2. The purpose of this project is to investigate how
C4I could better use social media to promote their
organization by examining the social media
networking sites they are currently using, and
maximizing their potential to promote their
store, events and fundraising efforts.
By researching how C4I currently uses digital
marketing through joining their social media
pages, and referencing their website and blog, this
goal was achieved. The opportunity was provided
to interview the Office Manager in order to further
the investigation. The following are the findings of
this investigation.
3. If C4I wants to be
successful, they must
optimize social media.
They are currently utilizing
Facebook, Twitter, Youtub
e and a blog as their
platform for social media.
5. Total number of monthly active Facebook users
Average number of pages, groups, and events
a user is connected to
Percentage of all Facebook users who log in
on any given day
Statistics retrieved from Statistics Brain – Facebook statistics 2013
6. Facebook is a social media giant, which means
utilizing this market can have huge implications
for C4I.
7. Not only does Facebook still drive more
traffic than any other social network, but
it’s the only one to increase in traffic sent
quarter-over-quarter. (Scottberg, 2012)
9. C4I is improving their use of
Facebook; their account was
created in 2010, but 2012 was
the year they really pushed it.
During that period, they hired
someone to manage their
social media accounts. They are
boasting over 800 ‘Likes’.
10. Now more than ever we talk in images, and
C4I has used this to their advantage. In the
last four months they have posted over 200
images, ranging from scripture verses to
quotes from world leaders.
12. One image had captured the
attention of many.
Reached almost 3,000
52 Shares
29 Likes
13. Television show
Youtube
C4I uses Facebook as the
primary way to advertise for
all their other media
platforms.
These are some images they
used as advertising for their
Youtube project and
television show.
Facebook is their most used
and updated social media
tool, and by far the most
popular. It is a rare week
when their reach does not
exceed the week before.
14. Men make up the majority of the
fans, however, women are more engaged
15. According to the insights on
Facebook, Canada has the
most fans boasting of
436, with the United States a
distant second with 111 fans.
16. Many posts relate to Canada, which may be
why Canadians make up over 50% of the fans.
17. A suggestion for C4I is that they make their
Facebook page more personal.
Perhaps more messages from the President John
Tweedie such as quotes, expressions of thanks for
donations, pleas for donations, or events or
speaking engagements that need special
attention.
18. According to their website, C4I supports
specific projects in Israel, including Children at
Risk, Feed the Hungry, New Immigrants and
Humanitarian Aid.
Concerning these projects, a suggestion for
the Facebook administrator is to highlight
these projects with informative posts and
images, as it may be a vehicle to receive more
donations.
19. Image Suggestions:
It is important to put a face on projects, as this
helps people connect emotionally with
it, which would increase donations.
Some examples of images they should post are
people receiving the donations, the needy
receiving items from the food bank, and people
receiving humanitarian aid; doing so would
encourage people to make donations to those
specific projects.
20. Post Suggestions:
Informative posts, such as how much money
was donated yearly and what is purchased
with the money would also be helpful.
Not only would it inform people where their
money is going, but would keep a strong focus
on the cause, and improve the transparency of
the organization.
21. C4I runs two tours: one to Israel and one to
Pennsylvania.
Rarely does C4I use Facebook or any other media
platform to promote these tours.
On this front, the recommendation is to promote
both tours at least twice a week leading up to
them. Further, they might consider posting
pictures or status updates during the tour so
people can feel apart of the tour, and this would in
turn peek their interest in participating on the
next tour.
22. C4I may want to consider purchasing an Ad space
from Facebook.
Facebook now displays ads at 5%, or 1 in every 20
stories on a given Newsfeed, with more and more
people positively reacting to them. (Dobrinsky, 2013)
C4I should take advantage of this, and with an
ad, they would reach more people.
23. As mentioned above, over 50% of their fans are
Canadian. As an attempt to engage fans from
other countries they should post images relating
to those specific countries. For instance, include
more posts relating to the United States, because
they do have an American office, and the second
largest fan-base of C4I. Taking this step could
increase reach by a large percentage; statistically
after a ‘Canadian image’ is posted, friend
requests often follow.
24. C4I also has a store which sells their
books, documentaries, oils, music and more. They
could do more posts offering information about
their products, which may increase web traffic
flow.
Perhaps they could highlight an item a week and
try to market it by posting customer reviews, or
posting when a special deal on.
26. Total number of monthly active Twitter users
People joining Twitter each day
Percentage of all users don’t tweet, but
watch other people tweet
(Statistics retrieved from Statistics Brain – Twitter Statistics , 2013)
27. C4I has 73 followers on Twitter. They started
their Twitter account in 2010.
