The Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries of Boston team was facing limited capacity at retail stores in Boston during COVID-19. Its objective was to promote its stores as a safe place to shop during the pandemic with the hope of driving customer traffic to its stores.
Goodwill wanted to build robust social media campaigns to increase brand awareness and boost social media engagement.
By creating giveaways and posting Boston-specific shopping content, Goodwill hoped to increase Instagram and Facebook followers by 50 and engagement by 5%
By targeting younger audiences and following current fashion trends, Goodwill hoped to increase Pinterest followers by 30 and engagement by 5%
Goodwill planned on hosting a virtual event for Earth Day by 04/22/2021 with at least 25 participants
We conducted a situation analysis to determine Goodwill’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. We found out that COVID-19 had slowed down in-store traffic and purchases. We conducted an in-depth social media audit and monitored social media analytics to identify what is working and what to modify. The social media audit helped us notice that posts highlighting Goodwill’s mission and values on Facebook and Instagram received the most engagement and likes. Thus, we concluded that Boston locations have a more politically and socially involved audience, which meant we needed to develop a campaign that emphasized the eco-friendliness of thrifting.
To make more informed decisions, the team conducted a target audience analysis. The analysis indicated that even though most of our Boston locations are frequented by college-aged adults- one of our key demographics- our social media content was targeting a more mature audience. We realized that Pinterest and TikTok are better suited to younger audiences and following current trends on those platforms will ultimately create better experiences for our customers. We also observed that our customers are sensitive to prices, so we decided to create campaigns and social media content emphasizing how Goodwill is a great place to shop for individuals and families who are looking to find clothes of good quality but at a cheaper price.
We visited different Goodwill locations in Boston and captured more than 200 original photos and videos. To increase brand awareness and boost social media engagement, the team decided to create two separate social media campaigns and conduct a virtual fashion show. The first social media campaign was a weekly giveaway in which people who entered were required to follow Goodwill’s Instagram account, like the post, comment their Goodwill finds,and tag a friend for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate for Goodwill’s store locations. A winner was generated randomly each week for eight weeks.
The second social media campaign was called #Goodwill25, which featured styled outfits that totaled $25 or less. We posted these to our Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok accounts in order to further promote the giveaway and demonstrate how much customers are able to stretch their dollars at Goodwill.
We reached out to one fashion & lifestyle blogger each week to gain coverage and build strong, long-term relationships with them. We asked the influencers to share their Goodwill thrifting experiences and in return we featured them on our social media channels. We hosted a virtual fashion show called “Goodwill Boston’s All Things Thrifty,” for Earth Day in which influencers passionate about secondhand shopping spoke about their experiences at Goodwill and showed off their favorite pieces. We used social media posts to emphasize the importance of sustainability and environmental protection. We used hashtags like # #globalwarming #earthfocus #plasticfree #savetheearth #sustainable #saveourplanet #worldearthday and #reuse to generate interest. We created digital infographics that included facts and statistics about Goodwill’s sustainability initiatives. We went above and beyond all expectations and demonstrated innovation and creativity in delivering long-lasting results.
The team’s dedication, commitment, and resourcefulness helped Goodwill deliver impactful results. We successfully exceeded all our objectives. The Earth Day virtual fashion show was a success featuring six influencers and 41 attendees. Goodwill launched 8 social media giveaways and exceeded their goal of boosting social media engagement by gaining 160 new followers on Instagram and 25,300 impressions on Twitter. Goodwill increased Instagram engagement by 300% conducting weekly giveaways, using relevant hashtags, and re-posting user-generated content. By creating 19 new posts and tailoring our content specifically targeting our Facebook audience, we gained 70 new followers and 66 new page likes on Facebook. We increased our followers on Pinterest by 100%, engagement by 1,566%, and received 1,340 impressions by creating new shopper-centric boards and posting social media content from Facebook and Instagram.We started a TikTok account and achieved an average of 69 views, 48 new followers, and 258 video likes. We posted interactive content promoting our clothes, shoes, books, accessories, and houseware items. We also posted in-store interview videos with college student shoppers to engage our key target audience and highlight the thrifting experience. In addition, we created more than 10 looks for the #Goodwill25 campaign and built strong relationships with our followers by interacting with them through stories, polls, and the comments section.
