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To inspire millenniums on the issues surrounding Veterans being able to re- establish themselves in an environment that is both productive and meaningful to their everyday living. HOME FOR HEROES Prepared by Boundaries Banned 324 Deep Water Lane Fort Mill, SC 29715 Home for Heroes Media Plan Proposal. Copyright ©2016 Boundaries Banned. CONFIDENTIAL

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Page 1: Home for heroes media plan

To inspire millenniums on the issues surrounding Veterans being able to re-establish themselves in an environment that is both productive and meaningful to their everyday living.

HOME FOR

HEROES

Prepared by Boundaries Banned324 Deep Water LaneFort Mill, SC 29715(803)981-2453

Home for Heroes Media Plan Proposal. Copyright ©2016 Boundaries Banned. CONFIDENTIAL

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Social Media Table of Contents1.0 Boundaries Banned Opening Letter........................................................................................3

2.0 Executive Summary................................................................................................................5

3.0 Boundaries Banned Introduction............................................................................................7

3.1 Boundaries Banned Credentials...................................................................................8

3.2 Press Release (BB Announcement)...........................................................................11

4.0 Situation Analysis.................................................................................................................12

4.1 Service Analysis........................................................................................................13

4.2 Market Analysis........................................................................................................14

4.3 Competitive Analysis................................................................................................17

4.4 Current Financial Situation.......................................................................................21

5.0 Target Audience....................................................................................................................22

6.0 SWOT Analysis....................................................................................................................25

6.1 Strengths..................................................................................................................26

6.2 Weaknesses..............................................................................................................26

6.3 Opportunities............................................................................................................26

6.4 Threats.....................................................................................................................27

6.5 Key SWOT’s...........................................................................................................27

7.0 Integrated Creative Strategy Statement.................................................................................28

7.1 Creative Strategy Statement......................................................................................29

7.2 ICSS Rationale..........................................................................................................29

8.0 Creative Brief.........................................................................................................................30

9.0 Media Advertising Plan.........................................................................................................32

9.1 Objectives..................................................................................................................33

9.2 Strategies....................................................................................................................33

9.3 Tactics........................................................................................................................34

9.4 Flowchart (Editorial Calendar)..................................................................................36

9.5 Rationale....................................................................................................................37

10.0 Campaign Budget..................................................................................................................39

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11.0 Creative Executions...............................................................................................................42

11.1 Sample e-Newsletter................................................................................................43

11.2 Postcard Mailer........................................................................................................45

11.3 Twitter Example......................................................................................................46

11.4 Revised HFH Homepage.........................................................................................47

11.5 Business Card & Letterhead Example.....................................................................49

11.6 Facebook Example...................................................................................................51

11.7 Radio Ad Sample.....................................................................................................52

12.0 Measurement and Evaluation Plan........................................................................................53

13.0 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................63

14.0 Appendices............................................................................................................................66

Appendix A: Focus Group Survey......................................................................................67

Appendix B: Research Report.............................................................................................69

Appendix C: Media Contact List.........................................................................................73

Appendix D: Bibliography .................................................................................................74

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1.0 Boundaries Banned Opening Letter

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From the desk of Tashia L. Bramhan, CEO of Boundaries Banned

Terri HowardBoard of DirectorsHome For Heroes, Inc.744 Seigle Point DriveCharlotte, NC 28204(980)236-0698

Dear Ms. Howard:

On behalf of Boundaries Banned, I would like to extend my gratitude in giving me the opportunity to submit this social media plan proposal to Home For Heroes, Inc. Your organization has been shown to touch the hearts of many in an effort to support military veterans. The efforts to educate the community to assist veterans on their post-military transition to civilian lifestyles is an entity that I wholeheartedly support.

Boundaries Banned was established on the philosophy of no limitations to the imagination of the human mind in all the world. Founded in 2015, I thrive on establishing clients to a global level. Granted I am fully aware of your immediate need to establish on a national level, I can provide the stepping stones needed to pursue communications on both a national and global scale.

Why the name Boundaries Banned? There are no boundaries in goals I set. All goals are obtainable with work and dedication. If you can dream it and believe in that dream, I can do my best to help you. My beliefs and my philosophy are the reasons in which my foundation is based.

I believe with this plan you will achieve even greater strength in continuing to educate not just your local community but the world on veteran post-military needs.

DREAM! BELIEVE! DO! REPEAT!

Sincerely,Tashia L. Bramhan, CEOTashia L. Bramhan, CEOBoundaries Banned324 Deep Water LaneFort Mill, SC 29715(803)981-2453

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2.0 Executive Summary

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Home For Heroes is an established non-profit organization that has been in existence for five years. Based out of Charlotte, NC, Home For Heroes was created on the basis of assisting women veterans in the transition from military life to post-military life. Since the start of the organization, Home For Heroes has created partnerships with various businesses for sponsorship and support as well as expanding their services to include all veterans. Their service and dedication to helping veterans avoid homelessness in Charlotte has set the ground rules on wanting to now help veterans outside of the Charlotte area. They feel that veterans need help not just in Charlotte, not just in the United States, but worldwide. The desire to grow will take time but when following a step-by-step plan of action and commitment to keeping the actions going, Home For Heroes will be the go-to non-profit organization that is known my many.

The media plan proposal created by Boundaries Banned focuses on the weaknesses and threats posed to Home For Heroes. The research conducted has shown that Home For Heroes will need to start from scratch in terms of webpage creation and then go from there to re-establish themselves on various social media platforms. In addition, after discussion with the CEO we have researched actions needed in order retain board members to the organization as well as creating platforms for recruiting more volunteers and donors/sponsors.

It has been noted throughout the plan that funding is desperately needed in order to pay staff, establish marketing and secure housing needed for veterans. Therefore, an increase on social media platforms and direct mailing tactics are needed in order to create increased brand awareness and education on veteran post-military life. In order to secure established federal funding in the form of grants, the CEO will need to find an individual(s) who is well versed in proposal writing that is willing to commit to this particular endeavor for the organization.

Even though this plan was created for year 2017 with a budget created of $10,000, actions of this plan can go beyond the proposed period. Our integrated creative strategy statement states Home For Heroes Inc. enables veterans with the right to live among citizens in a respectable manner and citizens the right to assist those veterans so as they don’t feel left out and/or ashamed of their circumstances post-military service. Implementing a new hashtag #HFHInc and utilizing the brand logo across all mediums of communication will assist in establishing Home For Heroes to a brand that is not only recognizable but remembered for all the services they provide to veterans everywhere. The overall goal for Home For Heroes is ensuring that veterans can easily transition from military life to post-military life that is both comfortable and not degrading to their mental and/or physical well-being.

Engagement, national awareness, monetary donations and organizational collaborations are all elements that are essential in elevating Home For Heroes to an extended level of recognition.

The motto of Boundaries Banned:

DREAM! BELIEVE! DO! REPEAT!

