Audrey Latimer 

Content Platforms

• Christ Community Church International Impact Website

This website is a great place for people to come and learn about all things International Impact. This is where you will find information on our 6 partner countries (Haiti, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Brazil, Bangladesh, and the Czech Republic), information on Go Teams and other mission trips, ways to donate and give to Go Teams, information on training and preparing for these trips, and stories or testimonies from those who have went on Go Teams in the past. There are even stories from those in our partner countries who our Go Teams have helped and provided for. This website serves as a type of information center and a blog for International Impact. It is a great “content hub” in that all aspects of International Impact are gathered in one place on this website.

This website will benefit our social media content because every Facebook post, tweet, Instagram photo, etc. can easily be linked back to this website. The posts will act as a sort of teaser and the link will provide the big information that our audience wants to learn more about. If someone follows us on social media and wants to learn more about a Go Team trip or what the current situation in Nicaragua is they can click on the link provided in the post and be directed to the correct information. Plus, if there is ever a day when we’re at a loss as to what to post on Facebook or Twitter a nice video testimony from a Go Team member or a letter written from a person in Bangladesh is always a good thing to share with our audience. It can all be found on our website: www.ccclife.org/internationalimpact/

Social Media Channels

• Facebook

The first social platform that we will concentrate on is Facebook.

This is the most used social channel for our target audience and seems to receive the most engagement. A lot of older users (45+) use only Facebook as their social media channel of choice. It has proven to be an excellent way to reach them. Facebook can act as a sort of “catch-all” when it comes to social channels. We can easily share videos from Go Team trips and our partner countries. We can share photos, articles, information on upcoming mission trips and training sessions, prayer points, and even cross-promote our other social channels daily. Facebook is by far the most used and versatile social channel that will help us share an array of information and content with our target audience.

• Objectives: Brand awareness and engagement; share a mix of relevant links, blog posts, and engaging content regarding Go Teams; generate and convert leads.

• Action Items: Set up sponsored posts or Facebook ads; have a call to action button on International Impact’s Facebook profile; have fully functional Facebook tabs.

• Key Metrics: Number of fans/new fans; likes, comments, shares; posts per day; new leads and conversions.

• Twitter

This social platform is ideal for reaching our audience who are on-the-go and want quick real-time information and content on Go Teams, our partner countries, and photos/videos/links to current events happening in our department. The 140 character limit and fast-paced newsfeed are ideal for quick updates. Twitter is a great way to keep our audience updated with up-to-the-minute information and content. 

• Objectives: Brand awareness and engagement; listen and respond to relevant conversations about Go Teams and partner countries; build reputation; lead generation; share a mix of relevant links, blog posts, and engaging content about Go Teams and Partner countries.

• Action Items: Use promoted tweets; use trending hashtags; participate in Twitter chats; create lists with influencers.

• Key Metrics: Number tweets per day; favorites, retweets, replies, mentions; followers/new followers.

• Instagram

This social platform will be used to reach our younger audience and as a way to give a behind-the-scenes look at Go Team trips and work

being done in our partner countries. Image and video based content will be the main focus here. Instagram is popular with a younger demographic and will be a great way to connect with them. We will use Instagram to show them what happens on Go Team trips and how impactful they can be.

-Objectives: Brand awareness and engagement; give behind the scenes looks at Go Team trips and partner countries; create video/photo series; viral sharing; generate and convert leads.

-Action Items: Use other social channels to promote videos and photo series; Determine who shoots the videos/photos; Determine who owns the videos; Listen to audience and what they want to see in a video/photo series.

-Key Metrics: How many videos/photos posted; new followers; likes, comments, and tags; lead generation and conversion.

• Pinterest

This social platform is a great way to aggregate all of the information about our partner countries, tips about going on mission trips, packing lists, recipes and artwork from our partner countries, and other interesting information all into one place. Each country would have its own board allowing out audience to get a better feel for each country and hopefully feel more connected and willing to help out in any way that they can. Pinterest is popular with women 25-44 which is a huge portion of our audience. They would enjoy engaging with content that is more hands on rather than just an article about events happening in these countries.

-Objectives: Brand awareness and engagement; lead generation and conversion; share imagery that is both brand related, informative, and fun for audience and those interested in Go Teams and our partner countries.

-Action Items: Create boards that leverage both content and company culture; have guest pinners (perhaps previous Go Team members) help choose pins that will benefits those about to embark on a Go Team; use promoted pins.

