically in the
older age demographic, which is the LEHC’s target market. This leads to the
recommendation of using social media channels in conjunction with redesigning the
website, to bolster awareness of the LEHC and the services that are available in order to
increase clients.

Firstly, Facebook will be the main focus of the social media strategy as it is the most
applicable to the LEHC’s target market. Having a Facebook fan page that is always up to
date, engaging, and able to funnel users to the LEHC’s website will increase awareness
and accomplish the end goal of converting these visitors into walk-in clients. The
Facebook page will serve three primary functions: a channel to hook users into long-term
subscribers of the LEHC page, a way to connect with the community, and a source of
exclusive information. The end result is being able to encourage users to take advantage
of the LEHC services.

Secondly, LEHC should maintain a Twitter account using a social media management
program such as HootSuite. This will increase social media presence but will not require
much additional effort as the social media management program will automatically
update LEHC’s Twitter account with the Facebook fan page postings. Twitter is not very
prominent with the target market but it is a growing trend. Maintaining a Twitter page will
allow LEHC to actively update the Twitter account if there becomes a trend towards the
target market using Twitter.

Lastly, redesigning the website to be more engaging and easy to use as well as
integrating a link to LEHC’s Facebook page and Twitter account is highly recommended.
Having an appealing website will encourage web site visitors to use the LEHC’s services.

As with any changes there are risks involved both internal and external. There are several
ways to mitigate this risk if time is taken to do so. This will ensure that LEHC maintains a
positive professional presence in the social media world.

In conclusion, having and maintaining a Facebook page and Twitter account, along with
a user friendly website will increase brand awareness of the LEHC and the services they
provide. Successfully executing this strategy and using metrics for success, LEHC should see
an increase in the number of clients using their services due to the social media channels
that LEHC is now part of.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Business Goals and Objectives……………………………………………………………………..3

Constraints………………………………………..…………………………..…………………………3

Industry Trends……………..…………………………..………………………………………..……..3

Target Market……………..…………………………..………………………………………………..4

Social Media Brand and Identity……………..…………………………………..………………..5

Action Plan……..…………………………………..…………..…………………………………..…..5

Facebook……..…………………………………..…………..…………………………………..……5

Twitter…..…………………………………..…………..…………………………..……………………9

Risks…..…………………………………..…………..…………………………..……………………...9

External Risks…………………………..…………..…………………………..……………………….9

Mitigation Strategies – External…………………………..…………..…………………………..…9

Internal Risks…………..…………..……………………………..…………..……………………….11

Mitigation Strategies – Internal……………………..…………..………………………..………..12

LEHC Social Media Policy………..…………..………………..…………..………………..……...13

Response Strategy………………..…………..…………………..…………..………………..……14

Website………………..…………..…………………..…………..…………………..…………..…..15

Email Subscription………..…………..…………………..…………..……………………………...17

Translation Services…..…………..…………………..……….……..……………………………...17

Measuring Success………..……….……..…………………………………………………………18
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Business Goals and Objectives

The primary objective that the London Employment Help Centre (LEHC) wishes to
address is how to increase the organization’s client base with the use of social media.
The LEHC currently has a company website and LinkedIn page but this is not enough.
In order to attract and engage potential clients, the LEHC must adopt a social media
campaign that ensures the organization is able to reach out to its intended audience
and engage in two-way online communication.

There are two distinct ways in which LEHC can utilize social media as a mechanism in
attracting more clients. The first is by creating a compelling social media identity so
that viewers become intrigued enough to visit the centre. The second is by using social
media to direct viewers to the organization’s website so that viewers can learn about
the services the LEHC provides and potentially become a client. Ultimately,
undertaking a social media campaign ensures that the LEHC is able to increase its
online presence. By doing so, there is a higher likelihood that its target market will know
of the LEHC and the services it provides. Increased public awareness of the brand will
result in optimized lead generations.

