A marketing and branding strategy for ALOUD to attract a more diverse audience through social media use by expanding visibility, growing engagement, and providing scalable tools aligned with LFLA's staff and budget.
Our team developed a rebranding and marketing strategy to enhance audience engagement and expand ALOUD's reach. I contributed through UX research, supported content strategy, and led the UX writing for our pitch.
Academic Project
Role
UX Researcher, Content Strategist
Timeframe
Fall 2024 (16 weeks)
Team
Darren Lau, Marketing Strategist
Giorgio Tandera, Graphic Designer
Thanh Quach, Project Manager
Project Brief
ALOUD is a Library Foundation of Los Angeles program offering free events with influential speakers to foster public dialogue. However, LFLA hasn’t fully utilized these events to drive awareness of ALOUD or it’s other programs, and the people running the program wanted a refreshed approach to branding and marketing. The goal of this project was to increase program visibility, appeal to broader audiences, and encourage community interaction- all within the capabilities of LFLA10.
The Challenge
Problem
The ALOUD program faced challenges in connecting with younger, diverse audiences, as its existing branding and outreach primarily resonated with older, established attendees. Additionally, limited resources- such as time, staff, and budget- made it difficult for LFLA to implement dynamic, consistent strategies that could expand its reach and engage new demographics effectively.
Insight
Audience feedback and research revealed that authentic storytelling and event specific messaging create meaningful connections with attendees. Additionally, social media platforms, particularly Instagram, presented a significant but underutilized opportunity to engage younger audiences by showcasing thoughtful, interactive, and real time content.
Solution
We developed a marketing overhaul that leverages strategically timed Instagram stories and posts, incorporating targeted calls to action to drive interaction and boost brand visibility. We selected key AI tools to optimize content creation and scheduling, streamlining processes and improving efficiency. This approach enables ALOUD to expand its reach, connect with a broader audience, and enhance its digital presence while staying within resource constraints.
Process
Research and Observation
We started by researching the ALOUD program to identify gaps in audience engagement. This included attending live events to observe attendee behavior, gathering qualitative feedback with a survey, conducting netnogrophy, secondary research, competitive analysis, and informed design.
Key Findings:
While attendees felt a strong emotional connection to the events and community, the current marketing efforts lacked storytelling and emotional appeal. Additionally, there were untapped opportunities for engagement on social media.
While attendees felt a strong emotional connection to the events and community, the current marketing efforts lacked storytelling and emotional appeal. Additionally, there were untapped opportunities for engagement on social media.
Survey statistics from ALOUD attendees.
Netnogrophy
I led this section of research, and my aim was to observe and analyze online communities related to ALOUD’s audience, such as social media conversations and public forum discussions. This helped us understand their interests, preferences, and engagement patterns, and I found that there were many missed opportunities for clearer branding and marketing on ALOUD's part.
Netnogrophy 1
Netnogrophy 2
Netnogrophy Key Points
Secondary Research
My team also used secondary research to gather insights on ALOUD’s audience, industry trends, and best practices, helping us identify gaps in their current marketing approach.
Secondary Research 1
Secondary Research 2
Secondary Research 3
Competitive Analysis
This helped us assess how similar programs engage with audiences, highlighting opportunities for ALOUD to differentiate and appeal to younger demographics.
Competitive Analysis 1
Competitive Analysis 2
Competitive Analysis 3
Informed Design
This guided our decisions by using research and insights to develop strategies that addressed ALOUD's specific goals and challenges.
Informed Design 1
Informed Design 2
Informed Design Summary
Subject Matter Expert Interviews
We conducted interviews with Subject Matter Experts in the DTLA area, including marketing professionals, community organizers, and even the Director of Marketing and Communications working for LFLA. Our aim was to gain insights into effective strategies for engaging diverse audiences in the DTLA space. These conversations provided valuable perspectives on current trends in audience engagement, social media use, and community outreach. We used the information to refine our marketing approach, ensuring that it resonated with both younger and existing ALOUD audiences. The insights gathered helped inform our content creation and event strategies, ensuring they were tailored to the needs and expectations of the target community.
Bree Von Faith
Bree Von Faith
SVP of Marketing and Communications
"Authentic storytelling is essential for connecting with the community; it’s about reflecting genuine experiences that resonate with people."
Vy Pham
Director of Marketing and Communications for LFLA
"Our focus should be on engaging diverse communities through meaningful content that reflects their values and interests."
Vy Pham
Customer Journey Map
We created a customer journey map to visualize the ALOUD attendee experience from discovery to post-event reflection. By mapping key touchpoints, we identified areas where the experience could be streamlined or improved. This process revealed gaps in visibility and engagement, especially in post event interactions, and helped us pinpoint strategic opportunities for improving attendee retention and increasing awareness of the broader LFLA programs. The insights informed our marketing and event strategies to ensure a more seamless and engaging experience for future attendees.
Customer Journey Map
Ideation
During the ideation phase, we explored two key strategies: setting up email funnels for event promotion and weekly updates, and organizing a social media takeover for the next ALOUD event. The email funnel would deliver targeted, timely updates to keep the audience engaged and informed about upcoming events, while the social media takeover would feature dynamic posts and stories to create buzz and foster real time engagement with attendees. We had two categories of funnels: one for regular weeks, with no events taking place, and one for weeks with events. Both approaches were designed to increase visibility and strengthen the connection between ALOUD and its audience.
Social Media Funnel On A Regular Week
Social Media Funnel During Event
Email Funnel On A Regular Week
Email Funnel For Events
Stakeholder Check-In
During our stakeholder check-in, we presented our ideas, and the team selected the social media takeover for the next ALOUD event. However, a concern arose regarding the rigorous schedule and limited resources available to execute the strategy. To address this, we recommended leveraging AI tools to streamline content creation and management. Descript was suggested for quick video editing with automatic subtitles and translations, Vistasocial for easy scheduling across multiple platforms, and Make.com to automate workflows, ensuring the process remained flexible and scalable despite their resource constraints.
AI tool Recommendations
Results
We were invited to execute a social media takeover of the ALOUD Instagram account for the ALOUD: Roman Year: A Memoir event on October 30th. Our approach included creating posts and stories to introduce the speaker, build anticipation, and provide behind-the-scenes content. We tagged the speaker in posts to tap into their audience, and we highlighted key event themes to spark curiosity among followers.
• Instagram engagement increased by 42%, with stories being the primary driver.
• Event registration clicks rose by 15%, particularly from younger users.
• After the event, the speaker shared our branded content with their audience, expanding ALOUD’s reach even further.
Results from Social Media Takeover
Reflection
The ALOUD rebranding project was a valuable learning experience in navigating the balance between creativity and limited resources. It reinforced the importance of flexibility and creative problem solving within constraints. The social media takeover was a success, increasing engagement and event registration, particularly among younger audiences. By leveraging Instagram stories and posts, we were able to build anticipation and connect the event with a wider audience. The integration of AI tools to streamline processes was an effective solution to manage the team’s workload while maintaining quality.
Moving forward, I would focus on further automating tasks to ensure sustainability and explore additional ways to enhance engagement across multiple platforms. I would also test out stronger branding asset handoffs to guest speakers, as connecting with guest speakers audiences would be another way to increase visibility.