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3.0 Boundaries Banned Introduction

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3.1 Boundaries Banned Credentials

The challenge of marketing communications is never a challenge but an adventure. It gives us a

way to open our minds and yours to the endless possibilities of reaching new horizons with

emphasis on social media channels in addition to the standard forms of marketing like direct

communications and media related entities i.e. television and/or radio ads.

On a yearly basis, our agency of two employees take a look at not-for-profit entities that

approach us for marketing communication strategies and plans. The aspects of the not-for-profit

in which we base our decision to assist mainly surround the works for community and beyond in

addition to history behind the not-for-profit entity. Once the decision is made, we contact the

NFP and alert them that they have been selected as one of the candidates that will receive our

services for free. In this manner, we are able to continue the tradition of giving back or as past

national campaigns have proclaimed: “Pay It Forward.”

Some of our past for-profit clients have included Sodexo Korea), Samsung Electronics, LG

Electronics, Etude House, Dunkin Donuts, SkinnyPop and The San Francisco Symphony.

Main areas of expertise:

Social Media Creation and Execution – clients that lack in the area of social media will experience an increase in social media presence through various methods of teaching client/customer engagement, creating and implementing and editorial plan and researching/testing what type of messages cause a reaction from target market.

Blogging as a Means of Education – past experiences have taught us and our past clients that blogging when used concurrently with social media, is a great way to educate consumers on product brand or service. It is a slow process when first starting but the added benefit is gaining a following on an entity that more and more consumers turn to

Boundaries Banned

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for more in-depth information that is sometimes not gleaned fully on social media sites like Twitter and/or Snapchat.

Brand Equity – we pride ourselves on the in-depth research conducted for brands in general in understanding full product line if applicable, competitor products in same sector and customer thoughts posted through various entities online. We have been able to present full brand audits to companies in order to assist in their understanding of where they have been, where they are now and where they are expected to go in the future upon implementing marketing tactics suggested for future success and increase in market share.

Direct Marketing – we utilize direct marketing tactics of communicating via email, postal services and media such as print ads, television commercials and radio commercial spots.

Multicultural & Global Brand Marketing and Communications – understanding the marketing aspects of various cultures in terms of communications, language barriers and marketing differences/interpretations is key to being able to reach a greater international target market. The U.S. alone is made of various cultural groups that come from various corners of the world. Knowing how people communicate on a daily basis and what they use to make these communications is our know how of being able to implement effective marketing and communications. Introducing a new brand is not always easy but delivered via correct channels in a manner that speaks directly to the individual(s) targeted will help a brand reach beyond past boundaries.

Business Card

324 Deep Water Lane, Fort Mill, SC 29715 TEL | (803)981-2453 EMAIL | [email protected] WEB | https://tashialynnblog.wordpress.com/

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Contact: Tashia L Bramhan, CEOPhone: (803)981-2453Email: [email protected]: https://tashialynnblog.wordpress.com/PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOUNDARIES BANNED TAKES ENDEAVOR IN OFFERING FREE SERVICES TO A NONPROFIT AGENCY AS A YEARLY “PAY IT FORWARD” INCENTIVE

FORT MILL, SC – November 20, 2016 – Boundaries Banned Executive CEO, Tashia L. Bramhan, made the announcement of the company offering their marketing services to nonprofit organizations. With first and second year success in creating and implementing integrated marketing plans for businesses located in both the U.S. and Asia, Boundaries Banned employees voted on implementing pro-bono marketing consultation they can make to nonprofits.“We wanted to be creative in how we make our charitable contributions. Even though it’s not financial in nature, we still feel we can help another business proceed further in their goals of brand recognition and brand placement,” stated by Nadia L. Thomas, Executive VP. All employees of Boundaries Banned have made great strides studying Asian culture to the fullest extent. This is in order to broaden horizons for businesses that would like to gain entry into countries to extend their target market reach. Other businesses may look to Hispanic regions and the U.K., Boundaries Banned focuses on Asian countries in addition to the United States.“It’s easy to create a marketing plan for a for-profit business as they have a marketing budget. Nonprofits prove to be a challenge that we are willing to take on free of charge in order to learn the aspects a marketing budget challenge can present,” stated by CEO, Tashia L. Bramhan. Boundaries Banned looks to implement a marketing plan proposal for Home For Heroes, Inc. located in Charlotte, NC.ABOUT BOUNDARIES BANNEDBoundaries Banned was founded by Tashia Lynn Bramhan on January 12, 2015 in Fort Mill, SC. Boundaries Banned currently employs two individuals of various marketing expertise ranging from social media content, direct marketing tactics, public relations, brand equity and multicultural communications. For more information, please contact Tashia L Bramhan at [email protected]

Boundaries Banned

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4.0 Situation Analysis

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The situation analysis is an overview of the circumstances Home For Heroes is facing. It covers a service analysis, market analysis, competitive analysis, and macro-environment.

4.1 Service Analysis

Home For Heroes (HFH) provides veterans with affordable housing, transportation services, counseling services, various support services and assistance with job placement/employment. The overall perspective of HFH is to alleviate veteran homelessness and to assist with readjusting to civilian life after having served in the military. Men and women who have served their country via military duties whether abroad and/or locally have often found the transition from military life to civilian life to be challenging.

This chart from Pew Research shows a prediction of what types of factors make it either harder or easier for veterans to make a transition from military life to civilian life. It has been stated that 44% of Post-9/11 veterans have had a more difficult time in making readjustments compared to 27% of Pre-9/11 veterans. (Morin, 2011)

HFH stands for change. HFH stands for veteran success. HFH stands for veteran quality of life and well-being. HFH stands for Hope For Heroes and not just Homes.

The mission for HFH is To provide a safe and encouraging living environment for veterans as they transition into their communities and regain ownership of their lives.

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4.2 Market Analysis

Geographic

Home For Heroes is currently located in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. They have been in existence since January 22, 2011 and have achieved many corporate partnerships in the quest to assist veterans with their re-emergence into civilian life. Status for 501c3 qualification was received in June 2012 with retro effective date of exemption to January 2011.

Demographics

The veterans who utilize the services provided from HFH come from various wakes of service in the military. HFH first started serving women veterans but have recently expanded to include both men and women as the need has been seen, thus creating a purpose fulfilled. According to the US Census it is shown that there are approximately 18.8 million veterans with 1.6 million of them being women. Broken out by race: 11.6% are black, 78.3% are non-Hispanic/white, 1.5% are Asian, .7% are American Indian or Alaska Native, .2% are Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and 1.3% are reported as some other single race. (US Census, 2016)

Psychographics

Many veterans have found transitioning back to civilian life is one that is quite difficult. They are given the tools necessary in order to survive and thus oftentimes find themselves homeless. To give a visual picture of the psychographics of US Veterans, the next few tables depict the educational level, ages, employment status and other pertinent information that pertains to the various circumstances of veterans. The background circumstances of veterans sometimes determine their ability to successfully and/or unsuccessfully transition from military life to civilian life.

