OCAF Public Relations Campaign Proposal
Introduction
Overview of Research
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SEO
Website Critique
Perspectives Survey
OCAF Listerv Survey
Focus Groups
SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Threats)
● Strengths:
● SEO - OCAF website appears at or near the top
● Loyal following
● History
● Enthusiastic board members
● Events
● Marketing to “regulars” is strong and listserv is highly effective
● Weaknesses:
● Outdated facilities
● Physical visibility - needs more and better signage
● Budget
● Social Media presence
● Relationship with UGA students/faculty
● Athens presence
● Website difficult to navigate
● Small audience
● Opportunities:
● UGA community (students, faculty, Lamar Dodd, etc.)
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After school programs
Georgia Museum of Art
Big sponsorships
● Threats:
● Georgia Museum of Art
● ARTini’s Art Studio, Gallery & Lounge
● Good Dirt
● The Loft
● Pints and Paints
● Treehouse Kids and Crafts
● UGA Continuing Education
● Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services - Lyndon House Arts Center
Target Audience
● Oconee community
● Athens community
● UGA students
● UGA faculty
● Art enthusiasts in surrounding areas
● Parents with school aged children looking for an after-school art program (long-term)
● Creative Briefs
Goals/Objectives/Tactics
Goal 1: Improve online presence and communication
Why are we doing this?
1. Perspectives Survey: Only 3.9% current attendees heard of this event from social media and
OCAF website, which ranks as the least used channel. While 29.4% of them normally get
information about events, activities and other offerings in their communities via the Internet and
social media, which ranks as the second most used channel following “print media and Flagpole”.
2. Listserv Survey: On a scale from 1 (least effective)-5 (most effective) about promotional
avenues, OCAF Website scored 3.93, which comes after email (4.53) as the second most
effective avenue in the survey.
3. Web Critique: According to our research of the OCAF website and the website for one of its
major competitors--Oconee County Parks and Recreation (Rec Center), we found OCAF website
can be improved in the following ways:
a) Incorporating social media to the organizational website in order to generate larger
traffic and encourage two-way communication;
b) Improve content for ease of navigation
4. Focus Group: Most college students are using social media such as Facebook and Twitter
to get specific information about events and activities, and would like to forward the
information to their peers.
Goal 1 Objectives
Objective 1: Achieve an increase of 100 “likes” on the Facebook page within the next year.
● Update Facebook at least twice a week with posts, pictures, upcoming events, facts, etc.
● Hire a social media intern or appoint a volunteer to maintain social media presence
● Create Facebook events for OCAF events and classes
● Create a calendar tab on facebook with class schedule
● Put a Facebook icon on the website’s main page
● Enhance Facebook interaction with fans by “friending” people
● Analyze Facebook traffic once every two weeks
● Encourage OCAF community to “like” the Facebook page via Newsletter and E-mail
Objective 2: Increase website traffic by 10% within the next year.
● Update website, make it easier to navigate (take screen shot of current site, use arrows
to show what you should do)
● Update front blog twice a month with events, news, etc
Objective 3: Create a Twitter and get 100 followers within the next year.
● Create Twitter account to broaden our reach
● Tweet at least twice a day give examples of tweets
● Follow relevant organizations similar to OCAF give list of places to follow.
● Follow OCAF volunteers and supporters take screen shots of who you are following.
● Generate and manage conversations with followers
● Retweet art-related content
Objective #4: Connect with at least 10 local bloggers within the next year.
● Pitch to bloggers about OCAF events and 1) art class pitch 2) event pitch
Goal 2: Communicate the need for increased funds and support for the future development of
OCAF.
Why are we doing this?
1. Listserv Survey:
a) On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), “other sponsorship commitments”
scored 3.43 and ranks as the most likely reason that keeps the respondents from donating to
OCAF. In order to compete with other organizations that need donations, OCAF needs to
increase awareness about its presence and future goals among current members, sponsors and
donors.
b) Only 7% of the respondents showed interest in sending their kids to OCAF’s after school art
program. In order to generate more support, it is necessary for OCAF to increase the awareness
among local parents about the program and the potential benefits that the program would bring to
their children.
2. Web critique: One of the most important aspects of a website is that it makes its purpose and
target audience clear from the beginning. The purpose of OCAF website is to increase awareness,
provide information and encourage attendance to art classes, exhibits and to gain support from
sponsors, members, volunteers and the public at large. This should be clearly evident on the
homepage. Right now information for membership, volunteering and sponsorship are all under
the tab “membership” and cannot be easily spotted.
3. Focus Group: None of the UGA students interviewed knew about OCAF, but most showed
interest in art classes (especially hands on classes), events with social aspect, and would consider
donation if they enjoyed the event after attending.
Goal 2 Objectives
Objective 1: Increase the amount of OCAF’s target public that know about the organization’s
future goals by 20 percent within the next year.
● Conduct a before and after survey: OCAF will need to conduct an initial survey to
measure how much knowledge its target publics have about the organization’s goals and
plans for future development. A second survey will be done after the tactics are
implemented, in order to measure the amount of change in knowledge.
● Create a “Help us Grow” page on the OCAF website: Add a page to the OCAF
website that explains how the organization hopes to grow and improve in the future. The
tab will explain how OCAF’s key audiences, including members and sponsors, can help
OCAF by donating, volunteering and more. OCAF should use this page to update its
publics about changes, outcomes and improvements they’ve helped make possible.
● Contact local media about writing a story on the plans OCAF has for its future
development: Local newspapers and magazines, such as the Athens Banner-Herald, The
Oconee Enterprise and Flagpole Magazine, are useful tools for informing audiences who
would not normally visit the OCAF website, about the plans of the organization and the
help it needs to be successful.
