personal learning project slideshow c4i
TRANSCRIPT
By: Sherri Costa
The purpose of this project is to investigate how C4I could better use social media to promote their organization by examining the social media networking sites they are currently using, and maximizing their potential to promote their store, events and fundraising efforts.
By researching how C4I currently uses digital marketing through joining their social media pages, and referencing their website and blog, this goal was achieved. The opportunity was provided to interview the Office Manager in order to further the investigation. The following are the findings of this investigation.
If C4I wants to be successful, they must
optimize social media.They are currently utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Youtub
e and a blog as their platform for social media.
Facebook.com/C4IC.C4IA
Total number of monthly active Facebook users
Average number of pages, groups, and events a user is connected to
Percentage of all Facebook users who log in on any given day
Statistics retrieved from Statistics Brain – Facebook statistics 2013
Facebook is a social media giant, which means utilizing this market can have huge implications
for C4I.
Not only does Facebook still drive more traffic than any other social network, but it’s the only one to increase in traffic sent quarter-over-quarter. (Scottberg, 2012)
C4I is improving their use of Facebook; their account was created in 2010, but 2012 was the year they really pushed it. During that period, they hired someone to manage their social media accounts. They are boasting over 800 ‘Likes’.
Now more than ever we talk in images, andC4I has used this to their advantage. In the last four months they have posted over 200
images, ranging from scripture verses to quotes from world leaders.
50 Likes, 28 Shares 43 Likes, 1 Share12 Likes, 3 Shares
One image had captured the attention of many.
Reached almost 3,000 52 Shares29 Likes
C4I uses Facebook as the primary way to advertise for
all their other media platforms.
These are some images they used as advertising for their
Youtube project and television show.
Facebook is their most used and updated social media tool, and by far the most popular. It is a rare week
when their reach does not exceed the week before.
Television show
Youtube
Men make up the majority of the fans, however, women are more engaged
According to the insights on Facebook, Canada has the
most fans boasting of 436, with the United States a distant second with 111 fans.
Many posts relate to Canada, which may be why Canadians make up over 50% of the fans.
A suggestion for C4I is that they make their Facebook page more personal.
Perhaps more messages from the President John Tweedie such as quotes, expressions of thanks for donations, pleas for donations, or events or speaking engagements that need special attention.
According to their website, C4I supports specific projects in Israel, including Children at Risk, Feed the Hungry, New Immigrants and Humanitarian Aid.
Concerning these projects, a suggestion for the Facebook administrator is to highlight these projects with informative posts and images, as it may be a vehicle to receive more donations.
Image Suggestions:
It is important to put a face on projects, as this helps people connect emotionally with it, which would increase donations.
Some examples of images they should post are people receiving the donations, the needy receiving items from the food bank, and people receiving humanitarian aid; doing so would encourage people to make donations to those specific projects.
Post Suggestions:
Informative posts, such as how much money was donated yearly and what is purchased with the money would also be helpful.
Not only would it inform people where their money is going, but would keep a strong focus on the cause, and improve the transparency of the organization.
C4I runs two tours: one to Israel and one to Pennsylvania.
Rarely does C4I use Facebook or any other media platform to promote these tours.
On this front, the recommendation is to promote both tours at least twice a week leading up to them. Further, they might consider posting pictures or status updates during the tour so people can feel apart of the tour, and this would in turn peek their interest in participating on the next tour.
C4I may want to consider purchasing an Ad space from Facebook.
Facebook now displays ads at 5%, or 1 in every 20 stories on a given Newsfeed, with more and more people positively reacting to them. (Dobrinsky, 2013)
C4I should take advantage of this, and with an ad, they would reach more people.
As mentioned above, over 50% of their fans are Canadian. As an attempt to engage fans from other countries they should post images relating to those specific countries. For instance, include more posts relating to the United States, because they do have an American office, and the second largest fan-base of C4I. Taking this step could increase reach by a large percentage; statistically after a ‘Canadian image’ is posted, friend requests often follow.
C4I also has a store which sells their books, documentaries, oils, music and more. They could do more posts offering information about their products, which may increase web traffic flow.
Perhaps they could highlight an item a week and try to market it by posting customer reviews, or posting when a special deal on.
Total number of monthly active Twitter users
People joining Twitter each day
Percentage of all users don’t tweet, but watch other people tweet
(Statistics retrieved from Statistics Brain – Twitter Statistics , 2013)
C4I has 73 followers on Twitter. They started their Twitter account in 2010.
