THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Special Project

Special Project

Saylor-Led Instagram Strategy: Last Prisoner Project

Entered in Instagram

Objective

The Last Prisoner Project (LPP) is a bipartisan nonprofit organization founded in 2019 with the mission to end the injustices caused by America's cannabis prohibition and the War on Drugs. LPP advocates for the release of the tens of thousands of people still incarcerated for cannabis-related offenses that are now legal, while also driving systemic reform within the criminal legal system. To further this mission, LPP partnered with Saylor, a rapidly growing LA-based creative agency, to launch a social media strategy aimed at raising awareness about the ongoing impact of these policies. LPP’s social media objectives were to educate the public, highlight the human toll and rally public support for change.

Strategy

To effectively engage and educate younger audiences, Saylor developed a social media strategy for LPP that involved breaking down complex legal concepts and policy updates into easily digestible, shareable formats that would resonate on social platforms.

Saylor’s approach combined real-life stories, policy updates, and educational content to create informative and emotionally compelling narratives that raised awareness and motivated LPP’s audience to drive change. This approach featured several core content types, including:

Covering cannabis-related news on social media is not without its challenges. Due to Meta's policy against promoting cannabis, any content using related keywords are effectively suppressed—regardless of the intent of the post. Despite this ongoing suppression, Saylor has continued to further the mission of Last Prisoner Project and increase audience growth year over year. By combining real-life stories with timely educational material, Saylor built a strong, emotionally resonant narrative around LPP’s mission, delivering powerful content that not only raised awareness but also inspired action.

Results

Saylor’s primary objective was to develop a social media strategy for LPP’s Instagram that would resonate with the organization’s audience and inspire them to advocate for the cause. In just three years, Saylor’s approach increased LPP’s Instagram audience by 92.8%, adding 68,000 new followers despite increased profile suppression due to Meta’s policies around cannabis-related content. In the last year, LPP has gained approximately 16,000 new Instagram followers (an increase of 13% from the previous year), and reached 1.1 million accounts (an increase of 33.8% from the previous year). This significant growth not only enhanced LPP’s reach and visibility but also led to greater community engagement and participation. The heightened awareness has been instrumental in advancing LPP’s mission and building a stronger movement for change.

Media

Video for Saylor-Led Instagram Strategy: Last Prisoner Project

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Saylor, Last Prisoner Project

Links

Entry Credits