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(US Census2, 2015)

4.3 Competitive Analysis

There are many nonprofit organizations within Mecklenburg County and the United States in general that serve veterans in various aspects of post-military transitioning. The focus of this plan will look at competitors and/or potential collaborators currently serving the states of Florida and Georgia.

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Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO) – Atlanta, GA

Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO) located in Atlanta, Georgia is an organization that

has been around since 2008. Their mission is To enhance the quality of life for all veterans on their road to self-sufficiency. (VEO, 2016) They have considerable social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Their board members consist of fifteen individuals who hold various business and/or military backgrounds. As shown on their website, some of their board members include: “Marsha Lee - Board Chair -Fraud Supervisor, Bank of America - U.S. Army Veteran, Kenneth Koch - Principal, KPMG - U.S. Air Force Veteran, Debbie McKinley - Senior Director - Human Resources, The Home Depot - U.S. Marine Corps - Major, Retired, Rodney S. Wilson - Project Manager, Georgia Power Company and Mike Giglio - CEO, Alliant Life & Georgia Life Settlements - U.S. Coast Guard Veteran. No further information is listed about the board outside of titles held in current business and/or veteran status.

Their strength is that they have been recognized by Washington D.C. with the White House Veteran Entrepreneur Champions of Change Award in August 2014. They also have a strong presence in the Metro-Atlanta region of Georgia. Through their Workforce Development Program, they were able to assist 200 veterans in 2015 and have a retention rate of 80% that were employed. “As of September 1st, VEO now has the capacity to house fourteen veterans and their families in their NEW Veteran Family Supportive Housing Program. Veteran families now have access to the same Wrap Around Services as their current clients.” (VEO, 2016) In regards to their current clients, they have a facility with approximately seventy beds to help alleviate homelessness in addition to serving meals on a daily basis. Most important to note outside of services provides is that they also have various collaborations with local businesses to assist with their efforts for veteran stability and self-sufficiency. These partnerships include:

, The Ben Massell Dental Clinic, Saint Joseph’s Heart and Vascular Institute, Positive Outlook Foundation Inc and Hope Atlanta just to name a few.

Their weakness: despite receiving many likes and/or retweets on their social media platforms, there doesn’t seem to be much interaction with those that do make comments on posts made if any. Those posts, though great with the various pictures and announcements made, don’t illicit the responses necessary to gauge consumer true intention of why they may or may not like a post

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made. It’s imperative to have consumer engagement in order to know what type of content you should be posting that will keep your followers interested in your works.

HOPE Atlanta Programs – Atlanta, GA

HOPE Atlanta Programs located in Atlanta, GA offers many programs in the Atlanta area. The program specifically for veterans is called Supportive Services for Veterans & Their Families (SSVF). The program for veterans “covers 15 metro Atlanta counties and funds rapid re-housing and prevention assistance to homeless veteran households. SSVF is a Veterans Affairs funded grant to provide supportive services to extremely low or very low income veterans and veteran with families residing in or transitioning to permanent housing.” (HA, 2016) The mission of HOPE Atlanta: HOPE Atlanta provides a comprehensive approach to address homelessness and provide solutions that promote lifelong stability.

Board members for Hope Atlanta consist of twelve members that hold various business backgrounds from HR, accounting, legal and marketing. Here is information on three of the board members:

“Steven T. Tedder - BOARD CHAIRMAN

Since 2000, Steve Tedder has participated in the acquisition, development, leasing, management, and disposition of more than $2 billion in real estate, including office, industrial, retail, hotels, multifamily, single family, manufactured housing, and self-storage properties.

Rodrick C. Glass - BOARD MEMBER

Rodrick C. Glass is the Executive Vice President of Business Development for Allure Global Solutions, Inc. based in Atlanta, GA. Allure Global is an enterprise digital signage & Point-of Sale software, and analytics company leading the digital communications market.

Kathleen Brownlee - BOARD MEMBER

Affiliated with Purpose Built Communities since its inception in 2009, Kathleen Brownlee has extensive experience in affordable real estate financing, development, and asset management. For two years prior to joining Purpose Built Communities, she led the C.F. Foundation’s real estate initiatives in Atlanta.” (VSO2, 2016)

Strengths for HOPE Atlanta include the following: they have been around since 1900. They have provided services to over 15,000 individuals each year and have served over one million individuals since 1900. Services include emergency shelter, food, transportation and counseling. They collaborate with close to 100 agencies in order to provide the best possible results of insuring client safety. (HA, 2016) They currently utilize Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube

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and Instagram for their social media reach. They receive a large amount of funding from established grants and donations made.

Their weakness: despite being a fairly established organization that has been around for over 115 years, they only serve the Atlanta area and surrounding regions in close proximity to Atlanta. There is only one yearly event held to raise extra funding for the organization which is The Heroes for HOPE Awards Dinner. No other types of fundraising are shown. Financials are not readily available in the form of annual reports for public viewing.

Faith*Hope*Love*Charity, Inc. & Stand Down – Palm Springs & Lake Worth, FL

Faith*Hope*Love*Charity, Inc. (FHLC, Inc.) located in Palm Springs Florida and Stand Down located in Lake Worth, Florida is an intertwined organization that was founded in 1994 by two veterans, Roy Foster and Donald Reed. Their primary focus is in assisting veterans, service members and their families. (FHLC, Inc., 2016) FHLC, Inc. and Stand Down House is one in the same yet in two different Florida locations. This in itself helps to gain a broader reach for military related individuals. The mission of FHLC, Inc is To address the needs & unseen wounds of our veterans & service members by providing supportive services, financial assistance, mental health services, housing, referrals, family assistance & more through community outreach. Located in Florida, we do our best to help those in need regardless of where they live or are stationed. Information on their Board of Directors is not readily present on their website. Staff information of titles and email addresses are listed but no further background information on the staff that serves as either directors, managers or psychologist.

Noted strengths for the organization include GuideStar recognition which is for all nonprofits, yet they are able to have more than enough information available to GuideStar to be able to help the nonprofit be much more transparent with value added information provided. Various forms of information from statistics to videos to outsourced information is fully provided on their webpage. They also offer various means of donor support from monetary to banner sharing and downloads. Anyone who truly wants to offer support can find a manner in which their financial capabilities are met and utilized.

One major weakness shown is their lack in social media connections. One cannot locate whether or not they have Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube connections very easily. A stronger media presence would make them more transparent to today’s millenniums.

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Veterans Support Organization, Palm City, FL

Veterans Support Organization is located in Palm City, Florida. Their mission is to Get veterans off the streets and into the workforce. VSO has a philosophy of empowerment and

believes in working with veterans to provide them a steady job and faithful supports; and to allow other Americans to support those who’ve served our country by raising donations with VSO. (VSO, 2016) Information on their Board of Directors is not present on their website.