Constraints

Before launching into a social media campaign, there are constraints the LEHC faces
when taking on a public profile. The most pressing concern with social media is the
fact that negative publicity may arise due to unwarranted or inappropriate comments
from viewers. Such comments or feedback may not only damage the LEHC’s brand
image but it may also question the legitimacy and reputation of the organization.
However, we believe that these risks can be mitigated if time is taken to either prevent
or counteract these potential attacks.

Industry Trends

In an attempt to keep up with the technologically driven market, companies including

non-profits must embody this new form of communication of social media. While the
target market of the LEHC is typically older individuals in the age 30+ category, it is
interesting to note that the average Facebook user is 31 years old. (Exhibit 1)
Furthermore, statistical research has also shown that users between the ages of 45 and
55 are the fastest growing age segment that is using social media. This fits with the
average age of LEHC clients.

In addition, in a survey conducted by the company Ventureneer, approximately 20%

of non-profits classified the three top social media sites: Facebook, Twitter and
Youtube, as being ―very effective‖ in meeting the organization’s objectives. And
approximately 60% considered these mediums as ―somewhat effective‖ (Exhibit 2).
From these results, it is important to note that there is a distinct benefit in using social
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media if the usage is executed appropriately. For the majority of non-profits, the top
social media sites that organizations use are Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and LinkedIn
(Exhibit 3). These websites have a large reach to the public and our recommended
campaign will include many of these popular mediums.

Target Market

The LEHC serves the unemployed community from London and the surrounding area.
The unemployment rate in London and metropolitan area is currently 9.9% and has
risen by 0.8 of a percent since last year; this implies that the market is increasing in size.
More and more people are becoming unemployed and searching for employment
opportunities. For LEHC, this means that they have a larger market to attract to their
employment centre. Additionally, there are several people who are currently
employed, but are looking for new employment opportunities that aren’t considered
unemployed.

Given London’s location to several neighbouring towns, the LEHC can grow its client
base by using social media to attract individuals from these small towns who may not
have or are dissatisfied with their local unemployment agency. This shows potential for
growth as there is a larger client market the LEHC can capitalize on with their online
communications strategy.

The way people are hearing about the LEHC is changing with two main trends that
point to the use of social media as very beneficial; the steady decrease in being
referred by a family or friend, and the gradual decrease in finding the LEHC through
the internet.

In terms of the decrease in individuals being referred by friends and family, there
seems to be less word-of-mouth promotion of the LEHC. With this decline, it seems that
more individuals are looking for employment by themselves and less people are
spreading the word about the employment services they have received from LEHC.
With more people looking for employment help by themselves, there is an increased
need for the LEHC to have a strong internet presence so that these individuals can
browse and find the organization. As well, less people spreading the word about LEHC
and providing positive testimonials to others diminishes the organization’s awareness.
This can be resolved by launching a campaign that ensures the company’s name
continuously appears on social media websites the public frequently uses and
reinforces and reminds the public that the LEHC is available for all their unemployment
needs.

With the decrease of finding LEHC on the internet, this should be of concern to the
organization as an increasing number of individuals are using the internet as a quick,
efficient and resourceful tool in finding information. Launching a social media
campaign would raise awareness of the LEHC and in turn would direct more potential
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clients to the LEHC website where they could obtain more information on how to
access resources at the employment help centre.

Social Media Brand and Identity

When it comes to defining a brand image for LEHC’s social media campaign, the
identity that the LEHC must take on should be one that is professional, helpful,
engaging and prompt. Because the LEHC represents competent career counselors
who are successful in helping their clients, a professional tone of speech would reflect
the organization’s ability in providing quality service. By sounding helpful and
engaging through every social media medium the LEHC uses, this ensures viewers that
the LEHC is always ready and willing to help anyone. Lastly, by being prompt and
responding to questions and comments in a timely manner emphasizes that the LEHC
cares about its clients and is eager to help in any capacity. As well, by responding
quickly, the LEHC is also able to capitalize on the viewer’s limited attention span – the
shorter the response time, the more likely the LEHC can draw the viewer in and entice
them to become a client.

