This process document, like most process docs, showcases the work I created over multiple months. In this one specifically, I created a new social media strategy for the Pitt Pantry. This work included analyzing existing social media trends and finding ways to create better and more consistent content. For my organization, I took their old social media and revamped it so as to better attract new customers and donors.
Process Doc
Project Proposal & Interview Summary
For my process document, I want to create a strategy for the Pitt Pantry. The Pitt Pantry was created to ensure that all Pitt students have access to a balanced and nutritious diet. The Pantry hosts regular shopping hours during which students and Pittsburgh residents can visit and obtain food and charitable services. Located in the basement of Bellefield Church, the Pitt Pantry is quiet and underrepresented. Many students are unaware of its existence or of the fact that it was created solely to benefit the Pitt population. I believe that a stronger social media presence will help to elevate the Pantry's status on campus.
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As of now, the Pitt Pantry has relatively no social media presence. Though they have a Facebook and Twitter accounts, the posts are few and far between and do not garner a lot of followers or activity. Though the cause is worthy and very relevant to Pitt students, their social media is not doing anything to propel themselves into campus importance. I believe that a more targeted approach and collaboration with strong Pitt organizations will allow this group to rise above their current situation. Using the information I gathered in my interview, I will try to target the student population with a young and relatable social media strategy, one that utilizes common ground amongst the Pitt society. Overall, my strategy for the Pitt Pantry will be one focused on raising awareness and support.
For my interview, I decided to contact my peer, Sierra Clary, a University of Pittsburgh Communication junior. Last year, Clary served as the Social Media Coordinator for the Pitt Panthers Men's Hockey Team. In this position, she was required to utilized social media to promote the hockey team and inspire the Pitt student body to support the team. In the interview, Clary revealed that her job entailed that she post live updates to all social media--mainly Snapchat but also Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram--before, during, and after games. The amount of times she posted was determined by fan feedback and algorithms for each of the platforms. However, the most posts were done during the games. This caused Clary pause sometimes, though, because it was often difficult to decide what things to post. She also cited the speed of the game of another difficulty, as it was hard to keep up with everything that happened. Additionally, the Snapchat was a new addition she created in order to see what fans were looking for.
The information Clary gave me allowed me insight into the real world of professional social media. Her job had a clear and concise goal and she was able to achieve that goal through the use of social media. Additionally, her media usage was more informal than I would have anticipated, giving me inspiration for how I would like to conduct my personal professional business. This way, I can reach the younger generation by appearing more accessible and relatable.
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Brand/Persona Analysis
At first glance, it becomes how clear the Pitt Pantry needs a social media makeover. The organization has accounts on various platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Though the Pantry is utilizing different sites, these posts are usually very similar—if not exactly the same—and do not change according to what each platform dictates. For example, the same exact picture featuring the E-board members was posted on all websites with almost the same caption. This becomes problematic when considering that each platform calls for a different post format. It also doesn’t allow for creativity and diversity. Beyond this, however, none of the accounts garner a lot of followers or activity.
More specifically, on Facebook, the Pantry only has 284 followers and one rating. On Twitter, they have 19 followers and only 20 tweets. And on Instagram, they have 92 followers and also 20 posts. Overall, these numbers aren’t great. The Pantry was founded in 2015 and has had three years to develop a strong social media presence. And yet, when talking to Pitt students, many people have heard of the Pantry but don’t actually know what they do or what services they provide. This can be traced directly to the low follower count on each of these social media platforms.
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Additionally, posts are few and far between. Though the Twitter account has posted within the past month, this is the first tweet in 6 months. The Facebook account seems the most updated. Though some of the posts are recycled from the other platforms—like the aforementioned picture—there are more consistent and diverse updates. On Facebook, the Pitt Pantry updates its followers on Pantry hours, fundraisers, and any relevant articles. Instagram, however, is probably the worst in terms of updates. The last photo was one that was seen on Facebook and it was the first picture since April 2017. This doesn’t allow the audience to see what’s happening, therefore cutting them off from the Pantry’s going-ons.
Despite the lack of diversity and activity, the Pitt Pantry keeps a consistent brand over all forms of social media. When they do post, it’s about their events, donations, and fundraisers, all of which present a charitable and caring image. Additionally, most of their content concerns the type of food they have on a given day and the volunteers that help run the pantry. On each platform, the Pantry likes to celebrate their workers and the work they’ve done. This shows their audience just how much they care about their people. So while they have issues with their social media, the Pitt Pantry knows how to represent a positive and consistent brand.
