#ill post more info if people ask / ill also eventually make an introduction

[bloggingstudentposts]

Module 5 - Final Report

Introduction This research report will analyze the social media strategy of the non-profit organization Chai Lifeline. This organization is devoted to helping families who support a child with a deadly disease. Chai Lifeline relies on volunteers to deliver their message, especially when it comes to their social media platforms.

Currently, they have a website which has links to their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. The audience Chai Lifeline targets families with children who suffer from a life-threatning or chronic illness from across Canada.

Thesis To exponentially improve their Chai Lifeline’s presence, they need to narrow their focus to deliver a quality strategy.  

Initial Observations

See exhibit 1 for full notes on strengths and weaknesses

Literature Review and Main Themes

Positive Themes

1.     Engagement – is viewed as one of the overarching themes that provided their social media presence legitimacy. On Chai Lifeline’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, they post on a regular basis that provide their followers a sense of connection and expectation. Too many posts in a day and followers become annoyed, and too little loses follower’s attention.

2.     Informative Content – Chai Lifeline delivers meaningful and actionable content to its followers. The right content can translate into a donation from a first-time website visitor.[i] It can convince someone who is on the edge of volunteering to join.

3.     Visuals – What draws more clicks to any social media page is having the right images and info graphics. Graphics can summarize a paragraphs worth of content without distracting readers.[ii] This allows people to pick and choose what information they want to read. 

Improvement Themes

1.     Quality Over Quantity – Chai Lifeline is running too many social media platforms. In their situation, it is hurting them because if someone were to venture on these pages, they would see that they are not up to date, and this would reflect poorly on the organization as a whole.[iii]

2.     Color Scheme and Profile Identity - Chai Lifeline currently has a different profile picture and color scheme across all platforms. A strong aesthetic shows attention to detail which adds to the legitimacy of the organization.[iv] Coca-Cola is a solid brand to try replicate when it comes to social media consistency and branding.[v] 

3.     Organization – This theme pertains to the organization of content on Chai Lifeline’s website. See exhibit 5 for a screenshot of their landing page. Specifically, the third screenshot is two disjointed blocks of text with abrasive color in-between a picture.

Methodology

Research focused on the how people reacted to the user experience of the different platforms. 10 random individuals at Queen’s University and a group member interviewed subjects from India were chosen to review each of the platforms and were asked questions on their initial observations. Questions were based on the positive and improvement themes found in the investigation to confirm or reject our beliefs before diving further into the research and why people were having these reactions. 

Results

The results from our questionnaire have shown us that participants believe Chai Lifeline is consistent with their posting and the platforms are informative. Results indicate that the color scheme is disjointed and distracting on the website, as well as information is scattered and hard to follow. In addition, results show that participants do not believe a LinkedIn page is helping the organization in any meaningful way. 

Domestic and International Results

Question 1: 8/10 participants answered a ‘4’ which indicate that posting on platforms are very consistent.

Question 2: 8/10 participants answered ‘4’ that they found the platforms very informative.

Question 3: 7/10 participants answered a ‘2’ level. This indicates they visit a platform between 2-3 times a week.

Question 4: 7/10 participants answered they enjoyed the media aspects on the platforms. Examples given were videos and pictures.

Question 5:  7/10 participants answered they did not understand the relevance of a LinkedIn page and its connection to Chai Lifeline.

Question 6: 8/10 participants answered the colour scheme in some way distracted them from the main point of the website.

Question 7: 9/10 participants mentioned in their answer they found the platforms very – somewhat informative. 6/10 participants stated in their answer they found the website disorganized.

It was evident after collecting the answers from the questionnaire that the answers aligned with our initial research. We have highlighted the questions worth analyzing:

Question 1: 11/12 participants answered a ‘4’ which indicate that posting on platforms are very consistent.

Question 2: 12/12 participants answered ‘4’ that they found the platforms very informative.

Question 3: 8/12 participants answered a ‘2’ level. This indicates they visit a platform between 2-3 times a week.

Question 4: 12/12 participants answered they enjoyed the media aspects on the platforms. Examples given were videos and pictures.

Question 5:  12/12 participants answered they did not understand the relevance of a LinkedIn page and its connection to Chai Lifeline.

Question 6: 9/12 participants answered the colour scheme in some way distracted them from the main point of the website.

Question 7: 8/12 participants mentioned in their answer they found the platforms very – somewhat informative. 11/12 participants stated in their answer they found the website disorganized.

Discussion

Since the survey confirmed our hypothesis, we wanted to understand the psychological reasons and how fixing these elements could improve their presence. To create a better social media presence we realized we have these questions left to answer for Chai Lifeline:

What purposes to LinkedIn and Pinterest serve?

