One nonprofit essentially is like every other nonprofit, except for size and the causes it supports, right? Not really. While less unique than snowflakes and fingerprints, some of the most-engaged nonprofits on Instagram in Q2 took different routes to amass their impressive figures.
Social Media Manager, Oceana
Consumer engagement, or actions, with U.S. nonprofits’ posts on Instagram in Q2 (April 1-June 30) grew 32% year over year, rising from 8.7 million actions in Q2’ 15 to 11.5 million in Q2’ 16, according to data provided exclusively by Shareablee to PR News Pro. Actions are defined as the sum of consumer likes and comments.
While a 32% jump can’t be dismissed, it pales next to the 159% engagement growth B2B brands experienced on Instagram during the same period ( PRN, Sept. 19). Still, nonprofits showed strong growth in important metrics. For example, consumer engagement with nonprofits’ photos on Instagram grew 28%, while engagement with video rose a healthy 93%. Efficiency was impressive, too. Since April, the average number of nonprofits’ Instagram posts grew 24%, yet average actions taken rose 57%.
Now to the individual leaders in our top 30: As you can see on the chart, PETA led the category with 1.3 million consumer actions on 234 posts. Engagement grew 19% year over year. One of its routes to success was video, which was responsible for 318% of consumer actions. A post about Harambe, the gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo May 28, was its most engaged, with 1.2 million consumer actions.
A very close second to PETA was Oceana, the global nonprofit that seeks to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Oceana’s normal Instagram route was “compellingly” beautiful pictures and videos of ocean life, says social media manager Kristen Reilly. Its monster 816% jump in Q2 engagement derived from an “unusual” move. To bolster its #FinBanNow, which seeks legislation to protect sharks from being caught and killed for their fins, the group showed unpleasant photos and short videos of fin-less sharks (such sharks often are tossed back into the sea and suffer slow, painful deaths). This content touched Oceana’s followers; fan base grew 188% and video was responsible for 484% of consumer actions taken.
Social Media Director, Conservation International
For the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) engagement growth is tied to largely to its events-based Instagram strategy, says Hayley Miller, its senior digital media manager. The quarter included Pride Month, the Olympics and the one-year anniversary of marriage equality in the U.S. Much of HRC’s content is user generated, Miller says, including photos and videos of members wearing HRC hats and shirts. There also was an engagement spike, Miller says, due to an awful event: the June 12 shooting in Orlando at Pulse, a gay nightclub.
Conservation International earned the 22nd spot on our list by allowing influencer photographers to take over its Instagram account and releasing in June a 7-minute virtual reality video about Valen’s Reef off Indonesia, says Maureen McCarty, social media director. “Our strategy is to encourage conversations around our posts, and get people to engage in conservation through the imagery we present.”
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