The Heart and Stroke Foundation Social Media Assessment Report.
April 5th, 2019
Person A – Haley Zsolt (10175773)
Blog Link: https://haleyzsolt8.wixsite.com/heartandstroke
Table of Contents
Executive Summary…. 2
Introduction…………… 3
Media Analytics……… 4
Methods………………...5
Social Media…………...6
Website...............6
Facebook……..6-7
Instagram…………7
Twitter……...7
Discussion……………...8
Conclusion …………….8
References……………..9
Appendices ……………10-11
Executive Summary
This analytical report examined each social media platform where the Heart and Stroke are present. Each platform was examined, critiqued and recommendations were disclosed. The utilization of these platforms need to be expanded as well show more uniformity in information and posts they are sharing. Specially the organization needs to create material that are so engaging individuals will want to share. The types of posts and tone used greatly affect the influx of traffic on each platform. It will be concluded that having a more active presence on these platforms and the strength of material shared will reach a larger audience. Heart and Stroke will benefit from this by reaching more potential volunteers and donors.
Introduction
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is an organization that focuses on research and programs for those who have been impacted by either one. Through dedicated research, breakthroughs, and innovations, many lives are saved. Some of the leading goals of Heart & Stroke is to advocate, educate and support research contributing to Heart Disease and Stroke. Advocacy and education create awareness and influence preventive measures within research as well to increase recognition of stroke and heart condition symptoms. As the Heart and Stroke foundation mission states:
“ For over 60 years, Heart & Stroke has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Our work has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of millions of others”
The Heart and Stroke Foundation will be analytically critiqued through their Social Media presence. The analysis of the Heart & Strokes use of media will influence clarity to the how the organization is peeing perceived and if the Foundations current media strategies are beneficial.
[figure 1]
Media Analytics
Digital connectivity is a critical aspect of campaign success. The use of various social outlets can either progress the goals of the foundation or prevent potential engagement. The use of experimentation on these platforms can influence the organization to reach greater audience and with time act as a force for social good (Kanter, 2018).
[Figure 2]
Video content has been shown to be the most effective method to move and enhance their audiences, the bets platform to post video content on is Facebook (Kanter, 2018). During this time it is crucial to ensure each platform can be accessible on a smartphone device, this includes website content. With the decline of desktop computer use it is important to invest in making each platform engaging and easily accessible to ensure no significant loss in donations (Kanter, 2018).
Identifying The Audience
A major portion of the population that Heart and Stroke Foundation is targeting their social media campaign towards is a middle aged and middle class audience, especially regarding their Facebook page. A large portion of images and articles posted to their Facebook are articles either relating to healthier life choices for middle aged citizens, or to making healthy choices for your children. This also means that people with children are large targets for this campaign as well, considering most people using Facebook are between the ages of 25 and 45 (Statista).
Methods
How did we analyze the data
Present findings or research as simply as possible
Traffic information
For this analysis each relevant Social Media platform was visited, including the Heart & Stroke Website, Instagram , Twitter, and Facebook. The tone, clarity, branding and the level of engagement within each Social Media was examined. Each platform was analyzed where applicable in order to examine current user traffic and predict potential traffic.
Traffic methods:
The number of followers and subscribers, the average number of posts per week and the average number of likes per post were collected
The average was collected for the number of posts per week by examining how many post were made over a period of two weeks
The average number of likes per post was collected by analyzed the amount of likes per post within the period of two weeks
Unfortunately the traffic for and posting information for the Heart and Stroke website was unviable at this time.
[Figure 3]
Social Media Platforms
Website https://www.heartandstroke.ca/
The website contains valuable information regarding the foundation, donations, and valuable research reports and guidance regarding heart disease and stroke.
Website design was clean, modern, and offered positive sentiment in light of the difficult topic.
The website contained many keywords relevant to the goal of the foundation as well as had strong backlinks, all positively affecting Heart and Stroke’s SEO.