Action Plan

Facebook

Facebook is one of the fastest growing social media platforms on the internet, with 9
out of every 10 non-profit organizations (NPOs) having an established presence on
Facebook already. Growth increase for non-profit presence on Facebook was 16%
from 2009-2010 and 3% this past year. Although growth is decreasing, numbers for
Facebook presence are rather high already, which strongly suggests that the LEHC
should jump on board with having a presence on Facebook as many NPOs have
already done so.

Function

Rather than merely establishing the Facebook page for the sake of a presence, it is
important for LEHC to develop goals in what they want to accomplish with the page.
However, it is also important to view these goals from the viewpoint of the audience
member, in order to fully understand how to satisfy the wants and needs of the user.

Reasons for subscription

Users only enter themselves into a subscription if there is an incentive for them. Usually
the incentive is more information that becomes available to the user following the
time of the subscription. Additionally, subscribers expect to receive regular updates or
information in the future.
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Here are a couple suggestions for LEHC to encourage subscription:

 Job tip of the day, week or month. LEHC can either produce the content
themselves or link to already existing content online
 Special job postings or perhaps job postings for employers that need an
immediate filling
 Special events happening at LEHC or in the London community such as
seminars, social events or local job fairs

The objective is to make LEHC’s Facebook page as resourceful as possible. This will
encourage current subscribers to share the content with friends, creating even more
brand awareness.

Connecting to the community

Facebook can be a great way for LEHC to connect with the local community. The
goal is to have people interact with a company’s Facebook page as much as
possible. Each interaction with fan pages on Facebook is publicly displayed on users’
personal walls. This, in turn becomes shared amongst all their friends within their
networks, raising brand awareness. It is important to encourage interaction through
many ways. This can be achieved by asking broad open ended questions that appeal
to a large number of users. For example LEHC could ask, ―LEHC wants to know how to
help you better. What are your biggest hurdles when looking for a job?‖ or even fun
statements such as ―What is your favourite part about the Holidays?‖ It is crucial to
add a fun and intimate element to the relationship between LEHC and its subscribers.

A source for exclusive information or free services

The Facebook fan page can also be branded as a channel to access exclusive
information. Incentives for free services can always be provided. The nature of a
Facebook page makes the Like Button very prominent and subscribing very easy.
Anything LEHC can do to provide some sort of exclusivity to subscribing the page will
entice more users to ―Like‖ the page. For example: free one-on-one job consultation,
free resume guide, or exclusive local job postings in London.

―Like” Button Integration

The ―Like‖ button on Facebook serves two options. Firstly, it allows the user to subscribe
directly to LEHC’s Facebook fan page and receive live updates on their news feed
without having to visit LEHC’s page or website directly. This is an excellent way for LEHC
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to make sure that it maintains its contact with its supporters, since users are more likely
to check their Facebook account than to specifically visit LEHC’s page or website
day-to-day. Users are also less likely to give out personal information, and the ―Like‖
button eliminates this barrier by allowing the user to subscribe without doing so.
Secondly, when a user clicks the ―Like‖ button, this information is shared with other
users which encourage the user’s friends and family to visit the page.

Implementation

The ―Like‖ button is located on LEHC’s Facebook page, thus it is important to find a
way to funnel users to the fan page itself. The button should be ―above the fold‖,
meaning users should be able to see it without having to scroll down. The Facebook
logo should also be prominent so users are able to recognize it. In addition, incentives
to visit the fan page should exist and could be indicated alongside the button to
encourage clicks.