Competitor Analysis
For the competitor analysis, I decided to pick a food pantry that was based in Pittsburgh so as to make it easily comparable. Additionally, because the Pitt Pantry is still relatively new, I chose an aspirational competitor. That is to say, the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry is well established in the Pittsburgh community and has a consistent social media presence. Overall, their social media accounts present a clean and fresh charity dedicated to serving the people of Pittsburgh and making sure everyone has access to healthy and cheap food.
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This can be inferred from their various social media accounts: Facebook, multiple Instagram accounts, and even a website. Their website is extremely professional and clean looking, which reflects their focus on fresh food. It is constantly updated with news on the pantry and information about any events occurring. The website is also extremely informative: JFCS’s email and phone number are displayed in multiple locations on the front page alone and they make it easy to donate. This gives their audience an easy way to get involved or get help if they need it. They come across as approachable and dedicated on their website.
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Their Instagram accounts, however, are a little different. One features fresh recipes while another is dedicated to celebrating their employees. Both, however, have the Pantry’s location as the very first thing visible. This makes it easy for viewers to know where to go to either get food help or to donate. Their Facebook account incorporates both the website and Instagram strategies. Contact information is always front and center and posts outlining cheap recipes are interspersed with posts about food drives and donations. This account specifically makes good use of Facebook as a platform, with pictures and testimonials altogether.
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Overall, the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry is a perfect aspirational competitor. Their follower counts are higher (over 1,000) and they update regularly. Additionally, their posts are brand consistent but do not overwhelm followers with too many updates. Therefore, they stay on their audience’s radar while not becoming overbearing. JFCS’s social media shows how pantries can get the follower account and activity necessary to become a helpful fixture in the Pittsburgh community.
Post Examples
Though this content has nothing to do with food pantries, I think this Facebook post is done extremely well. First, it has a simple photograph that will draw viewers in and let them know what is being sold immediately. Second, it has a fun call to action (“tag your frined”) that has nothing to do specifically with Coke. However, by having the viewer get their friends involved, the viewers are the ones who are doing the work in advertising.
I also wanted to find a good example of a food pantry’s successful content. This is for JFCS, the competitor food pantry that I analyzed and the pantry focused on cheap and easy meals. Though it mentions the pantry and thanks its volunteers (another main focus of JFCS), it doesn’t overtly push their message. Instead, it’s advertising something that most people find attractive: easy cooking. This way, they are drawing more people in while still spreading awareness for what they do.
I came across this content when researching for another class. Dunkin’s brand is all about everyday, working class people. This post is particularly successful because it not only represents their target audience but it also shows that the company is about more than just donuts. This post is telling viewers that Dunkin not only delivers on food and coffee but it also tells them how Dunkin can help people in their personal lives because of the meaning behind the company.
Audience Analysis
As the Pitt Pantry is a food bank geared towards the Pitt campus, much of the audience is made up of Pitt students. Therefore, the primary audience would be a Pitt student. Usually, this person (male or female) is between the ages of 18-25 and it college educated. Additionally, because this is a charitable service, the primary audience does not receive a lot, if any, income. They are looking for quick, easy, and cheap ways to get food. This is based on the fact that college students, especially such an underprivileged population, don’t have the skills, time, or means to buy and cook elaborate meals. They also don’t want to go far to get the food as not many people have a car to get to the grocery store. They will be looking for coupons for other items so the pantry should focus on advertising that service as well.
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As for the secondary audience, we will target Pitt staff and other Oakland residents for similar cost and distance reasons aforementioned. In this section we will also target anyone in the area willing and capable of donating foods, as a business or individually. People don’t want to be inconvenienced to give to charity. The tertiary audience will include any Pittsburgh resident in need of food assistance. Regardless of the section of audience, however, each has the same general goals: they want their basic needs met in a cheap and easy way. And, they want help discreetly and hassle-free.
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Therefore, the social media should express how the Pitt Pantry is able to fulfill the audience’s needs. This means constant updates, event notifications, and postings about the foods and services they have available on every given day. This way, our audience has a way of knowing when to come in to get not only the food they need, but the food they want.
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The social media will also offer tips on how to go about using the Pitt Pantry. One complaint about the pantry is that a lot of people either don’t know about it or don’t know how to start using their services. By posting this on social media, our audiences will know what to do before arriving, again making the process easier. Our audiences already have enough to worry about: everything about the Pantry will help alleviate this.