One strength of VSO is the fact that it is one of the few veteran organizations that had its start in another state, Rhode Island. Also they have been around since 2001. They also provide support for major veteran’s organizations. Their concepts are simple yet effective in assisting thousands of needy and disabled veterans through their work program in which veterans help themselves. (VSO, 2016)

Weakness for the VSO; not a strong social media presence. They do have a blog page that shows on their website, yet their blog postings are far and few in between, where the last post was made September 13, 2016. You have to email them to find out further information as their webpage only summarizes what they do instead of giving full in-depth information. Summarization should be left to social media posts where in-depth information should be provided on the home website.

4.4 Current Financial Situation

Revenue is generated for Home For Heroes from partner sponsorships, local donors after proposal presentations, veteran program fees and fundraising events. Funds received are used for veteran mental health assistance, training programs and various household items that coincide with the overall well-being of veterans being assisted. There is not enough funding to pay additional staff and/or to maintain various day-to-day operations needed for HFH to continue successfully. In order for HFH to be able to branch out to new cities and states, more partnerships are needed in various locale in addition to applying for federal grants.

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5.0 Target Audience

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Primary Audiences

Primary Psychographic

The primary audience consists of individuals we call millennials. The ages of millennials range from 18-34 and represent 75.4 million, approximately 1/3 of the U.S. population. (Fry, 2016) Millennials are tech savvy and conduct communications with their friends, family and businesses through various platforms of social media or text messaging. “They want to engage with brands on social networks. 62% of millennials say that if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become a loyal customer. They expect brands to not only be on social networks, but to engage them.” (Schawbel, 2015) In order to gain their respect and loyalty for causes, organizations must utilize these social media networks in order to reach them where they live.

Primary Demographics Men and women ages 18-34

Education: High School diploma or higher

Geographically located within the states of Florida & Georgia

Family unit: any

Household income: $18,000+

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Secondary Audiences

The secondary audience consists of baby boomers. In a 2015, U.S. News Market Insights report, the number of baby boomers in the U.S. is 76 million people who were born between the years 1946-1964. Baby boomers are noted as controlling 70% of all disposable income in the United States. (US News, 2015)

Secondary Psychographic

Baby boomers are the group of individuals that have more time (hours) to contribute to voluntary services and causes. One article even stated back in 2015 that “retirees are expected to donate about $6.6 trillion in cash and $1.4 trillion in volunteer services during the next 20 years as they retire.” (Di Mento, 2015) Just because they are an older generation, they are still up to date on technological advances in addition to traditional means of communication.

Secondary Demographics

Men and women ages 50-70

Education: High school and above

Income: $35,000+

Geographically located within the states of Florida & Georgia

Family unit: single or couple, working class or retired

Rationale of Target Market

Millennials were chosen as the primary target market due to their awareness of causes they care about. In addition to their knowledge, reports have shown that millennials are more generous than society gives them credit for. They are volunteering their time with a minimum amount of an hour. Especially when volunteering involves a skill or expertise that pertains to them personally. Reaching the millennials via social media is one of the best ways in order to gain their involvement whether it is via time spent volunteering and/or monetary donations made.

Baby boomers represent the older generation of individuals that are approaching and/or are at retirement age. “While retirees volunteer less than other age groups, charities would be smart to figure out ways to increase their involvement, because once they do commit their time, they end up volunteering more total hours than any other age group.” (Di Mento, 2015) Therefore, engaging with baby boomers is equally as important as engaging with millennials. While millennials may offer new skills and services from a volunteering perspective, baby boomers provide organizations with seasoned, experienced labor that helps with the stability and constant involvement of providing services to the growing community.

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6.0 SWOT Analysis

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6.1 Strengths

Strengths are the factors that bring success to Home For Heroes in terms of continued growth and benefits offered. Strengths demonstrate factors that are internal in providing success for the organization.

Affiliation with major business in Charlotte, NC. (Compass Group, Foodbuy, Touchpoint, Disabled Vet National Foundation)

Offers many areas of support for veterans ranging from shelter, job placement and transportation.

Have made sustainable progress in the number of homes available over the last 5 years. Have assisted over 26 clients since injunction of organization

6.2 Weaknesses

Weaknesses represent the areas of Home For Heroes that have not been utilized in the past in terms of increased exposure and accountability. Weaknesses can be defined as internal factors that can be causing the organization to lose the interest of board members and/or other benefactors.

Lack of funding to expand in addition to paying volunteer stipends and staff. Lack of active presence on social media platforms of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and

their own webpage. Lack of carry-through and/or board member retention. Loss of interest among designated board members who eventually quit association. No Federal assistance in the form of grants. Funding is sporadic Social media not maintained on a daily, weekly and/or monthly basis

6.3 Opportunities

Opportunities for Home For Heroes represent the avenues and/or platforms that can be used for awareness and volunteerism. Opportunities are external factors that the organization must grasp in order for increased future success.

Create a new webpage from scratch with qualified web host provider. Blogging New ways of creative donations (i.e. mystery raffles, silent auctions, veteran art sales,

etc.) Have volunteers connect with United We Serve federal website to bring to light service

opportunities and promotion of Home For Heroes Applying for Federal grants available to nonprofit organizations that help staffing,

maintenance and various housing/aide endeavors for veterans assisted

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Being more transparent via various social media platforms in order to keep the Board and other patrons engaged.

Maintain social media presence at least every other day for constant public awareness. Expansion into other states, once Charlotte based system is stable financially

6.4 Threats

Threats are the other nonprofit organizations and economic conditions that could affect the livelihood and growth of Home For Heroes.

Influx of veterans that need assistance but are turned away due to lack of funding, housing and/or other entities that prevent them from receiving needed services.

Change in economic conditions that can alter and/or cause a decrease in donations and/or sponsorships.

Board member disinterest that causes lack of stability for the organization. Lack of active social media presence. Lack of necessary finances to sustain growth and increased client assistance. Other veteran non-profits that offer the same services but on a larger scale.

6.5 Key SWOT’s

The key SWOT’s are those entities to be considered the most pressing/prioritized in each level of the SWOT. The key priorities that apply to Home For Heroes are the following:

1. The overall purpose of Home For Heroes is establishing and promoting healthy living options for displaced vets. Assisting with self-esteem and right to live issues is the main concern for veterans who receive services.

2. Creating a stronger presence on social media platforms is needed to overcome this most pressing weakness in order to keep up with emerging forms of communication.

3. Gaining the means of establishing consistent funding sources is important to not only stay afloat but to be able to increase the client base of veterans utilizing the services provided.

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7.0 Integrated Creative Strategy Statement

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7.1 Creative Strategy Statement

RATIONAL FACTORS EMOTIONAL FACTORS

7.2 ICSS Rationale

This ICSS was selected to tell the target(s) the purpose of supporting Home For Heroes. Being able to learn more about the organization is key to both consumer buy-in including board member engagement and commitment to the organization. Extensive research has shown that lack of verifiable information and lack of online presence served as a catalyst to people not being more aware of the services provided in addition to being able to make donations and/or offer volunteer services. In order to be relevant to more than just the local community in order to expand to other states, the online presence of HFH will need to be made stronger via more timely posts and responses made to those who comment on said posts. An organization that is shown to be transparent on all manners of communication is an organization that millennials and baby boomers will trust.