They have customized the Twitter background page with a picture of their President John Tweedie and their logo – a very positive step –as it helps with brand image.
Unfortunately C4I is not using Twitter effectively. Their Twitter account just mirrors their Facebook account, as they have an automatic update connecting the two accounts. They need to make this a separate news worthy account to use it to its maximum potential.
C4I’s competitors CUFI used Twitter to encourage donations by offering something back. They tweeted “donate over $20 and we will mail you a Christmas ornament.” This way, people may be more motivated to donate towards projects, as they would get something back for it.
They could also link to items for their store, from ‘specials’ to new items. This would let people know what is in their store, and may prompt people to check out their products and visit their store page.
According to a blog by Blue Cloud Solutions, making Twitter more effective depends on whether or not your business has a Marketing Action Plan, which explains what you can tweet about such as company news, special offers, important announcements, etc.
C4I could also attempt to foster conversation with their tweets by replying to people who are tweeting about them and asking questions.
So far, they have been using Twitter as a one-way conversation, but social media thrives when it becomes a two-way conversation.
C4I should also re-tweet to expose more people to their account. When re-tweeting, they should add their thoughts to it, and reply with the “@” character, causing the tweet to appear on the other person’s page.
Unique user visits to Youtube each month
Hours spent of watching youtube videos per month
Largest search engine on the internet
(Statistics retrieved from Youtube Statistics)
C4I has a Youtube account that mainly has teachings of the Prophetic Connection.
Their most popular video, The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Bible and Jewish History Confirmed has 17,495 views, and 86 ‘Likes’.
According to Office Manager Sandra O’Connell, in the future C4I plans to add videos with more regularity regarding current events, and quick teachings on newsworthy items.
One major issue is that C4I has two Youtubeaccounts, C4ICanada and C4I Canada.
It is strongly advisable for them to merge these two accounts together. The second one seems to
have been added recently and only has three videos.
SEO
It is very difficult to find their videos. A recommendation is to update their SEO so their information is more accessible. When one keys in “C4I” into the search bar, neither C4I’s page nor their videos appear on the first page.
The question they must address is, “why have a page and go through the trouble of maintaining it if no one can find it?”
Another suggestion is to branch out with their videos. As previously mentioned, the majority of their videos relate to the Prophetic Connection show. For a company who boasts of tours, they don’t have a tour promotional video, and they have nothing about any of the charitable projects they support. From examining their Youtube account, one would think they only focus on documentaries.
Unfortunately, due to the two Youtubeaccounts and the poor SEO, I do not think the C4I Youtube page is offering much advantage when it comes to exposure.
People blog on blogging sites
Percentage of internet users who read blogs
Unique visitors each month
(McGrail, 2013)
C4I has a blog on their website under the tab ‘Media’, which mainly focuses on Israel in the news, and is more of a political blog.The blog is updated frequently; it is clear, presentable, and easy to navigate.They have blocked comments, making the blog a one-way conversation. According to Sandra O’Connell, due to the sensitive issue of Israel, comments are often explicit, which does not suit the Christian views of the company, so at this time, they chose not to allow comments.
The blog C4I uses is not engaging, as they just copy and paste news articles to the blog, without adding opinions or thoughts to it; making the blog more personal and conversational would be a wise change. A suggestion to improve this social media platform is to create blogs that ‘advertain’ (advertise and entertain). A perfect way to achieve this is to base a blog that highlights people’s experience on the tour to Israel. Such posts would have a significant impact as they expose readers to what a positive experience a tour can be, and simultaneously entertaining them. Another way to ‘advertain’ is to blog about their humanitarian aid and other projects, and how they are improving Israel, as once again, this may humanize the projects, making them more desirable to donate towards.
Also, because part of the mission of C4I is to present a biblical perspective of God’s plan for Israel and the Church, perhaps they could have an educational aspect to the blog. One example of this is a Bible study that relates the Scriptures and Israel, or an individual’s personal journey regarding Israel and the Bible.
Researching the digital marketing efforts of C4I has been a rewarding experience. In the last two years, the organization has been making efforts to improve their use of social media as a means of drawing customers in, and creating dialogue pertaining to their organizational objectives. Although there is room for improvement, they are using social media as a way to market their organization, and they have already seen positive results since having implemented some changes.