Style Guide
Style Guide
The Pitt Pantry is dedicated to providing our community with the cheapest and healthiest food that we can. Our passionate team of employees and volunteers work to end food insecurity in the Pittsburgh area while providing our shoppers with the dignity and care they deserve. Such a goal needs to be reflected in everything we do, including our writing. Therefore, we value accuracy and key words in our style guide.
Additionally, we intend to reach a large audience, one mostly comprised of college-age people capable of recognizing and understanding typical internet language and slang. While we do this, however, we also keep in mind our other large audience group: donors. This specific group cannot be alienated by the language we use so our style strives to strike a balance between formality and informality.
Our voice, tone, and vocabulary will always be geared towards providing our shoppers with the utmost dignity. We want them to feel comfortable coming to us for food assistance and to not feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with their food insecurity. Our word choices reflect this sentiment: we will not use societal slang like “food stamps” for services like SNAP or Welfare. Everything we do will work to not only make our customers feel comfortable, but will also work to positively highlight better, more acceptable word choices when dealing with poverty and food insecurity.
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Word List:
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!, ?, !? (never multiples, like !! or ?!?!)
Though we want to keep a more informal style (by therefore not shying away from bold punctuation), we do not want to become a
parody of ourselves.
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abbreviations and acronyms
Use abbreviations and acronyms only after the first usage of the complete title or phrase. Include the abbreviation in parentheses after the
first usage. (Ex. American Diabetes Association (ADA)). No periods will be used in either shortening.
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Able-bodied
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Disabled (instead of handicap)
A lot of our customers require special assistance; however, this does not mean they are incapable.
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em dash (use in place of double hyphens)
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Food insecurity/food insecure (to refer to hunger)
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hyphens (never use en dashes)
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Income level (instead of salary)
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Impoverished (instead of poor)
We require that our shoppers are treated with the utmost dignity; therefore, we follow a strict term list.
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Pitt Pantry (must always be capitalized)
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Recoveries
When referring to the gathering of leftover food, we call them recoveries.
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Shoppers/customers
We want our clientele to feel comfortable and unembarrassed to visit our storefront. This means treating them as though they were in any
other shopping experience.
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Never referred to as food stamps.
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Welfare Services (never food stamps)
Policies
Our guidelines for participating on all forms of social media follow the same basic rules: be respectful, be eloquent, and be efficient. We want our social media to invite people of all types and make them see just how great the Pitt Pantry is. In order to do this, we must always treat our followers with respect, especially when they are issuing a complaint. Additionally, we must remain coherent and clear-spoken at all times to represent our adequacy. Lastly, we must prove our efficiency when posting and responding on any platform so our customers are well informed and cared for.
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Policies for engaging on social media
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Never post on social media without first creating a draft of the content and having two or more employees proof-reading that draft.
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Be straightforward and informative.
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Engage our followers: if they comment, respond.
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Refrain from posting spam or inappropriate comments (to get a better idea of what is accepted, refer to our style guide).
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Respect the confidentiality of our shoppers and never disclose their information with express written consent.
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Always cite any documents, articles, statistics, etc. used or referenced to in content.
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Remain professional and friendly no matter what.
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When addressing a complaint or negative comment, acknowledge the comment publicly and then directly message the poster to get a one-on-one experience.
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Follow our style guide for any and all content posted.
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Hold your peers accountable when posting on the Pitt Pantry social media. Follow these policies and the voice detailed in our style guide in order to put forth the best image for the organization.
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Rules for social media
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Always proof-read content before posting
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Along with our style guide rules, it’s important that we present ourselves as competent and grammatically sound. This is just one way our customers will see us as a capable and professional organization.
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Respect our customers and their confidentiality
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Many of our shoppers have remarkable stories that we feel would serve to inspire more people to donate to our cause. However, none of the things discussed with any shopper can be disclosed on social media or otherwise without that shopper’s direct written consent.
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Be polite and understanding when addressing complaints
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When receiving a complaint, be sure to address the issue as soon as possible. If seen in the comment section, reply to the comment and indicate that we have received the complaint and are working on solving the problem. Directly message the poster to give them a more detailed run down of the solution.
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Stay friendly and transparent
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We want our shoppers to feel at home and comfortable when interacting with the Pitt Pantry in any capacity. Therefore, all content must facilitate open discussion and transparency so as to give our shoppers a feeling of inclusion.
