oxfam middle east social media audit

SOCIALMEDIAAUDITby Judy Maàmari

OUTLINEA. INTRODUCTION (300 words)

- What is Oxfam? - Oxfam in the Middle East - Using Social Media

B. SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT (1762 words)

- What is Oxfam doing right on Social Media?- What is Oxfam doing wrong on social Media?- What can Oxfam do to better harness the power of social media?

C. REFLECTIVE ESSAY (978 words)

D. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Judy Maamari | Oxfam | 2

What is Oxfam?

Perhaps what di�erentiates Oxfam from other NGOs is its endeavor to empower the people it helps by enabling them to exercise their rights and manage their own lives (Oxfam.org, 2014). Made of “an international confederation of 17 organizations in more than 90 countries,” Oxfam helps fight poverty and promote human rights, as well as political and economic freedom (Oxfam.org, 2014).

The name “Oxfam” stands for Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, which was founded in Britain in 1942. The group’s mission was to campaign for food supplies to be sent to starving citizens in enemy-occupied Greece during World War II (Oxfam.org, 2014).

Image Source:http://www.omtropy.com/WYD2014.php


INTRO.

Oxfam in the Middle East

What started o� as a local committee back in 1942, soon became one of the world’s leaders in the delivery of emergency relief (Oxfam.org, 2014)

In the Middle East, Oxfam has been working in the Arab world for more than thirty years, and with Palestinian refugees, in particular, for over sixty years. Currently, Oxfam is working with local partners in the Arab countries to provide humanitarian aid and help improve the lives of the poor (Oxfam.org, 2014).

Oxfam is currently present in 9 Arab countries, including: Palestine, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Mauritania (Oxfam GB, 2014).

Using Social Media

In their e�ort to rally attention or campaign for specific initiatives, or causes, Oxfam Middle East has not been a stranger to social media and is currently active on both Facebook and Twitter.

While Oxfam has allocated specific social media channels and blogs to the major countries it operates in, such as: Oxfam Mexico, Oxfam America, and Oxfam France, among many others, it did however, encompass all of the 9 Arab countries it is currently operating in —despite their diversity—under one social media account dedicated to “Oxfam Middle East” on Facebook, and under Oxfam International account on Twitter.

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What is Oxfam doing righton Social Media?

From North Africa, to Turkey and the Persian Gulf, the Greater Middle East is currently witnessing some of the worst troubling times (Greater Middle East: Managing Change in Troubled Times?, 2014). Hence, on a national level, Oxfam’s attempt to represent the 9 Arab countries it operates in under one Facebook page can have a positive impact on unifying the Middle Eastern people around common humanitarian goals.

According to Facebook’s insights, the dominant age group of Oxfam ME’s fans is young adults between 25-34 years old. A study about age and activism suggests that “younger people are more likely than their parents and grandparents to engage in cause-oriented actions, social movements and environmental and humanitarian organizations (Norris, 2013).

The type of content published by Oxfam Middle East (ME) on social media is diversified. By using pictures, links, and videos, Oxfam raises awareness to new campaigns about climate change, as well as inequality and famine causes, shares success stories from the Arab world of people who managed to lift their lives from poverty, and posts updates about the allocation of donations.

SOCIALMEDIAAUDIT

Image Source:http://womenofworld.org/wp-content/uploads/hungerbanquet.jpg

What is Oxfam doing wrongon social Media?

On average, 3-4 Facebook users out of 1,001 engage with the content published by Oxfam ME. A recent study shows that the average organic reach of a Facebook post has hit 2% in February 2014. Facebook relates the drop to the increased competition for narrow space in news feeds. Nevertheless, many believe that the drop is meant to encourage ad spend (Social@Ogilvy: Facebook Zero: Considering Life After the Demise of Organic Reach 2014). While investing in ads may help Oxfam ME recruit new followers and increase its posts reach, it does not however promise a higher engagement rate. For Oxfam ME to increase its engagement rate many factors must come into play, such as: the quality of the content and its ability to go viral, timing, posting frequency, punctuation, length, consistency, copywriting, among many others.