Landing Page
A landing page is the first page a user sees when they land on a fan page. The
landing page is not the simplest thing to set up, but it can play a big part in increasing
the number of ―Likes‖ to the Facebook page. Below is an example from Zappos:

A landing page does require some technical expertise to create, but can be a great
supplement to the Facebook page. LEHC should develop a landing page so that
clicking on the ―Like‖ button displays hidden content, or directs the user straight to the
Facebook wall.
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Updates

The most important thing to keep the Facebook page updated with is all the events,
information sessions, services and resources offered for free at the LEHC. Every time an
event is scheduled at the LEHC it must be updated on the Facebook page as well.
Always aim at redirecting customers to the company website.

Pictures and Videos

Post pictures that have to do with the services offered at LEHC. These can include
recent events, statistics or pictures of everyday life at the centre. Pictures of
employees and satisfied customers allow the company to seem ―human‖ online and
therefore both credible and trustworthy.
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Twitter

Our research has shown that the average potential customer for LEHC does not use
Twitter. For this reason we recommend that Twitter be used in congruency with the
Facebook page but not as a focus of the campaign. Through social media monitoring
systems such as HootSuite and TweetDeck LEHC will be able to use a Twitter page that
is very easy to monitor. The page will be synced with Facebook and any items posted
on Facebook will be simultaneously posted on Twitter. As LEHC starts to see a shift
towards their target market starting to use Twitter a strategy to implement would be to
create 10-15 tweets at the beginning of each workweek and set the social media
management tools to automatically tweet these posts at times chosen by LEHC. This
would allow for a very easy-to-monitor strategy.

Risks

External Risks

External risks largely involve external sources posting detrimental comments or

interacting negatively with a company’s social media page. This is something that all
companies will likely experience upon entering social media and must plan to mitigate
the damages caused. Because all information is public on social media, there is an
increasing trend for Facebook, Twitter and Youtube users to organize coordinated
attacks on any company which they may have grievances with. These attacks have
been labeled as ―social media warfare‖ and entail overrunning a company’s social
media page with negative messages for long periods of time. An example has been
Nestle’s Facebook Fan page. Over the course of 2011, the Nestle Facebook has being
overrun by critics around deforestation, sustainability and poor social media relations
which has brought extremely bad publicity for the company. Although it is highly
unlikely for LEHC to face coordinated global attacks like some of the bigger not-for
profits, individual uncoordinated attacks are very much a reality and an equal risk.

Mitigation Strategies – External

In the case of LEHC, the kind of negative comments can be broken down into two
categories: constructive and detrimental.
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A constructive comment is usually a complaint about a product or service which the

customer isn’t unhappy with. These can sometimes be used to a company’s
advantage. By showing your customers that you are willing to respond quickly and
fairly, you can build trust and grow your business. Facebook makes customer service
easier because customers can get their questions answered just by reading your
page.

To resolve constructive comments effectively follow the recommended steps and see
the example below:

1. Answer quickly
2. Take if offline- Give customers a phone number or private email address where
they can directly voice their concerns offline.
3. Be ready to answer frequently asked questions- Keep a log of the questions
which are commonly asked and have prepared answers to reply. This can
include links to relevant websites, emails and phone numbers.
4. Ask customers to answer other customers- Whenever possible ask ―Has anybody
else seen this problem?‖ If you get your customers helping each other, you’re
really taking full advantage of social media
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Detrimental comments are comments that are simply inappropriate, will not add any
constructive value to your company or are completely irrelevant to your company’s
media page. These comments should be deleted immediately. Examples are shown
below:

Internal Risks

An important factor that must be considered when implementing a risk strategy is the
risk that may stem from within the company. Internal risks are poor or negligent
decisions made by employees on a company’s social media page which can hurt the
company that he or she is working for. Our research has shown that there is no
company that is immune to these mishaps. In the past, both corporate giants and
small companies have fallen victim to employee risks. The main question to ask is
―what would happen if offensive comments were posted by our employees on our
social media pages?‖ A notable example occurred at Chrysler Autos when the
company accidentally cursed to more than 7,000 Twitter followers. Although the tweet
was only up for three hours it was retweeted quickly and soon became viral.
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Another notable example is a message on Honda’s Facebook page. In preparation

for the release of its Accord Crosstour, Honda launched an aggressive campaign to
solicit feedback on the car. The campaign backfired with hundreds of respondents
who posted negative comments about the soon-to-be released coupe. But one
Facebook user, Eddie Okubo, appeared to love the Crosstour. He wrote: "Interesting
design. I would get this car in a heartbeat." Because of Eddie’s LinkedIn page,
Facebook users quickly realized he was a Honda employee and posted extremely
negative comments on Honda’s page.