Recommendations
There is difficulty regarding navigation, tabs seem to lead to disorganized and clustered topics. Creating multiple subheadings within over-reaching sections would help this issue.
The page brightness with color can be over for some individuals. In order to keep the red contrast with the brand, incorporated more white or grey backgrounds.
Information was not seen as being organized, as many pages have long scrolls and diseased content.
It is crucial to sift through website content and remove and unnecessary testimonials or facts as they can be posted on other social media platforms.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/heartandstroke/
This platform is the organized most liked platform as well acts as hub for information and connections for heart and stroke audiences.
The page offers multimedia such as videos, links to heart and stroke events,
This platforms offers important information quickly for those who do not wish to sift through the website such as contact, photos, videos and more.
Recommendations
The page should ideally focus on relating topics, whether it be fundraising, health tips, or educational statements. Currently the page posts are unorganized and some even unrelated which may confuse the audience.
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thehsf/?hl=en
the bio of the page is well structured, Sharing hashtags for users to use as well as foundation goals and the website link
The majority of the posts are aligned with the branding of foundation,
Recommendations
Currently the account is only posting 1-2 posts a week, this is not enough to create an active presence on Instagram, this should increase to 1-2 posts a day.
It is crucial to utilize the story feature to keep fallowers updated and tuned in to current Heart and Stroke events, news and daily posts.
The page should have a greater uniformity of attractive, intriguing posts to capture the audience.
Twitter https://twitter.com/HeartandStroke
This twitter account is a leading account for recent activity and updates.
The account is currently very active showing an average of 26 tweets a week with a large fallowing.
Recommendations
Although this account is fairly active, there is limited us of hashtags and key words within the tweets
Tis platform should be the most updated and most relevant, therefore posting engaging tweets, articles, facts are needed to maintain high flow of traffic.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths of Heart and Stroke
The Instagram page for the Heart and Stroke Foundation is certainly a strong point in their social media campaign. Compared to their Facebook and Twitter pages, their Instagram page does not have nearly as many followers (see figure 3), yet they garner a lot more likes compared to the other pages. Their Instagram also differs significantly from their Facebook and Twitter pages. They seem to have accumulated a large amount of likes from the images that they post, and that is because they have managed to maintain a consistent theme and aesthetic regarding the content of their posts. A majority of their posts either promote survivors or volunteers, as well as a series of quotes that promote healthier diets and encourage people to be aware of their cardiovascular health. The above image is just one example of many posts on the HSF Instagram page. The page has a consistent aesthetic that bodes well for a platform such as Instagram, and as a result it is certainly the platform with their most interactions.
Suggestions for Improvement
One of the most glaring flaws that exists in the social media campaign that Heart and Stroke is managing is the substance on their Twitter feed. While they may have almost 50 thousand followers on Twitter, their likes and retweets are averaging under 20 per tweet, indicating that their messages are not reaching the number of people reflected in their follower count. While they are very active, sometimes tweeting multiple times per day, they seem to have a tough time managing their audience on Twitter. One way in which Heart and Stroke may convert their lonely Twitter page into a successful and more interactive one is to find a proper purpose for the page and accurately address their audience. A successful example of a social media campaign called Know Your Lemons made education around breast cancer more accessible for women of all ages, combining the importance of spreading information about the disease with a series of videos and the entertainment factor of going online (Seo-Hacker). If Heart and Stroke were able to properly recognize their Twitter audience, especially considering Twitter has a generally younger user-base than Facebook, they would be able to maximize their Twitter audience for the better. They already have successful campaigns such as the Jump Rope for Heart movement, so capitalizing on that by creating more promotional videos and generating clicks and shares would certainly improve their online presence.