Home For Heroes Inc. enables veterans with the right to live among citizens in a respectable manner and citizens the right to assist those veterans so as they don’t

feel left out and/or ashamed of their circumstances post-military service.

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8.0 Creative Brief

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CREATIVE BRIEF

Boundaries Banned

Client: Home For Heroes

Date: December 20, 2016

What is the Integrated Creative Strategy Statement?

Home For Heroes Inc. enables veterans with the right to live among citizens in a respectable manner and citizens the right to assist those veterans so as they don’t feel left out and/or ashamed of their circumstances post-military service.

Why are we advertising?

To increase awareness of Home For Heroes and the services offered for veterans.

Whom are we talking to?

Individuals who care about the welfare of veterans who have served their country. Individuals who can make a difference in the life of a U.S. Veteran.

What do they currently think?

Home For Heroes does not have enough media presence in order to fully understand all they offer to veterans and why they need our help.

What do we want them to think?

Home For Heroes is an organization that cares enough about veterans to offer services and support beyond their local community.

What should they believe/think?

Home For Heroes balances veteran needs with community help in assisting them with managing a sustainable and respectable lifestyle.

What are the creative and media guidelines?

Hashtag #HFHInc utilized in all forms of media communications.

30-second Public broadcast ads via radio

Four color, full-page monthly newsletters via email

4x6 Direct postcard mailings to potential donors and volunteers derived from purchased consumer list.

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9.0 Media Advertising Plan

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9.1 Objectives

The following objectives focus on aligning Homes For Heroes in the mainstream communications of social media, direct mailings and broadcast and/or advertising aspects needed for the organization to grow outside of the Charlotte, NC media area. We are increasing brand exposure via various aspects of traditional and digital media platforms.

Raise brand awareness by 50% by year end 2017 for primary and secondary audiences. Gain 100 Twitter followers by year end 2017. Gain 25+ followers on Instagram by year end 2017 – primary and secondary audiences. Increase Facebook traffic by 25% in 1 year. Elevate awareness of the volunteers and board members by 100% in 1 year through

increased social engagement, newsletter creation and postcard campaign.

9.2 Strategies

Establishing awareness on a broader level is necessary for increased web traffic and brand acknowledgement. Utilizing social media in a more consistent manner is essential to the desired growth and further success of helping veterans on a national basis.

As of December 21, 2016, the last active post to Facebook was made at the end of November 2016. Before that time the last made to the platform was in 2015. In order to keep board members engaged with the organization as well as earning additional donors and volunteers and increase in Facebook engagement will need to be posted on a regular basis throughout the entire year. Either members of the board, volunteers and/or the Executive lead will need to be diligent in ensuring that engagement obligations online are up-to-date constantly. Posts should be made on project updates/events relevant to Home For Heroes. Responses made to follower posts should not be generic. When responses are made to be personable, your audience will share that experience with others.

To increase the number of followers on Twitter, posts will need to be made on a daily basis in addition to utilizing the micro-blogging site to talk about what’s going with HFG and veteran updates and/or testimonies.

Utilize Instagram more to make posts of pictures taken at events as they happen. Posts from Instagram can be simultaneously made to Twitter and Facebook which assists with the needed increase in social media usage for relevancy and brand recognition.

Enlist volunteers to rotate shifts of submitting blog posts to The National Service Official Blog (NSOB, 2016). This will increase volunteer engagement to learn more about Home For Heroes in addition to sharing their volunteer experiences with the organization and the veterans.

Create PSA radio ads that are either heard in specific regions of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina & South Carolina. This increases awareness of Home For Heroes and gives potential donors and volunteers the opportunity hear more beyond social media platforms used.

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9.3 Tactics

Utilize volunteers to set up necessary social media platforms and take turns monitoring them in order to gauge responses and make posts/responses in a timely manner. The Media Plan Editorial Calendar shows the flow of how often posts should be made and/or monitored to ensure that HFH is engaging with individuals more frequently. A new website is in the works through WSOC in order to have a main platform that is manageable and is fully optimized to the evolving world wide web. Updates to the website will include current services information, social media platform links and addition of visible logo. Encouraging the volunteers to engage in more online activities is a way of gaining earned media.

To assist with national awareness, volunteers, the Board and the Executive Director will increase social engagement activities. There is a national blogging website for nonprofits to use. The National Community Service Blog was created by the Obama Administration through the United We Serve website. Everyone can post pictures or news on current nonprofit community events that highlight volunteer activities. (NSOB, 2016) This tactic builds internal awareness in addition to national awareness of Home For Heroes. A separate blog maintained on a site like WordPress is necessary to ensure that Home For Heroes has a separate entity that individuals can refer back to for additional educational and/or generalized information that is relevant to Home For Heroes. The blog would contain more detailed information that would not otherwise be shown on micro-blogs like Twitter. It is imperative to keep in mind that blogging takes a lot of time and effort on the composer(s) of the blog. Blogging assists in driving traffic to your website. Some stats show that it takes up to 51 blog posts before you see at least a 53% increase in traffic to your site. Other times it can take up to 100 posts before traffic triples. (Watson, 2014) Managing search engine optimization to lead consumers to your blog is the final challenge as it is something that must be conducted on a continual basis to keep up with ever-changing trends of word/text depictions used for searching. One key item to note when using a site like WordPress to post a blog, is that it takes Google search engines 4-6 weeks or more to add your site. WordPress automatically sends notifications to Google for you but it takes a while before you show in search engine results. (WP, 2016)

Twitter and Facebook require daily posts to increase consumer engagement and awareness. The more visible Home For Heroes is shown online, the greater the possibility of increased followers on Twitter and likes on Facebook. Research has shown that when an organization is shown everywhere consumers visit online for social media, there is a greater chance of clicking and/or viewing information shown and sharing that information with others they are connected with.

The implementation of radio PSA’s will increase local awareness within the states of North & South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Creating a 60-second radio PSA ad to be read by a radio announcer will increase HFH visibility to an audience that may or

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may not utilize social media or the internet in general. Website and social media traffic increases through usage the additional usage of PSA’s to add a visual to the ad previously heard.

One of the most important aspects for the entire campaign is the earned media for Home For Heroes. The types of earned media ranges from word-of-mouth marketing to additional commentary implemented by news announcers, celebrities, etc. Word-of-mouth that is positive and comes from a reliable source garners additional to the works of Home For Heroes.

(SMBH, 2015)

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9.4 Flowchart (Editorial Calendar)

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Social Media Schedule:

To keep content fresh on posts made, the CEO will need to make frequent posts in order to keep the board members engaged with the organization. These posts made will start the trend of other members wanting to make posts and/or comments to posts made. Eventually, volunteers will be needed to assist with the frequency of posts being made in addition to responding to comments and/or sharing content on their personal pages. This in turn creates earned media for the organization in addition to ensuring that the organization is not only seen but heard.