With an average rate of: 23 tweets/day, one word describes Oxfam International account on Twitter: clutter. Having an international account compels Oxfam to tweet so much in an attempt to cover the various causes it supports around the world. In doing so, Oxfam is missing the opportunity to create a personal online reality by reaching out and connecting “with each and every follower on a personal level” rather than spamming them with content they most probably will not relate to. People in di�erent countries, have di�erent priorities. Although of utmost importance, yet a person living in turbulent Middle East might not be much interested in

receiving updates about climate change (Gembarski, 2012).

Unlike Oxfam International Twitter account, Oxfam ME’s Facebook page su�ers a lack of consistency in post frequency. For example: The page published 11 posts for January 2014, only 1 post for the entire month of February 2014, and 3 posts in March, the latest being on March 14th. No posts have yet been published during April 2014. Social media experts advise against such inconsistencies and recommend posting regularly at an ideal rate of 5 – 10 posts per week (Socialbakers, 2011).

Another problem would be timing. Being an international page makes it hard to nail the best timing to post content to your fans. A recent report identified the best timings to publish content on Facebook and Twitter in seven major Arab countries. For example: For Lebanon 10am is the best time to publish content on Facebook and 4 pm on Twitter, whereas in Qatar it is 7pm on Facebook and 6pm on Twitter (Wamda, 2014). Accordingly, Oxfam must either dedicate an account for every Arab country it operates in, or make use of targeting tools, such as the one available on Facebook, which allows community managers to target specific content to specific countries and schedule them to according to the best timings in every country.

Another common mistake is leaving the fans’ comments unanswered. Unfortunately, most brands and organizations fail to spend necessary time to reach out to their fans and followers (Gembarski, 2012). In a world where brands are obsessed in securing high engagement rates on highly cluttered social media channels, it is of utmost importance that Oxfam distinguishes its organization from the competitors. Marty Neumeier says: “when everybody zigs, zag” in his book dedicated to help brands stand out from the crowd (Neumeier, 2007). Hence, Oxfam ME should start replying to its fans and seek to nurture the relationship it has with its fans by dedicating the right time to answer each of their inquiries and reply back to their supporting messages.

A fatal mistake many brands and business pages commit on Facebook is shutting down the wall to avoid moderation, which disables the fans from communicating their appreciation, support, recommendation, positive or even negative feedback. It is important to note that in today’s world if someone has a negative review about any organization, they can do so anywhere on the web. By not allowing the fans to post on its timeline and constantly deleting some comments, Oxfam ME runs the risk of seriously damaging its image and appear as if it lacks the necessary confidence to face its own community’ comments.


What is Oxfam doing wrongon social Media?

On average, 3-4 Facebook users out of 1,001 engage with the content published by Oxfam ME. A recent study shows that the average organic reach of a Facebook post has hit 2% in February 2014. Facebook relates the drop to the increased competition for narrow space in news feeds. Nevertheless, many believe that the drop is meant to encourage ad spend (Social@Ogilvy: Facebook Zero: Considering Life After the Demise of Organic Reach 2014). While investing in ads may help Oxfam ME recruit new followers and increase its posts reach, it does not however promise a higher engagement rate. For Oxfam ME to increase its engagement rate many factors must come into play, such as: the quality of the content and its ability to go viral, timing, posting frequency, punctuation, length, consistency, copywriting, among many others.

With an average rate of: 23 tweets/day, one word describes Oxfam International account on Twitter: clutter. Having an international account compels Oxfam to tweet so much in an attempt to cover the various causes it supports around the world. In doing so, Oxfam is missing the opportunity to create a personal online reality by reaching out and connecting “with each and every follower on a personal level” rather than spamming them with content they most probably will not relate to. People in di�erent countries, have di�erent priorities. Although of utmost importance, yet a person living in turbulent Middle East might not be much interested in

The current language used as means of communication on the international Twitter account is English, whereas Oxfam ME’s Facebook page combines both English and Arabic. With Arabic becoming “one of the most widely used language on Facebook and Twitter”, and the percentage of Arabic tweets reaching 74% of total tweets in the region in March 2013, Oxfam must reconsider the use of English as a means to communicate and engage with fans and followers in Arabic countries, and replace it with Arabic content only (ASMR | Home, 2014).

