With this project, our goal was to make shareable, easy-to-understand content to connect with voters before the election. However, to get that content out to the public, we had to gain attention on the internet. This is easier said than done.
We set up an Instagram and Facebook page with the group's name: Enivirovote. We thought this snappy title got the intention of our work across without being cumbersome or academic. I took a photo to be our Facebook cover photo and made a logo on Canva for both pages.
However, setting up the pages and making them aesthetically pleasing was only the first step. The first video was published on September 26 and it reached 64 viewers on Facebook. After a few videos, we realized that the only way to gain traction would be to pay for ads. The group put $20 in to get Facebook and Instagram ads. We were immediately shut down by Instagram for political content but after a few days, Facebook approved the advertisement of our page. The advertising system is surprisingly antiquated, with real people reviewing content and a verification process that involves a letter being mailed to the address of one of the administrators. It will certainly be helpful to know how the validation process works in the future. In the end, it worked out and our Facebook page reached over 1000 people and was liked by more than 100.
The next step was gaining attention on Instagram. This was a little more challenging given the lack of advertising. However, by following everyone we knew, promoting it on our own social media and posting engaging content, such as stories, we were able to gain over 80 followers. Our videos were even shared on the personal Instagram of one of the politicians interviewed.
While we were very happy with our success on social media, we also wanted to understand what was engaging to viewers. We got very comfortable with the 'Insights' part of Facebook, which allowed us to understand exactly who our audience was and what was interesting to them. Getting comfortable with this platform was an important element of my learning in this project.
I learnt concrete skills related to the use of social media and how to promote a page. This learning helped our project gain a wider audience and therefore a larger impact on Canadians.