Mitigation Strategies - Internal

The most important way to mitigate internal risks is to have a very detailed social
media policy which states how employee should behave when interacting with
company social media pages. A recommended Social Media Policy is stated below
which has been largely based on Best Buy and Wal-Mart’s social media policies.
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LEHC Social Media Policy

Guidelines for functioning in the technological world are the same as the values,
ethics and confidentiality policies employees are expected to live everyday, whether
you’re Twittering, talking with customers or chatting over the neighbor’s fence.
Remember, your responsibility to LEHC doesn’t end when you are off the clock. For
that reason, this policy applies to both company sponsored social media and personal
use as it relates to the LEHC.

What You Should Do:

 Disclose your Affiliation: If you talk about work related matters that are within
your area of job responsibility you must disclose your affiliation with LEHC.
 State that it is your opinion when commenting on the business. Unless authorized
to speak on behalf of the LEHC, you must state that the views expressed are
your own.
 Protect Yourself: Be careful about what personal information you share online.
 Act responsibly and ethically: When participating in online communities, do not
misrepresent yourself. Example: If you are not a manager, do not say you are.
 Honor Our Differences: LEHC will not tolerate discrimination (including age, sex,
race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity,
national origin, citizenship, disability, or marital status or any other legally
recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local laws)
 Show respect and be polite, even if you disagree. Excessive, foul language,
violent, sexual bullying or otherwise inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated.
 Keep the conversation relevant to the community and contribute to the
dialogue. LEHC reserves the right to remove off-topic, out of context, spam or
promotional postings.

What You Should Never Disclose:

 Non-public financial or operational information. This includes strategies, forecasts

and most anything with a dollar-figure attached to it. If it is not already public
information, it is not your job to make it so.
 Never share personal information about our customers.
 Anything to do with a legal issue, legal case, or attorneys without first checking
with legal.
 Confidential Information: Do not publish, post, or release information that is
considered confidential or top secret.
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Response Strategy

Besides responding to notifications as fast as possible, LEHC must create an online

persona that is professional, informational, respectful and fun. LEHC employees should
follow basic grammar, punctuation and formal sentence structure anytime they
engage in online social media. Furthermore, when posting comments, research has
shown that short messages are much more effective than long ones. It is crucial to
avoid writing long paragraphs and write each post with as few words as possible. LEHC
should avoid using too many slang words in their posts and remain professional. It is key
to remember the Facebook page or Twitter accounts are merely extensions of the
workplace.

How NOT to post (too long):

How NOT to post (informal):

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How to post (perfect):

Website

The major benefit of utilizing LEHC’s website compared to its social media sites is the
fact that the organization is able to control all the content on this page. However, the
LEHC’s current website is putting the company at a disadvantage when compared to
similar players in the same industry. Although the website’s simplicity works in some
respects, it overall does not convince potential customers of the quality service at
LEHC. To match the new social media campaign, we recommend that a new website
be designed following the 10 guidelines from a Stanford study about how to create a
credible and convincing website.
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Website guidelines

1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site.

2. Show that there is a real organization behind your site.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you
provide.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
6. Design your site so it looks professional
7. Make your site easy to use -- and useful.
8. Update your site's content often (at least show it's been reviewed recently).
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers).
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.