While Oxfam invites people to take action and contribute to humanitarian causes as they see fit whether via campaigning, volunteering, fundraising, donating, or shopping, its content on its International Twitter account and Middle east Facebook page fails to replicate such values. The current content is informative and does not convey the organization’s slogan: “set change in motion and start lifting lives today” (Get involved | Oxfam GB, 2014). Oxfam Middle East must publish content that is engaging and that can go viral. Oxfam GB, for example, often resorts to shocking images of people in devastating conditions to raise awareness to their campaigns and incite action. Similarly, Save the Children’s shocking video “one second a day” about the Syrian crisis became increasingly popular on YouTube and was ranked as one of the top trending viral ad campaigns for 2013 (Peck, 2014).

Source: SaveTheChildrenUK on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQ-IoHfimQ


What can Oxfam do to better harness the power of social media?

In order to improve its social media presence on Facebook, Oxfam ME should first invest in promoted posts to expand its posts reach so that more people can see Oxfam ME’s content on their newsfeed. Additionally, the content of the posts needs to be interesting and stimulating enough to incite action and engagement. The content must be written in Arabic and published according to the best timings in each country by using the Facebook targeting tool. The content must also be posted consistently and regularly. As for Twitter, based on the findings we discovered earlier, I recommend creating a separate account for countries in the Middle East. Such a decision, will allow Oxfam to publish relevant tweets using Arabic, which will stimulate engagement. It will also reduce the amount of tweets published usually by Oxfam, and allows it instead to dedicate the time to start meaningful conversations with its followers. However, building customer engagement and loyalty online is not just about Twitter and Facebook anymore. According, to social media expert Teri Lynne Underwood, organizations and businesses must invest in their websites and not their social media channels (Underwood, 2013). Investing in the organization’s website allows the organization to stay in control since the website is a platform it actually owns. The website is also

the platform where long-term action and gain usually takes place (Underwood, 2013). Whether or not we are social media enthusiasts, “the reality is, we are at their mercy. We have no say in the algorithms that control how many people see our posts. We don’t get to choose the ideal image size or placement. We can’t even be sure what will work from one day to the next” (Underwood, 2013). A self-hosted website on the other hand allows organizations and businesses to prioritize their content and develop their branding, as well as, customize their site to meet the needs of their community (Underwood, 2013). Moreover, products and services are usually sold on websites and not on social media platforms, same goes for donations. Still, social media should be a core component of Oxfam ME’s marketing strategy as it can drive tra�c to its website. Yet, if Oxfam ME’s website is not optimized to ensure the visitor has a unique and long visit, all of these numbers and figures of fans, followers, and visitors do not mean a thing. Hence, I recommend launching a separate website for Oxfam Middle East. The website will serve as a digital platform that aims to unify the Middle East and the Arab countries around common humanitarian causes and relief. The website will be directly linked to the Oxfam ME Facebook and Twitter pages.

The website will showcase an interactive map

of the Middle East, highlighting the main Arab countries. Upon exploring the di�erent areas of the map, the visitor will be able to explore in real time the di�erent problems and discover the latest happenings taking place in a specific country. The data will appear to the visitor in the form of shocking or inspiring status updates, images, videos, statistics, or insights that aim to provoke the visitor in order to instigate action. The content will not be descriptive or informative, but will appear in the form of call-to-action.

Both Oxfam ME and the users can generate content about the latest happenings in a certain country. By allowing the visitors to discover more news about what is going on in neighboring countries and by giving them the ability to generate content, Oxfam ME’s website will be on the one hand empowering the visitor and on the other subtly promoting solidarity and unity among Arab counties in a highly turbulent and conflict-driven Middle East. In doing so, the website will become a news hub for non-political, purely humanitarian causes.

Updates can be displayed according to the most recent, or by urgency. The visitor will also have the choice to access information either in a map format, or by listing the various causes and campaigns Oxfam is currently undertaking in the Middle East, such as: Hunger, Displacement, Hygiene, Famine, Equality, among many others.


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Twitter User @Oxfam @UNHCRUK This is a HORRENDOUS crisis 4 the ppl of Syria! I saw photos of Syrian children drinking milk from female dogs,4 loveofGod!


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REFLE-CTIVEESSAYThe role of digital technologies in nearly all aspects of life – particularly in the form of “social media” --has been a constant news focus in recent years, and it has also become a major focus for brands, businesses, and organizations. A quick research will show that the world’s top NGOs, such as Greenpeace, Islamic Relief, Red Crescent, and Save the Children, among many others are very active on social media and exist on more than 1 platform. Like many of its competitors, Oxfam also believes in using Social Media to create impact and wipe out poverty (UN, 2014).