If Heart and Stroke wanted to go a step further, a useful means of both promotion and sharing information regarding heart disease would be to develop an application that can be used on smart phones (Localytics). This would both be an interactive and practical way to get people involved in the movement, allowing users to perhaps share stories, to interact with games and videos that all revolve around the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Another idea for an application would be a daily physical activity application that tracks movement and notifies you of the benefits or your current physical exercise. Considering Jump Rope For Heart is aimed at children in primary school, designing an application that is accessible for young ages, with games and awards, would be a positive way to promote healthy lifestyles at a young age.
One final suggestion that I would make to fully maximize their social media presence is to utilize the story feature on Instagram to generate more traffic and more shares. An Instagram account called Canucks Autism recently released a video that promoted awareness and information regarding children with autism. They wrote in the description that every share that the post will gets will result in one dollar donated from Surrey Fire Fighters. Not only did they have to cap the amount of shares that result in donations because of the amount of traffic and shares, but it also resulted in large donations from other non-profits who wanted to promote the post. Heart and Stroke could certainly capitalize on this trend, sharing stories from survivors and using social media to gain both awareness and to attract donations for their cause. A study from 2012 demonstrates a strong relationship between social context and successful media campaigns. Combining the importance of cardiovascular health with a social trend, similar to what Canucks did with autism, would be a good way for Heart and Stroke to ensure that their campaign garners a great deal of traffic and discussion (Noort et. al).
Here is a link to the Canucks Instagram page where you can see the video that is referenced: https://www.instagram.com/canucksautism/?hl=en
Discussion
The Heart and Stroke’s social media presence is consistently active yet lacks homogeneity within the shared material creating an inconsistent brand. Each platform should be posting frequently, therefore it is not effective if Twitter is posting seven tweets a day while the Instagram account posts once a week all with inconsistent material and tone (Shane). According to various studies the ideal frequency for posting on social media looks as the fallowing; Facebook (1 post per day), Twitter (15 tweets per day), Instagram( 1-2 posts per day) (Shane). In order to create an effective brand and response through social media platforms the posts not only need to me consistent but also display the brands goals and create a positive reaction from the audience. The platform need to be more interactive while being educational, as they need to be communicative to further educate awareness. It is important to attract all demographics of audiences although older demographics are the individuals struggling with heart disease and stroke the younger demographics are those can make lifestyle changes and make preventive choices.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the foundation is fairly active on the leading social media sites, with a clear portrayal of the Heart and Stroke brand as well as the foundation’s goals. The platforms are engaging, attractive and hold valuable information. There are a number of ways to improve their presence and generate more traffic and interaction from users, however they have built a strong foundation online. By utilizing the recommendations and analytics described in this report, the Heart and Stroke foundation will grow a greater social media presence that would benefit the organization as it will affect a larger and more diverse audience.
References
Adler, Bryn. The 5 Biggest Benefits of Running Personalized App Marketing Campaigns. Localytics, Retrieved from:
http://info.localytics.com
Kanter, Beth. Digital connectivity is a force for social good. Charities must harness it.
(2018). Retreived from: https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2018/jan/10/post-truth-world-charities-connectivity-social-good-media-chatbots-mobile-optimisation
Noort, Guda van et al. “Social connections and the persuasiveness of viral campaigns in social network sites: Persuasive intent as the underlying mechanism. Journal of Marketing Campaigns, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 39-53
Shane, Dakota. How Often You Should Post on Social Media, According to 10 Studies.
Retreived from; https://www.inc.com/dakota-shane/how-often-you-should-post-on-social-media-according-to-10-studies.html
Si, Sean. Elements of a Viral Social Media Campaign. Seo-Hacker, Retrieved from:https://seo-hacker.com/elements-viral-social-media-campaign/
Appendix
Figure 1. Pictogram showing heart condition statistics from the Heart and Stroke report
https://www.heartandstroke.ca/-/media/pdf-files/canada/2019-report/heartandstrokereport2019.ashx
Figure 2. Image depicting the power of social media
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/social-media
Figure 3. Graph showing traffic statics of each platform