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Policies
The Pitt Pantry’s main goal is get to more people shopping and donating: we want more people involved overall. This means focusing on retention, frequency, and yield of our customers and donors. We want people to continue coming to our pantry and we want to reach more people and have them come. Additionally, we want our yield from our donors to increase and we want to draw in more donors as well. Therefore, most of our goals will be focused externally but we wish to internally retain volunteers and employees as well.
Within these goals, we have a few tactics, strategies, and targets we want to try out. This includes starting new programs that our customers can come to, like themed days of the month when everything we offer follows a certain theme. Or more fundraising events, like a canned food drive every quarter of the year. These tactics are all encompassed in one strategy that will bring in more people to shop and donate to the Pitt Pantry.
Goals/Outcomes + Alignment with Business Goals
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My main business goal for the Pitt Pantry is to increase awareness and participation for our potential customers and donors. With my media strategy, I will be able to achieve this goal. Some specific strategies that I will employ are informational sessions and giftcard drawings. This will give people more incentive to get involved and get them more aware of what the Pantry actually does.
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Additionally, to achieve these goals and implement these strategies, I will be using various social media platforms, like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Facebook will be the main tactic source: on this site, we will post longer content that explains any upcoming events/programs in more detail. Twitter and Instagram will be used to supplement this information, drawing more people in, and attract a different audience.
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In order to measure if these strategies and tactics are working, we will conduct a survey before, during, and after they are implemented. This will mean comparing the social media interactions, follower count, and conducting surveys for original followers.
Strategy, Distribution Plan, and Timeline
My strategy for the Pitt Pantry’s social media is very straightforward: I want to utilize multiple social media platforms and their strengths. For example, Twitter is good for rapid-fire, short reminders and blurbs. Therefore, nothing of great detail will be posted on Twitter. Facebook, on the other hand, is great for longer explanations and creating events. Facebook isn’t great for the multitude of posts like Twitter is though. Lastly, Instagram will be the true visual representation of what The Pitt Pantry is. This media will show, not tell, what we do. It has its limits though: like Twitter, Instagram doesn’t lend itself to too long of captions or word content.
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More specifically, our Facebook account will focus mostly on highlighting specific aspects of the organization and explaining them in detail for people who don’t understand. These longer posts will also be used to inform our audiences about any food/gift card incentives we are creating for donating food. The longer post lengths will lend itself to allowing this to be possible. Additionally, we will utilize the event feature on Facebook. We will create and share more events, like themed food giveaway days and informational sessions. On Instagram, we will post spotlights of our different workers and positions and give a brief explanation as to who they are or what they do. Instagram will also be used to promote our events by reposting any graphics we created for the Facebook posts. Lastly, Twitter will be used as a more blow-by-blow update platform. Every day, we will Tweet what kind of food we have available in the pantry. Twitter will also be used to give short reminders/incentives to come to our events.
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All of this will be conducted in a more centralized fashion; as in, only a small group of individuals will be assigned to manage the social media accounts. This will make it easier to keep things consistent and organized. When putting everything together, the new strategy will meet our main goal by drawing more people into the organization. This is not only because the platforms will actually be utilized to the best of their abilities, but also because each platform will reach a specific audience and draw that audience in based on the utilization of the media they prefer.
Content Samples
For the informative posts, they will all start with a frequently asked question so as to draw in attention and quickly establish what the focus of the content will be. The subsequent explanation will answer the question in concise and positive language. This will only be done on Facebook so that we can post longer explanations if need be. These will remain consistent looking and sounding every time they are posted. Such questions will be updated once a week, at the beginning of the week so the audience knows when to look for them.
For Twitter, we will mostly focus on quick and short updates for our followers. These updates will be daily and will consistently feature a Tweet such as this one. This is for the benefit of drawing more people to coming into the Pantry and shopping. When they know what food/items are there beforehand, they will have more incentive to visit. In addition to these, other updates will occur when we have specialty items or special events going on.
Instagram will feature mostly pictures and graphics; again, playing into the platform’s strengths. We will keep the captions short so as not to distract or detract from our images. However, for the featured person of the month, the captions will go a little more in depth, like this one did. They will tell the audience who the employee is and what they do for the Pitt Pantry. This will give the organization a more personal feel and make our customers more comfortable when they come in because they will already recognize some of our workers.