Oxfam has dedicated di�erent social media accounts to the di�erent countries it operates in. On Facebook, Oxfam has allocated almost a separate page to every country it works in, such as: Oxfam in the Middle East Facebook page, whereas on Twitter, it has created a single International account to symbolize worldwide presence.

The first part of this report helped us outline the strengths and weaknesses of Oxfam ME on Facebook, as well as, Oxfam International on Twitter. We were able to conclude that Oxfam has successfully chose a Middle East page to represent the Arab countries it operates in, which helps promote notions of unity and solidarity, especially that these countries share similar cultures, and speak the same language. It also makes use of di�erent types of content to convey its message to a majority of fans between 25-34 years old, which earlier research shows is the perfect age for social activists.

The report also highlights many lacunas that Oxfam ME need to overcome in order to better harness the power of social media, such as: generic, informative posts, wrong timing, ignoring or deleting fans’ comments, lack of consistency in posting on Facebook, and flood tweeting on Twitter, using English rather than Arabic as a means of communication, and using impersonal and self-promoting content that does not stimulate action or engagement from users.The report also suggested ways to fix the above-mentioned problems in order to optimize Oxfam ME’s social media presence. However, as I explained earlier, investing money, resources and e�orts on social media channels is not enough. Oxfam ME must invest much more in empowering its own digital properties to ensure long-term gain, such as: launching its very own website that can work on multiple devices from mobile, to tablet and desktop.

Besides its basic ability to accept online donations and be directly linked to its respective social media channels to drive tra�c and maximize online fundraising and cause awareness, the Oxfam ME’s website will also have higher purposes: empower the visitors by giving them the right to generate content so they keep coming back to the website, as well as, promoting notions of solidarity and unity among the Arab countries in the Middle East, which are often in conflict, by channeling their attention and interests to humanitarian crises happening near them. The website will also have an e�ective call to action by providing its visitors with real time heartbreaking or inspiring content about the crises taking place in various parts of the Arab world, and urging them to take prompt action.

The new website will not only allow Oxfam ME to leverage the power of digital properly but it will also provide it with full control over its platform and help it solve some of the problems it is currently facing. The idea behind the new website consisted of building on the current assets that Oxfam ME already had. Without a doubt their Middle East Facebook page inspired me and so I aimed to replicate a similar experience to the Arabic user on the organization’s website. After all, and I speak from experience here, these countries share a lot of similarities and commonalities between them, so having them listed under an international social media account or website is currently hindering Oxfam from building meaningful relationships with its Arab advocates and supporters.


The content published on the website will also help Oxfam ME stop pushing content that is irrelevant to the people in the Middle East and that is extremely descriptive or informative. The immediacy of the news and updates published on the new website will ensure that visitors will constantly return to the website to find out more about the latest updates and the humanitarian repercussions of the crises taking place in a certain country. It will also ensure that people concerned can contribute and take proper action to help support Oxfam’s emergency relief campaigns.

By using strategic promoted tweets and Facebook posts to increase post and tweet reach to fans and followers, Oxfam ME’s social media channels will then function as a vessel that drives tra�c to its website. Unlike the one-time only social media campaigns that trend for a while and go viral, but soon lose their impact, the website, a digital asset, will provide Oxfam ME with an ongoing solution to engage with its visitors and instigate change.

Oxfam ME is a well-known NGO. Its name and international fame enables it to be a pioneer in social media and properly harness the power of digital to drive its cause. By adopting a tactical digital strategy, Oxfam ME can ensure optimum engagement with its fans, followers and visitors, increase loyalty via rich and engaging content, and rally people’s support for new relief campaigns, as well as raise awareness to new humanitarian causes. However, as the number of NGOs multiplies and since many of Oxfam’s niche

competitors are already present on social media with higher engagement rate and are probably after the same target audience as that of Oxfam ME, it becomes of utmost importance for Oxfam ME to reconsider its current digital strategy and involve the people, after all we live in a world where “customers, not companies [are the ones] who decide which brands live and which one die,” (Neumeier, 2007, p. preface).


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