Twitter Page (Microblogging): 1 hour daily posts – tweeting, retweeting and responding to posts

Facebook Page: 1 hour twice or weekly or as needed to post, like and respond to posts

Instagram Page: At least twice per week is necessary. Posts made on Instagram can also be posted to Facebook and Twitter at the click of one button. Simultaneous posts assist with the frequency needed on other platforms.

Blogging: 1-2 hours on a bi-weekly basis on National Community Service Official Blog and separate blog created on WordPress and/or other blogging site entity that offers free blogging.

Public Relations Schedule:

Public relations for the organization deal with communicating with the board, volunteers and donors on recent events and/or success stories of client assistance. Businesses within the general area of Home For Heroes are also addressed in terms of asking for yearly donations of goods, services or financial assistance for various fundraising efforts. The PSA radio spot is broadcast through media that offers free announcements for nonprofits.

e-Newsletter: Once per month at the beginning of the month – year-round.

Postcards mailed locally: Periodically to coincide with major holidays and/or veteran related events.

60-second radio spot: Plays during entire year as allowed by station broadcasting. Updated periodically to keep content fresh.

9.5 Rationale

Blogging: One of the benefits of blogging and wanting to blog is that it increases search engine traffic. Meaning that the more content that one has on a blog, the higher the chance of increasing search visibility and website traffic. Therefore, blogging is needed to assist in creating increased brand awareness and education. The increase in awareness and education is not just for the individual(s) reading the blog but also for the composer(s) of the blog posts.

Social Media: The top social media platforms were chosen based on widespread popularity. Social engagement is necessary for communicating with a larger audience on both a national and

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international level. The next picture gives a clear indication of world internet and social media usage.

(Chaffey, 2016)

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10.0 Campaign Budget

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The entire budget for this campaign is $10,000. The breakdown of funding are as follows:

$1,000 (one time) Mailing list from Exact Data. Comes in CSV file that can be opened in Excel. Per the full demographics given of ages 18-70, lives in the states of West Georgia, Florida, South & North Carolina, students to retirees and everything in between, income above $18 K and high school diploma or higher and the minimum purchase price of $1,000, Homes for Heroes can receive 8,500 consumer names. The list will contain full name, address, city, state and ZIP code all up to date as the lists are scrubbed on a monthly basis. List is made readily available to download in approximately 15-minutes and the list is HFH’s to own and utilize as many times as they would like. (ED, 2016)

CONTACT: Cristina – 312-292-5367 (Direct line)

$244.51 (one time) Printing cost for 5,000 – 4*6 Postcards, full color front and back, UV coating on both sides and 3 business days printing turnaround = $155.95. FedEx Ground delivery cost to 28204 = $88.56 (NDF, 2016)

CONTACT: 855-898-9870 and/or submit template for postcard printing online at http://www.nextdayflyers.com/postcard-printing/4x6-postcards.php

$1152 or $1200 (per year) 4800 Mixed automation postcards at $.27 each = $1296 – Intelligent mail option (Intelligent Mail barcodes) at ($.003) each = ($144) Total cost = $1152 or 4800 Machinable presorted postcards at $.28 each = $1200. (USPS, 2016)

$174 (per year) Iconosquare Analytical tool used for Instagram only. (Iconosquare, 2016)

$2300 (one year total) WSOC (Charlotte, NC) webpage creation and maintenance includes $650 initial start-up and creation. Approximate maintenance fee=$137.50

Total Campaign Cost = $4918.51 with remaining cost to be used for any unforeseen entities such as increase in postage and/or printing costs, need to purchase additional postcards or continued maintenance of web page.

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11.0 Creative Executions

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11.1 Sample e-Newsletter (page 1)

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(page 2)

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11.2 Postcard Mailer (Front & Back)

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11.3 Twitter Example

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11.4 Revised HFH Homepage

(Example 1)

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(Example 2)

In creating a new webpage template, we kept the color scheme in line with business card, letterhead and postcards created within this plan. Two webpage templates were created to show background variation.

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11.5 Business Card & Letterhead Example

Home For Heroes Business Card

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Homes For Heroes Inc. Letterhead Sample

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11.6 Facebook Example

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11.7 Radio Ad Sample

Radio Script: 30 Second

Script for 30 second general information radio PSA to be read live by an announcer.

FOR RELEASE: Monday January 30, 2017

KILL DATE: TFN

CONTACT: Terri Howard

Home For Heroes, Inc.

(980)236-0698

30 SECOND SPOT

LIVE COPY (ANNOUNCER):

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAID THANK YOU TO A VETERAN? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? READ SOME OF THEIR STORIES AND MORE AT WWW.TBD.COM FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. FOLLOW ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM AND LEARN ABOUT THEIR LIFE. YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID! THANK A VETERAN TODAY.

(When utilizing PSA radio ads, there are key words that are not allowed within the script or the ad will be rejected. Such rejected words include: visit, come, auction, fundraiser, sale, get your, hurry and get, more interesting, stay for, fee, raffle and any word preceded by ‘most’. (AMR, 2016))

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12.0 Measurement & Evaluation Plan

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The objectives for Home For Heroes can be measured through quantitative and qualitative metrics of evaluation. Quantitative metrics are easily measurable as they are based on the numbers/statistics of the marketing campaign. Qualitative metrics measures consumer content and emotions. This type of measurement helps to determine how well a campaign is or isn’t working by type of comments made and how often the same types of comments are made. There are tools in place on various web platforms that will help HFH determine what parts of the campaign are working and what should be pulled and/or revised. For metrics involving the radio, volunteers will be needed to assist in keeping track of how often ads are heard.

Objectives Revisited

Raise brand awareness by 50% by year end 2017 for primary and secondary audiences. Gain 100 Twitter followers by year end 2017. Gain 25+ followers on Instagram by year end 2017 – primary and secondary audiences. Increase Facebook traffic by 25% in 1 year. Elevate awareness of the volunteers and board members by 100% in 1 year through

increased social engagement, newsletter creation and postcard campaign.

Qualitative Metrics

The objective of Elevating awareness of the volunteers and board members by 100% in 1 year through increased social engagement, monthly newsletter and postcard campaign can easily be measured via a simple and short survey given to both the board members and volunteers. A sample survey to give would look like the following:

1. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = No engagement, 2 = Minimal engagement, 3 = Average engagement, 4 = Above average engagement & 5 = Total engagement, rate your level of participation in sharing information about Home For Heroes and your volunteer services on the following platforms…National Community Service Blog

1 2 3 4 5

Home For Heroes Blog

1 2 3 4 5

Twitter

1 2 3 4 5

Facebook

1 2 3 4 5

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Instagram

1 2 3 4 5

2. If you are not fully engaged in 2 or more of the platforms listed, why not?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

This survey utilizes both quantifiable and qualitative metrics in determining how the board members and volunteers feel about certain platforms and the engagement involved for each. Other questions can revolve around time it takes for platform monitoring and the rotation schedule of the volunteers and/or board members.