Instagram will feature mostly pictures and graphics; again, playing into the platform’s strengths. We will keep the captions short so as not to distract or detract from our images. However, for the featured person of the month, the captions will go a little more in depth, like this one did. They will tell the audience who the employee is and what they do for the Pitt Pantry. This will give the organization a more personal feel and make our customers more comfortable when they come in because they will already recognize some of our workers.
Measurement Plan
For my social media strategy, I have a few main goals. Firstly, I want to bring in more customers to the Pitt Pantry. Secondly, I want to bring in more donors and donations. Thirdly, want to raise awareness of what In order to achieve all of these goals, I have a few measuring tools and factors.
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KPIs
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Did the number of customers increase from the beginning of the strategy to the end?
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Did the number of social media followers increase?
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Did the number of different donors increase?
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Did more people donate?
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Did the Pitt Pantry receive more donations?
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Are more people aware of what the Pitt Pantry is and what they do?
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Tools/methods to measures KPIs
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Obviously, the first indication of if the goals were met are the actual numbers we have. If we have more customers, more donors, more donations, than we know that we’ve made an impact with our social media strategy. To do this, we will conduct a consensus before we begin the strategy, 6 months into it, and one year after. We will compare these numbers and see if they’ve changed over the time.
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We will also check if we’ve had more followers on our social media. This will not only indicate if we’ve reached more people than previously, but it will also show us that we’ve made more people aware of the Pitt Pantry. Additionally, when more people follow the accounts, more people are aware of what the Pantry actually does.
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Lastly, we will create a survey to give to Pitt students. We will send this out before the strategy has commenced and then after a year, we will follow up with those who responded first and see if they have a better idea of what the Pitt Pantry is.
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Justification
These KPIs and tools are all justified when considering our goals. Our goals are lofty, but very measurable. The most time-consuming and trying methods is the survey. However, this still isn’t a hugely laborious task. The other KPIs and methods simply require that we strictly record our numbers and then consult them throughout various times in our strategy in order to determine if we have reached our goals.
Rationale
For my social media strategy for the Pitt Pantry, I knew I had a lot of work to do in order to establish a solid social presence. My main focus in the strategy was to create consistency and order in every platform. This consistency and organization would apply to the timeline and schedule of posts, the types of different posts for each platform, and the same common tone that threads its way through every platform. This, ideally, would give customers/potential customers a feeling of reliability that most food insecure people don’t have. The tone would also draw them in and make them feel like the pantry is personable and welcoming.
The tone decision came from multiple readings: Ann Handley’s Everybody Writes (Handley), Fenton and Lee’s Nicely Said (Fenton and Lee), and Handley, Scott, and Chapman Content Rules (Handley, et. all). Each of these readings said the same thing: tone and voice must remain constant. This allows the audience to create a relationship with the writer and makes the writer seem approachable. This is especially important for the Pitt Pantry; most of the customers are experiencing trouble and, with the stigma surrounding asking for organized assistance, they are uncomfortable asking for help (Favilla “How to Not Be a Jerk”). Therefore, the tone of Pantry must always remain friendly and open (see my style guide and social media policy)
Additionally, I wanted to create a strict schedule of posts (Shields “Distributing Social Content”) This way, the audience will know when to look for the very thing they need to see. For example, my Twitter would post updates on specials/food available every day, at the same time. For people wanting to shop at the pantry, they know to look on Twitter, after a certain time in order to actually see this. This will make it easy for audience because people don’t want to have to search too hard (Shields).
Each platform will follow the same general rules of the Twitter posts; i.e. there will be a schedule for daily/weekly/monthly posts plus additional updates catered to that platform. Again, this makes it easy for the audience to know where to find the information they need to know. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will all work with their audiences the best way they can in order to most effectively distribute the information (Shields)
All of these strategies, put together, will result in my main goal: getting more people aware and utilizing the Pitt Pantry. Everything I planned is focused on dispersing information as efficiently and effectively as possible. With this, more people will hear about us and have a better idea of what we do. If we keep people informed, we will draw in the necessary audience.
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Works Cited
Fenton, Nicole and Kate Keifer Lee. Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Purpose. Peachpit
Press 2014.
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Handley, Ann, David Meerman Scott, C.C. Chapman. Content Rules: How to Create Killer
Blogs. Podcasts, Videos, eBooks, Webinars (and more) that Engage Customers and Ignite your Business. Wiley, 2012.
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Handley, Ann. Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide for Creating Ridiculously Good Content.
Wiley, 2014.
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Shields, Ben. Social Media Management: Persuasion in Networked Culture. Oxford University
Press, 2017.
