Prepared for Director Lee Lonzo of Champions Together

We recognize that in order to attract teenagers, one must think like a teenager. Therefore, we have extracted critical information that is imperative to implementing the recommendations. We broken down the advertising techniques on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as what makes them enticing to teenagers.

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Instagram is the Life of the Party in Social Media

According to a Pew Research Institute study in 2018, 72% of teens in the United States aged 13 to 17 say that they regularly use Instagram. Among all the teens who use Instagram, 15% say that it is the social media platform that they use the most, behind Snapchat at 35% and YouTube at 32% (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). Although 15% may not sound like a lot when compared to Snapchat and YouTube, it is still very relevant in the world of sports media and branding, as Snapchat and YouTube are not as involved with sports organizations as Instagram and Twitter. Teens also use Instagram more than Twitter and Facebook, with Facebook at 51% and Twitter at 32% in terms of overall teen use. The social media platform of choice for teens has continued to shift dramatically in recent years.

 

In an identical Pew Research Institute study conducted in 2015, 71% of teens reported being regular Facebook users, while only 52% reported being regular Instagram users. In just three years, Facebook usage has dropped 20% and Instagram use has risen 20% among the teenage population (Anderson & Jiang, 2018).Teenagers are the main target audience for social media; therefore, Instagram should be a main focus for social media presence to allow Champions Together to engage with the maximum number of teens possible.

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Instagram is considered one of the most popular social platforms to date. It is used a marketing in business tool for most small and upcoming businesses. Instagram uses a series of algorithms in order to increase or decrease follower count, comments, and content views. The algorithm filters all of the images that are posted on Instagram, takes the most popular images, and increases the amount of people who see the photo. In order to receive more photo views and engagement, one needs to “beat the algorithm.” According to Brent Barnhart, an editor at a tech company that studies Instagram algorithms, there are 9 critical steps in order to stay relevant on Instagram:

1. High quality photos

2. Consistent Instagram stories

3. High video content

4. More live streams

5. Intriguing captions

6. Hosting contests and give-aways

7. Hashtags

8. Utilizing peak activity hours

9. Upload consistency

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Taking high quality photos of partners participating in Unified Flag Football as well as coaches and directors will help keep the Instagram feed relevant and appealing. Initially, people view the page as a whole before they look at each photo individually. It is important to keep a variation of content on the page in order to keep the viewer engaged. Content from Champions Together and Unified Flagged Football should evolve simultaneously. Posting Instagram stories and hosting live streams of partners and athletes participating in sports as well as motivational pep talks from coaches will also help keep Instagram's relevancy alive.

 

Live Instagram posts or Instagram TV posts also increase the likelihood of views and follows. You could do interviews with athletes and partners in order to further interest students to join Unified Flag Football. Champions Together could also host give-aways on Instagram Live, providing students with the opportunity to win a prize. This creates a fanbase of students who will participate by commenting on specific posts, liking the Instagram Live, and giving honest feedback that could improve Champions Together.

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Captions on photos as well as hashtags also increase student engagement on photos. Hashtags allow users to search a word and find any photo related to that hash-tagged word. Some beneficial hashtags for Champions Together photos could be “#sports, #champions, #together, #flagfootball, #highschool”, #studentathletes, #inclusionrevolution." Those hashtags will increase your views based on those demographics. Captions are also play a dire role; it is important to have clear and concise context. They also provide a great opportunity to host a give-away.

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Video content on the actual feed itself is extremely important. Short videos that range from 5-7 seconds should suffice. This increases the likelihood that they are watched completely, further ensuring viewers don’t lose interest. Boomerangs are mini videos that loop back and forth and are a trendy feature of Instagram.

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Posting during peak activity hours ensures that the most possible people are viewing your photo. If Champions Together decides to make a business profile, you will be able to see when people are most active on your page and when people are least active. This can be found under the analytics page under settings. Posting regularly and consistently will also ensure Champions Together followers are seeing the most possible content from the company. Student engagement on social media is one of the most important ways of maintaining a proper social media presence.  

 

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Twitter: the Cocktail Party of the Internet

Two years later, advertising on Twitter still holds strong to its position in the top three in comparison to other platforms. According to statista.com, by April 2018 Twitter had 336 million monthly active users (2019). Twitter is a social media platform that allows registered users to “tweet,” which can be defined as a short message of 280 characters with photos or short videos (“How to Tweet”, 2019). 46% of Twitter users visit the website or app at least once a day (Newberry, 2019). Pew Research Center outlines Twitter third in ranking of social medias amongst young adults (ages 18-24), with Facebook and Instagram ahead; however, overlap occurs amongst users of these platforms (Smith & Anderson, 2018). Pew Research Center in 2018 conducted a survey to see the “‘reciprocity’” across the major social media platforms, including Twitter (Smith & Anderson, 2018). 77% of Twitter users also use Instagram (Smith & Anderson, 2018). This ensures that any promoting that occurs will be seen on multiple platforms, allowing for a stronger campaign.