One volunteer or paid staff member can then collect the information and process in a simple excel spreadsheet to determine which platforms the volunteers like monitoring versus which ones they don’t and trying to determine if certain platforms need changes to garner volunteer buy-in.

The survey should be given periodically in order to make any adjustments necessary to garner full board member and volunteer awareness of various projects and events surrounding Home For Heroes.

Quantitative Metrics

The remaining objectives can be measured through quantitative metrics. These metrics are broken into 4 types of evaluations that coincide with the strategies and tactics of the given objectives.

Media Coverage Evaluation

Media coverage can be easily tracked utilizing Google Alerts online. Google Alerts is a free service that allows you to track how often terms such as Home For Heroes, Home For Heroes-Charlotte and Veteran Services for (Charlotte, NC or Georgia or Florida) are searched online. The service is free and any results for the terms or others indicated are sent via email instantly, daily or weekly. This information can then be printed by the volunteers or other staff and place in a binder specifically for media related content for Home For Heroes. (Google Alerts, 2016)

To track radio media, volunteers should be encouraged to pay attention to broadcasts on their daily commute on various PSA stations. Every time they hear an ad, they will need to take note of the time and day of the broadcast. This information should also be recorded in the media binder or a pre-made excel spreadsheet. Along with recording the day and time, a secondary course of action is in viewing the website and social media platforms for noted increase in traffic to those entities after ad placement. Meshing the two tracking methods together will give HFH a

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clear indication in to which time of day garners more inquiries online after hearing information about the organization.

Social Media Evaluation

There are two ways in which one can gauge Facebook traffic. The first is by looking at the number of likes under a post made and/or how many likes the initial Facebook page receives. The second option is by utilizing Facebook Page Insights that is provided free of charge with your Facebook for Nonprofits account. A screenshot example of what you will see is shown below.

In using the Page Insights, you will be able to measure how many people each of your posts have reached, determine the posts that are working in reaching your audience, learn about the demographics of those viewing and/or liking your posts and you can export your metrics into an excel database or other office tool to further analyze your data. For instance, if needed to compare specific dates of posts made and data derived from those dates, once exported, you will be able to make clean comparisons. Page Insights provides further information beyond just knowing the number of likes per post and/or Facebook page. (FBPI, 2016) Page Insights can be used on a monthly, weekly or daily basis and will start showing statistical information once you have at least 30 likes.

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Twitter analytics is a free service that is part of your Twitter account. To get there, you must click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the page. From there you click Analytics. The page viewed looks like this:

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And upon clicking “View Tweet Activity”, a window shows like this:

As with every other analytical tool, Twitter Analytics allows you to gauge consumer sentiment in addition to knowing what type of tweets made garnered the most engagement within your audience. (Twitter, 2016)

It has taken some time for this but there is now a way to evaluate Instagram, utilizing an analytical tool online. One such tool found is Iconosquare. This analytical tool provides a number of benchmarks to assist with how your posts measure up to your followers and also against your competitors. You are able to determine follower growth and know in which areas of the world your followers are located.

The next two photos are just some examples of the types of analytics that are derived from one’s Instagram account:

(Shows best time of day to make posts in which you receive the most likes.)

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(Shows a comparison of one of your competitors versus yourself in followers, posts made, etc.) (Iconosquare, 2016) Iconosquare will prove to be the most useful in being able to gauge consumer response to posts made. Data from Iconosquare can be downloaded in Excel format for further analysis and storing in binder established for such purposes.

Website Evaluation

Home For Heroes will need to create an account online with Google for Nonprofits. Once created, HFH will be able to link a YouTube account (there is a YouTube account for HFH but it is not mentioned within this media plan) with the Google account. Google for Nonprofits offers Google Analytics which is a free service. With this service you will be able to collect statistics about Home For Heroes website. The tool monitors traffic, where it is coming from, what content is most popular and what visitors are typing into search engines to find the HFH website. The compilation of data should be printed on a monthly basis and inserted in the media binder for month to month comparisons. With this tool, HFH will be able to gauge which platforms are proving to be the most efficient in addition to understanding how often visits are being made to the website and which portion of the site is the most visited by average length time spent on the site. (G Analytics, 2016)

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(Example of Google Analytics)

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Direct Messaging Evaluation

MailTrack for Gmail is a free application available through Google Chrome for Gmail users. You will have a Gmail account once signing up for Google for Nonprofits.

MailTrack is a simple tracking tool that allows you to know when emails are read and who reads your emails. The who reads your emails portion of the tracking only applies to recipients who also have the MailTrack extension installed on their personal devices. Along with MailTrack, you can utilize simple A/B testing of email content outside of newsletters with a small portion of respondents. We recommend sending out 100 emails of 2 versions of a message to be relayed. After a week, you can determine which message garnered more click rates in email openings. Once that determination has been made, the remainder of individuals on your email list will receive the email with the most reads as determined by MailTrack.

Boundaries Banned made a recommendation of sending postcards once a month in order to garner attention to veterans and the works of Home For Heroes. A total of 400 postcards a month will help Home For Heroes establish themselves in new states in addition to maintaining status in home state of North Carolina. In order to determine if mailing postcards work, a volunteer and/or paid staff member can note how many times an individual state that they received a postcard before either making a donation, applying for volunteer services and/or visiting the webpage. Individuals that apply for volunteer services and/or again makes a donation, they can state that

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they first heard about HFH via postcard mailing. After the first year of mailing out postcards for a full year, HFH can then determine from the mailings and responses received from the mailings, which months of the year garners more responses and readjust their mailing scheduled for following years accordingly.

Rationale

Each tool and/or method of evaluation was selected to coincide with the type of media and/or platform utilized to increase awareness, volunteerism and donations for Home For Heroes. With the utilization of student volunteers, the analytics needed for each objective can be easily tracked and recorded. The majority of the applications located were free for nonprofits and/or held an affordable low price tag. Even though there are tools that are compatible with multiple platforms, we wanted to ensure that HFH knew of the available tools for each type of media and how each tool works in detail.

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13.0 Conclusion

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Boundaries Banned has developed a plan to assist Home For Heroes with new manners in which

to increase brand awareness, increase board and volunteer involvement with the organization and

increase sponsorships whether via major corporations, individuals and/or government based

funding. The target audience was split between primary and secondary audiences where the

primary audience focused on millenniums and the secondary audience focused on baby boomers.

Specific demographics for the plan focused on individuals living in the states of Florida and

Georgia with continued marketing scope in the states of North and South Carolina.

The proposal itself is based on the main objective of increasing brand awareness on various

social media platforms. In addition, the need for ensuring consistency in social media postings

and responses made. The CEO, Terri Howard will need to oversee all aspects of the plan by

meeting with various individuals and ensuring that they follow through with any and all promises

made until viable staff and/or volunteers are in place that can take care of different aspects of

social media monitoring and maintenance. It is essential that social media engagement is

maintained in order to not lose the interest of board members as well as earning new volunteers

and donors. The tail is only good when the head is fully emerged and not waiver from the main

goal of establishing national recognition. The future goal is to have Home For Heroes established

in as many areas of the United States and then progressing to international assistance for veterans

all over the world. A lot of work will be needed by the CEO but with full commitment, many

will follow her lead.