The website is even more important than the social media strategy and campaigns
themselves as the end goal is to funnel users onto the website, and eventually into the
London Employment Help Centers for their services. The LEHC’s website is the first point
of contact users have with the brand and company. Thus, the LEHC needs to ensure
that it maintains a professional image and is able to win the confidence of its users so
that they decide to become clients.

Design

Research has shown users form their first impression of a company within 50
milliseconds of entering their website. As such, LEHC needs to ensure it has a
professional and clean look so users can trust the quality of LEHC’s services, but also
simple enough so it is easy to navigate and find information. There is no problem with
using colors associated with the LEHC brand, but it is important to use colors that are
common and up-to-date with today’s web standards. A content management system
such as Wordpress may allow LEHC to use existing templates created by the public,
and modify them to suit LEHC’s needs.

Home Page

The home page is the most visited part of any website since users may decide to stay
or leave. That’s why it is crucial that there is at least one thing on the page that is
prominent and sticks out to the visitor, prompting them to click and learn more about
the firm, and eventually becoming a client. Less important content can be organized
into smaller blocks or sections on other parts of the website to ensure that they can
easily be spotted as well. You would also want to promote LEHC’s presence on social
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media on the page using easily identifiable icons for Facebook and Twitter.

Hook

Make it as easy as possible for someone to know what to do to ―find a job,‖ which in
this case, is to walk into an LEHC centre. This should be clearly communicated to the
user so they don’t have to figure out what they need to do themselves. The easier and
less thinking we make the visitor do, the more likely they are to walk into a centre and
become a potential client.

Job Postings

If policies prohibit LEHC from posting a large number of jobs, it is better not to post any
at all. Posting a limited amount of jobs from one sector, industry, or company, may
cause the visitor to think that the LEHC is specialized. Furthermore, it is not a true
representation of the number of jobs that the LEHC can actually provide to its clients.

Email Subscription

Email subscriptions can be used to email monthly newsletters or update users on new
job postings. Getting a point of contact from the visitor is crucial, because it ensures
that you are able to reach them even if they have forgotten about the site in the
future. Software such as ―Mailchimp‖ could be used to manage newsletter subscribers.

Translation Services

With such a diverse customer base, it may be beneficial to include some sort of
translation function on the website. Google translate offers this service for free and
can be added simply to any website.
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Measuring Success

The objective of social media marketing is to increase the number clients who use the
LEHC’s services. The benefits of social media are qualitative mostly making them hard
to measure quantitatively. Some unique metrics that can be considered are:

 Number of people that come to the LEHC based on the social media
advertising
 Number of positive comments per week within a given time
 Increases in website visits on a weekly basis

Many of the social media channels generate statistics that can provide important
information.

Facebook Insights:

 Monthly Active Users — Reports the number of ―fans‖ that use your site each
month. This does not count each visit as one number, but does count each
visitor as one number. This can be used to see how visitors change relative to
what you are updating your page with.
 Demographics — Gives you almost every demographic piece of information
that you could ever imagine; from gender to age range and ―fan‖ countries,
cities, and languages. This allows you to see where the people visiting your page
are from geographically as well as what characteristics they have.
 Activity — Facebook has its own measurement of activity which displays the
unique and returning page views. You have the option to monitor both ―logged
in‖ views as well as unique views which gives you a fantastic insight into who is
finding you. You can see if users are returning to your page to read updates and
how many new users are visiting the page.
 Media Consumptions — With this statistic, you can view the number of videos,
audio clips, and images that you have posted as they have been viewed by
your page users. This allows you to see if the content you are producing for your
page is actually being used. If they are not, then you need to change the way
you are presenting the information or the method used to present it.

It is important to focus on meaningful metrics that truly reflect the success of the social
media plan as they could either be beneficial to improving the company’s strategy, or
be misleading.

It is only by launching a carefully crafted social media campaign and then diligently
monitoring its effects can a non-profit organization expect to see the impact and
rewards of its newly implemented strategy.
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EXHIBIT 1

Average Age of Facebook User

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EXHIBIT 2
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EXHIBIT 3