● Have Joe Ruiz write a “Letter to Friends of OCAF” for the OCAF website: It is
important to create a positive, open relationship with stakeholders and publics. Speaking
to OCAF’s target publics as partners working towards the common goal of OCAF’s
future growth will help the organization develop and maintain that important relationship.
● Foster and maintain a positive relationship with the Oconee County Historical
Society: OCAF’s facilities are significant historical structures. A relationship with the
Oconee County Historical Society would allow OCAF to reach audiences who are
dedicated to helping preserve the history of Watkinsville and its structures.
Objective 2: Raise at least $8,000 in donations, not including money from memberships and
sponsorships within the next year.
● Create an online donation option on the OCAF website: An online donation option
will make it easier and quicker for people to donate to OCAF. This will also give nonmembers a chance to help OCAF achieve its goals. The donation option should be
present on every page of the OCAF website.
● Establish a “Monthly Giving Option”: In addition to the one-time donation option,
OCAF could give people the option to participate in a monthly giving program. This
would allow those involved to feel closely tied to OCAF’s successes and achievements.
One possible option is to allow people to sponsor the restoration/upgrades of a particular
building. This way, they could feel personally invested in helping to restore the building.
● Use social media to encourage people to donate: OCAF can reach a wider audience
that might be interested in donating, by using social media. Pictures, comments, and links
posted on the OCAF Facebook page, and tweets on an OCAF Twitter account are just a
few ways that the organization could use social media to inspire people to donate.
● Give people the option to donate at community events: OCAF can raise individual
donations by increasing its presence at community events, festivals, and activity fairs. If
possible, the organization should set up a table equipped with informational materials and
a donation box.
Goal 3: Increase community participation.
Why are we doing this?
1. Listserv Survey:
a) On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), “other events in the community”
scored 3.37 and ranks as the most likely reason that keeps the respondents from attending OCAF
events.
b) On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), “other volunteering commitments”
scored 3.17 and ranks as the second most likely reason that keeps the respondents from
volunteering at OCAF events, following “job” (3.19) as the most likely reason.
In order to increase community participation and compete with other organizations, OCAF needs
to increase awareness about its events and programs by incorporating multiple communication
channels both online and offline, and to apply marketing strategies such as pricing to make
events more attractive compared with its competitors.
2. Focus Group:
a) UGA students would be more likely to attend events if student discount or other kinds of
student benefits (class credit, on campus blue card event, etc.) is offered and if the travel time is
reasonable (within 15 min).
b) It would increase students’ attendance of OCAF events if on campus trial/sample classes are
provided.
c) Students are more likely to hear the events via online source such as social media and would
like to pass along to their peers if interested.
Goal 3 Objectives
Objective 1: Increase the number of active volunteers for OCAF events and programs by 25%
within the next year.
● Send out information to UGA college listservs: Many students get their information
about internships, job opportunities, and ways to get involved through their colleges list
serv. OCAF should use this outlet to get information out about the organization and let
students know they are always in need of volunteers.
● Prepare and distribute feature pitches: Feature pitch letters should be sent to local
print and online media to generate feature coverage from OCAF events. These types of
media pitches could include testimonials from past volunteers at OCAF events and
programs.
● Continue to promote word-of-mouth: People tend to trust people that they know,
therefore word of mouth is valuable method of spreading volunteer opportunities at
OCAF.
● Create flyers: OCAF will benefit from placing flyers around campus promoting
volunteer opportunities. Students look toward eye-catching flyers in order to learn about
new organizations and ways to participate. Students are always looking for more
opportunities to volunteer.
● Create a brochure: A brochure that can be distributed throughout the UGA campus and
community will help attract volunteers to OCAF events and programs.
Objective 2: Increase number of Lamar Dodd School of Art faculty who attend OCAF events by
50 within the next year.
● Create a facebook event: By creating a facebook event, OCAF will reach a larger
audience that looks to social media to gain information about upcoming events. Using
facebook will help spread the word about events to the arts faculty community.
● Send OCAF newsletters: Professors and faculty often use listservs to learn more about
upcoming events and organizations. OCAF will generate interest among the faculty by
sending a monthly newsletter along with event notices over faculty listservs.
Objective 3: Increase the number of attendees at all OCAF events and programs by 150 within
the next year.
● Continue to promote word-of-mouth: People often trust people that they know so word
of mouth is still a valuable method in increasing awareness about an event. Also look into
increasing the word-of-mouth method by tying it into social media and the Internet.
● Foster a good relationship with influential local bloggers: Local bloggers can be
extremely helpful in promoting OCAF events. The directors of the organization should
create a blog media list of art and community related blogs that OCAF wants to be
featured in and send them updates about current events going on.
● Invite appropriate contacts from target media to events: The target media, including
newspapers (Oconee Leader, Oconee Enterprise, Athens Banner-Herald, Flagpole), radio
stations, and television stations, should be invited to all upcoming events. Getting the
story out there about successful events will attract larger audiences for future OCAF.
● (PSAs) and calendar listings: OCAF should always provide PSA’s and calendar listings
containing information about upcoming events. They should be sent to all relevant radio
stations within an hour radius of the event.
● Provide discounts on tickets and program fees for senior citizens and students: This
provides an incentive for these groups to attend OCAF events. This is a great strategy that
the organization should always implement.
● Promote popular companies and brands: Students often look for brands and
companies they know and trust when deciding whether to attend an event. By
emphasizing popular and successful brands, such as Terrapin, OCAF will grab the
attention of more students.