They have customized the Twitter background
page with a picture of their President John
Tweedie and their logo – a very positive step –
as it helps with brand image.
28. Unfortunately C4I is not using Twitter
effectively. Their Twitter account just mirrors
their Facebook account, as they have an
automatic update connecting the two
accounts. They need to make this a separate
news worthy account to use it to its maximum
potential.
29. C4I’s competitors CUFI used Twitter to
encourage donations by offering something
back. They tweeted “donate over $20 and we
will mail you a Christmas ornament.” This
way, people may be more motivated to
donate towards projects, as they would get
something back for it.
They could also link to items for their
store, from ‘specials’ to new items. This would
let people know what is in their store, and
may prompt people to check out their
products and visit their store page.
30. According to a blog by Blue Cloud Solutions,
making Twitter more effective depends on
whether or not your business has a Marketing
Action Plan, which explains what you can
tweet about such as company news, special
offers, important announcements, etc.
31. C4I could also attempt to foster conversation
with their tweets by replying to people who
are tweeting about them and asking
questions.
So far, they have been using Twitter as a oneway conversation, but social media thrives
when it becomes a two-way conversation.
32. C4I should also re-tweet to expose more
people to their account. When retweeting, they should add their thoughts to
it, and reply with the “@” character, causing
the tweet to appear on the other person’s
page.
34. Unique user visits to Youtube each month
Hours spent of watching youtube videos per
month
Largest search engine on the internet
(Statistics retrieved from Youtube Statistics)
35. C4I has a Youtube account that mainly has
teachings of the Prophetic Connection.
Their most popular video, The Dead Sea
Scrolls: The Bible and Jewish History Confirmed
has 17,495 views, and 86 ‘Likes’.
According to Office Manager Sandra
O’Connell, in the future C4I plans to add
videos with more regularity regarding current
events, and quick teachings on newsworthy
items.
36. One major issue is that C4I has two Youtube
accounts, C4ICanada and C4I Canada.
It is strongly advisable for them to merge these
two accounts together. The second one seems to
have been added recently and only has three
videos.
37. SEO
It is very difficult to find their videos. A
recommendation is to update their SEO so their
information is more accessible. When one keys in
“C4I” into the search bar, neither C4I’s page nor
their videos appear on the first page.
The question they must address is, “why have a
page and go through the trouble of maintaining it
if no one can find it?”
38. Another suggestion is to branch out with their
videos. As previously mentioned, the majority
of their videos relate to the Prophetic
Connection show. For a company who boasts
of tours, they don’t have a tour promotional
video, and they have nothing about any of the
charitable projects they support. From
examining their Youtube account, one would
think they only focus on documentaries.
39. Unfortunately, due to the two Youtube
accounts and the poor SEO, I do not think the
C4I Youtube page is offering much advantage
when it comes to exposure.
41. People blog on blogging sites
Percentage of internet users who read blogs
Unique visitors each month
(McGrail, 2013)
42. C4I has a blog on their website under the tab
‘Media’, which mainly focuses on Israel in the
news, and is more of a political blog.
The blog is updated frequently; it is
clear, presentable, and easy to navigate.
They have blocked comments, making the blog a
one-way conversation. According to Sandra
O’Connell, due to the sensitive issue of
Israel, comments are often explicit, which does
not suit the Christian views of the company, so at
this time, they chose not to allow comments.
43. The blog C4I uses is not engaging, as they just copy and
paste news articles to the blog, without adding opinions or
thoughts to it; making the blog more personal and
conversational would be a wise change.
A suggestion to improve this social media platform is to
create blogs that ‘advertain’ (advertise and entertain). A
perfect way to achieve this is to base a blog that highlights
people’s experience on the tour to Israel. Such posts would
have a significant impact as they expose readers to what a
positive experience a tour can be, and simultaneously
entertaining them.
Another way to ‘advertain’ is to blog about their
humanitarian aid and other projects, and how they are
improving Israel, as once again, this may humanize the
projects, making them more desirable to donate towards.
44. Also, because part of the mission of C4I is to
present a biblical perspective of God’s plan for
Israel and the Church, perhaps they could
have an educational aspect to the blog. One
example of this is a Bible study that relates the
Scriptures and Israel, or an individual’s
personal journey regarding Israel and the
Bible.
45. Researching the digital marketing efforts of
C4I has been a rewarding experience. In the
last two years, the organization has been
making efforts to improve their use of social
media as a means of drawing customers
in, and creating dialogue pertaining to their
organizational objectives. Although there is
room for improvement, they are using social
media as a way to market their
organization, and they have already seen
positive results since having implemented
some changes.