We were not given a budget in which to utilize a viable plan as funding is currently limited if not

scarce for the organization. Therefore, we created a budget of $10,000 for the 1st year and spent

less than half of that amount. Suggestions were made throughout the plan discussing ways in

which additional funding can be secured on a more consistent basis with the hopes of being able

to pay staff as they come on board. Due to the nature of Home For Heroes being a nonprofit

organization, we were able to find many free and/or discounted services and tools necessary in

implementing a full media marketing plan. For remaining monies, it has been suggested that are

held for unknown price increases and/or additional expenses surrounding the marketing plan.

Emphasis has been placed on extending social media presence and creating brand awareness.

The sentiment is once an individual is able to engage more with a brand online, they are

extending their awareness of the brand and are making donations and/or offering their skilled

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services as a volunteer. With brand awareness comes sharing with friends, family and other

associates that increases earned media through word-of-mouth marketing.

Integrated marketing communications can be best defined as the marketing plan that fuses

traditional marketing and emerging media marketing tactics together for one purpose. This

proposal prepared by Boundaries Banned, explored and researched entities that are considered to

be effective and cohesive in telling a story to wider audience. Your audience wants to know

about you. We help you talk about you. We show you what matters to your audience the most in

terms of engagement and give you the tools necessary in continued success for reaching your

audience. As we have stated in our introduction, our motto is:

DREAM! BELIEVE! DO! REPEAT!

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14.0 Appendices

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Appendix A

Focus Group Survey

First Name __________________________________ May 24, 2016

Demographic questions:

1. Gender (Please circle)Male

Female

2. Age Range (Please circle)

22-30

31-40

41-50

Over 50

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = Poor source of information and 5 = Excellent source of

information, rate each type of search engine and/or social media platform for locating

information on businesses/organizations:

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

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1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

(Blogs)

1 2 3 4 5

Word of

1 2 3 4 5

3. Home For Heroes has their own website and has presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Of these listed, which of these platforms would you use to garner additional information for visiting the museum? (List answer(s) on blank line provided.)

______________________________________________________________________

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Appendix B

Research Report

Focus Group Summarization

In order to assess how the target market uses social media and their perceptions of the type of information garnered from it, a focus group is needed as part of qualitative research. Boundaries Banned focused on the types of social media platforms used in the current market and why they are used. This focus and the information retrieved was part of the preliminary survey given to focus group participants. We needed to gauge the mindset of the target market to understand social media usage in general. After a lengthy discussion on various social media platforms and the whys behind choices for gaining information was explained by participants a final question regarding direct email communications was posed to the group.

Results & Analysis

The concept presented was from a survey of preliminary questions with simple age and gender demographics and rating of social media platforms and search engines as viable sources of information. This sort of rating is a manner of gauging how consumers feel about social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and blogs as general sources of information on different businesses/organizations. The ratings also included the search engines of Bing and Google and asked participants to rate word of mouth information received. Follow-up questions of why were asked to understand further feelings/perceptions. The first concept determined how consumers are using social platforms outside the normal usage of socializing with family and friends. From the preliminary discussion we have found that adults take vacations during the summer and winter months the most. They are also most likely to utilize the search engine of Google as an initial start after receiving word-of-mouth information from others past experiences. The primary most used platform for all data information among adult users is Facebook.

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Analysis Visuals

Male Participants

60% ages 22-3020% ages 31-4020% ages 41-50

Google Bing Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest Tumblr Blogs Word of Mouth

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Male Ratings For Sources of Information

Google60% Good source of information

Bing60% Good source of information

Facebook60% Average source of information

Twitter40%

Poor and average source of information

Instagram40%

Below and average source of information

YouTube40%

Below average source of information

Pinterest40% Poor source of information

Tumblr80% Poor source of information

Blogs60% Poor source of information

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Word of Mouth

60% Average source of information

Female Participants

40% ages 31-4020% ages 41-5040% over age 50

Google Bing Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest Tumblr Blogs Word of Mouth

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Female Ratings For Sources of Information

Google100

% Excellent source of informationBing 60% Average source of informationFacebook 60% Average source of informationTwitter 60% Below average source of informationInstagram 40% Above average source of information

YouTube 20%Across the board rating (Each had own perception of YouTube)

Pinterest 40% Below average & average source of informationTumblr 40% Below average & average source of informationBlogs 20% Below average & average source of informationWord of 20% Above average source of information

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Mouth

Overall Group Rating

Google Bing Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest Tumblr Blogs Word of Mouth

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Overall Group Ratings

1 = Poor Choice 2 = Below Average 3 = Average Choice 4 = Above Average 5 = Excellent Choice

Google70%

Feel Google is an excellent source of information

Bing40% Average source of information

Facebook60% Average source of information

Twitter40% Average source of information

Instagram30%

Average & below average source of information

YouTube30% Below average source of information

Pinterest30%

Average & below average source of information

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Tumblr50% Poor source of information

Blogs40% Average and poor source of information

Word of Mouth30%

Average and above average source of information

The information contained on the previous charts and data stem from a previous focus group held for another non-profit organization. As shown in the charts and data collected, Google proved to be a viable platform in which one utilized to search for desired organization. Secondary to that in the world of social media, Facebook has proven to be the best option that many choose to communicate. Whether it is which family, friends or even the local grocery store, Facebook was proven to be the top choice in which one can garner information and/or follow the happenings for various organizations and friends/family.

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Appendix C

Media Contact List

Media Name State Contact Title Email Phone

South Carolina Public Radio News

South Carolina

John Gasque

Program Director, Operations Manager

[email protected] (803) 737-3200

North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC

North Carolina

David Brower

Program Director

[email protected]; [email protected]

(800) 962-9862 or (919) 445-9150

WFAE/WFHE

North Carolina Jeff Bundy

Executive Director of Branding and Engagement [email protected]

(704) 549-9323 or (800) 876-9323

GPB Media - NPR GeorgiaSteve Carey

Vice President—Client Services & Senior Executive Producer [email protected] (800) 222-6006

WABE-90.1 Georgia

More information available on website

http://news.wabe.org/submit-psa (678) 686-0321

FPBS-The Association of Public Media in Florida Florida

Janyth Righter

Executive Director [email protected] (727) 552-2451

WMFE-90.7 Florida Direct Contact Info not available

(407) 273-2300

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Appendix D

Bibliography

Allegheny Mountain Radio. (2016). Public service/Town Crier/Community Calendar

Announcement (PSA) Policy. Retrieved from

http://www.alleghenymountainradio.org/about/psa-policy/

Chaffey, D. (2016, April 21). Global social media research summary 2016. [Photo: Global

Internet Usage]. Retrieved from

http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-

social-media-research/

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