-Key Metrics: Pins; Repins; Followers; Comments; Clicks that lead back to website.

Social Media Tactical Plan

• Contests and Giveaways:

• Initially, we would conduct contests once a month. The idea behind the contest would be to gather email addresses for International Impact’s newsletter. We would simply have people enter into a drawing to win a gift that was handmade in/comes from one of our partner countries. Each month we focus on a different country (i.e. October is the Czech Republic, April is Sierra Leone) so that would determine where the prize will come from. We would run this contest across all of our platforms and then choose one winner per month. To enter all you must do is enter your email address in the link provided in the social media post. The proposed budget would be approximately $50 each month ($600 each year) for the cost of the prize. This should be allocated because when there is a prize up for grabs people are more willing to give their email address and information away. This budget will pay off in the end due to the increased number of people who will receive International Impact’s newsletter.

• Powerful Images:

• The use of powerful images and videos will be the basis of a social media campaign on Instagram. This campaign #PrayGiveGo will encompass the mission of International Impact. The videos and images used during this social campaign will give a behind-the-scenes look at what really happens on Go Teams because it will be shot by people who are really there. The images and videos will show the work that is being done to help our partner countries, show portraits of those being helped, and encourage people to “Pray or Give or Go” on a Go Team mission trip. The proposed budget for this social media campaign is $1000. That does not include the $1500-$2000 cost of going on a Go Team trip. The $1000 would be for the cameras, video cameras, and editing (most likely Photoshop) used to shoot and capture the content. Of course posting to Instagram is free but achieving those high-quality powerful images will cost a bit. This should be allocated because the more powerful the campaign is, the more people will be moved to “Pray, Give, and Go.”

       This campaign will be run mostly on Instagram however; images and videos can easily be shared across Facebook and Twitter too.              The campaign will be an on-going series of shots and videos taken on each and every Go Team trip to give those at home a taste of              what a trip is all about. They will include #PrayGiveGo and we will ask followers to choose one of the three to participate in. We will              then measure the amount of incoming donations and the amount of people who sign up for future Go Team trips or who inquire                about them. Our goal is to have donations and the number of people who sign up increase by 25% within the next year.

• Responding to All Comments:

• This is one of the things that brands and companies can do that fans and followers really respond to. Whether the comments are positive or negative it is important to respond to all of them in a timely and professional manner. It will be our goal to respond to all comments on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even the occasional one on Pinterest pertaining to Go Team trips, our partner countries, general information about International Impact, or inquiries about getting involved. The proposed budget for this tactic would be $300 per week for a part-time employee's salary. This budget needs to be allotted because without an actual person taking the time to respond and keep the conversation going, a lot of these comments would go unanswered. Hootsuite is free each month and will help with social listening and tracking comments.

• Updating All Platforms Daily:

• Keeping social channels stocked with fresh content each day is essential for keeping fans and followers interested and engaged. It is a goal to post at least once each day to each of our social platforms with new content. The proposed budget for this would be $300 each week for a part-time employees salary. This budget needs to be allotted because without someone creating posts and keeping content fresh, the social platform may go silent, stagnant, and lose the interest of its fans and followers. Hootsuite is free each month and will help with the scheduling of posts.

• Hashtags:

• This is one of the best ways to attract new fans and followers who may not know about a brand or company. By keeping track of popular and relevant hashtags, International Impact’s content could reach people all over the country or even the world in mere seconds. While Christ Community Church is not big on advertising, hashtags are a good way to reach a larger audience without seeming like a promotion. The proposed budget for this would be $300 each week for a part-time employees salary. This budget needs to be allotted because without seeing what hashtags are trending and popular with our competitors International Impact could lose out on a good opportunity to connect with more fans. Hootsuite is free each month and will help with the monitoring of hashtags and what are competitors are posting.

• Optimizing SEO and Mobile:

• Keeping SEO up to date and making sure that all webpages and blogs are mobile friendly is always important in this day and age. Great SEO ensures that your company’s content is going to come up first when someone uses in a search engine. For example, maybe someone in Chicago wants to go on a mission trip next summer. They type in “Mission Trips to South America” and Christ Community Church’s page pops up with information about their Brazil Go Team trip. With more and more people using their phones it is important to realize that your website and webpages need to show up and look good on these mobile devices. The proposed budget for these optimizations would be $5000 per year. Having a SEO specialist and a web designer work with you to create the best SEO and mobile site possible will pay off when International Impact is the top search result for Chicago mission trips and an easy to use mobile site.