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Gary Vaynerchuk explains that Twitter is so popular amongst the youth because it holds a “cocktail party” atmosphere (Vaynerchuk, 2016). While Twitter has the option for private conversations called “direct messages,” much communication happens through Tweeting. Teenagers enjoy being able to express themselves but also engaging with the public environment. Unless your account is private, in which you must allow the user to follow you in order to gain access to your Tweets, anyone with an account can access, Retweet (similar to the “share” option on Facebook), comment on, or like what you have posted. Twitter outlines 3 simple steps to tweet:

1. Type your Tweet into the compose box at the top of your Home timeline, or click the Tweet button.

2. You can include up to 4 photos, a GIF, or a video in your Tweet.

3. Click the Tweet button to post the Tweet to your profile.

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Twitter user @sighswoon in an interview with The Verge outlines what makes Twitter unique in comparison to Facebook or Instagram stating that when one Tweets “it feels like a separate force, and an idea gets to float with no bias…. Twitter seems more hype-based and news-based, all about sharing opinions and standing by them. Instagram is more… about aesthetics and images…” (G, 2018). Her comment on Twitter being more "hype...and news-based" is entirely true. The "ripple effect" is explained by Will Oremus of Slate, which "ensure[s] that the most popular tweets are far more widely seen than they used to be, enabling them to go viral on an unprecedented scale" (Lua, 2018). He breaks down the 6 best ways to go viral on Twitter:

1. Re-use your top posts

2. Experiment with posting times

3. Try Twitter videos

4. Use hashtags strategically

5. Reply to mentions

6. Promote your tweets

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Facebook Takes the Cake

Facebook is one of the most widely used social media platforms. Its impact on different age groups and different interest groups can be a great business marketing tool. Facebook provides an overall focus and has a broader range of posting accessibility. The wide age spectrum within Facebook in comparison to other social media sites increases promotion across all age groups. However, the distinguishing aspect of Facebook is the older audience. Advertising to an older audience, Champions Together can gain reach more parents. Often the children with intellectual disabilities are less active on social media platforms; therefore, reaching out to the parents of these student athletes is more useful in some cases.

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Another important detail is when people are the most active on social media. The older audience tends to be more present in the mornings and nights, while the younger audience is usually most active after school. It is important to know when to post in order to connect with the appropriate audience. Another key aspect that was highlighted in the Instagram section were give-aways, an important marketing tool that can potentially be utilized on Facebook as well.

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Facebook allows you to create promotional events. Within this invitation, you provide specific details for the event to inform users of the purpose, time, location, and any other necessary details in an orderly, outlined fashion. Champions Together could use this feature to promote its larger events in efforts to gain more attendance.

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Videos Are a Huge Hit

Appealing to young adults can be difficult; too much advertising can be a complete turn off but too little promotion and your voice may not be heard. Moreover, Champions Together is not a business campaigning for young adults to buy their products nor is it world-wide; thus the marketing dynamics are different in some aspects.

 

We searched for an already existing example of a youth/young adult school dominated program and come to the conclusion that Riley Dance Marathon could serve as a foundation to understanding how to promote and connect to young adults. One unique way of raising funds and awareness amongst young adults is seen in the promotional videos schools create to get students involved. For example, looking at the Avon High School Lip Dub 2014 by user Suketu Patel, this video on Youtube has a substantial amount of views: 1.2 million, with every student involved in the video from the technological aspect or just being in the video (Patel, 2014).

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From my experience of Champions Together at Mooresville High School, I believe the biggest issue Champions Together faces is lack of awareness through lack of or minimal promotion. If Champions Together created a similar campaign approach to bring awareness as well as bring the community together, I believe that the program would have a higher chance of getting more students involved. As more students become involved, social media is introduced and from there, if campaigned properly, Champions Together could carry as much weight and awareness as Riley Dance Marathon.

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Riley Dance Marathon also possesses an important aspect to their campaign: it provides incentives for people to donate money. Once you set up an account, links are provided through their website linking a potential donor to the individual's account. These links can be shared across any social media platform, especially on Twitter and Facebook. Once the link is posted onto one's account, the link can be accessible to anyone. If students were able to follow a similar procedure to raising money, they could potentially give back to the organization and the future Champions Together participants.