What color scheme best suits their brand?

How could they layout their website more effectively?

Analysis

1. LinkedIn Purpose: A LinkedIn page helps members find your business, your brand, and job opportunities within your company. Company pages are also useful to legitimize the brand.

-       As a non-profit organization, a LinkedIn profile is not necessary. It is more of a professional networking site that people use to find jobs.

Pinterest Purpose: Pinterest is a platform that allows people to find inspiration and ideas for their interests and hobbies.

-       A Pinterest profile for a non-profit does not add that much value. It can help increase engagement but not crucial to an organization

2. Results showed that the colour scheme is disjointed and distracting. “Your     choice of website colours is the most important decision you will make in     designing and building your website, apart from your words and content of     course” [vi].There are psychological meanings of choices of colour, as well as     different cultures interpret colour in various ways. It is crucial to keep this in mind as different colours appeal to different markets.

Their current color palette

3. Results demonstrate that the information on the website is scattered and difficult to follow. It is important to remember that a website should be audience focused, concise, intuitive, interconnected and accessible.[vii] A website should be easy to understand, aesthetically pleasing and captivating. Landing pages are meant to let you hold your prospective volunteers or sponsors. They are your lead generation vehicle that acts as a digital salesman. Internet browsers land on a page from an ad, search result, social media post, or video. 

Recommendations

1.     Eliminate LinkedIn and Pinterest - This will allow their volunteers to have more time to focus on the platforms that matter such as the Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.[viii]

 2.     Narrow the Color Scheme - This will allow audience members to understand Chai Lifeline’s message clearly and draw a connection to the organization.[ix] It recommended to use green as it represents balance, and grey is simple.[x]

Suggested Color Scheme:

3.     Improve the Website’s Home Page - Chai Lifeline must eliminate some information on their main page, however, eventually it will reduce clutter and direct the audience to the main goal.[xi] This can be accomplished by keeping the web page concise and making sure the paragraphs are short. As well, make sure the website is audience focused and that the website is answering the audiences’ questions and needs.[xii]

 Conclusion

In conclusion, our results have highlighted and supported our initial research. We believe that Chai Lifeline has enormous potential to take their social media presence to a new level. If they implement these simple recommendations, we believe they will increase engagement and awareness.

Bibliography

[i] Kucheriavy, Andrew. "Why Content Is the Most Important Thing on Your Website." Intechnic. Accessed March 2019. https://www.intechnic.com/blog/why-content-is-the-most-important-thing-on-your-website/.

[ii] Hausman, Angela. "The Importance of Using Visual Content in Social Media Marketing." Business 2 Community. December 27, 2017. https://www.business2community.com/social-media/importance-using-visual-content-social-media-marketing-01980627.

[iii] Wolfe, Mike. "Why Quality Over Quantity Is Key in Social Media." SmartBug Media. June 16, 2017. https://www.smartbugmedia.com/blog/why-quality-over-quantity-is-key-in-social-media.

[iv] Chichioco, Aaron, Chintan Doshi, Erik Qualman… "The Role of Color Theory in Digital Marketing and Social Media." Socialnomics. November 13, 2018. https://socialnomics.net/2018/10/27/the-role-of-color-theory-in-digital-marketing-and-social-media/.

[v] Wong, Desmond. "8 Businesses That Nail Social Media Brand Consistency." HubSpot Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34231/8-businesses-that-nail-social-media-brand-consistency.aspx.

[vi] "Website Colors." Empowered By Color. https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/website-colors.html.

[vii] Schmitz, Jon. "How to Organize Website Content: 5 Basics You Need to Know." Cursive Content How to Organize Website Content 5 Basics You Need to Know Comments. http://cursivecontent.com/how-to-organize-website-content-5-basics-you-need-to-know/.

[viii] Sun, Leo. "The Importance of Quality Over Quantity." BusinessDictionary.com. http://www.businessdictionary.com/article/581/the-importance-of-quality-over-quantity/.

[ix] "Website Colors." Empowered By Color. Accessed April 02, 2019. https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/website-colors.html.

[x] Pack, Poppie. "Build Your Brand: 20 Unique Color Combinations to Inspire You – Canva." Learn. February 01, 2019. https://www.canva.com/learn/brand-color-palette/.

[xi] "The Best Way To Organize Content For Your Website." Executionists. January 28, 2019. https://www.executionists.com/organize-website-content-redesign/.

[xii] Schmitz, Jon. "How to Organize Website Content: 5 Basics You Need to Know." Cursive Content How to Organize Website Content 5 Basics You Need to Know Comments. http://cursivecontent.com/how-to-organize-website-content-5-basics-you-need-to-know/.