Give Kids A Smile

Overview

What i did

To practice applying my skills in digital marketing, I created a marketing plan for the UNC Adams School of Dentistry’s annual Give Kids A Smile Day. 

Research:

About Give Kids A Smile Day:

The UNC Give Kids A Smile Day (GKAS) is an annual event run by dental students. Students coordinate with the American Dental Association Foundation to provide no-cost dental care to underserved children. They make efforts to educate families and promote the importance of good oral hygiene to local residents in the counties surrounding UNC-Chapel Hill and the Adams School of Dentistry.

Historical Research:

The UNC Adams School of Dentistry has its highest engagement through email marketing, Instagram, and YouTube. Past events have had around 200 volunteers and between 100 – 200 participants.

Instagram post of GKAS toothfairy giving a kid a sticker
webpage with calendar add for gkas

Audience:

  • Caregivers in underserved communities throughout Orange, Durham, Chatham, and surrounding counties.
  • UNC-Chapel Hill student volunteers
  • Local community volunteers

Goals:

  • Increase awareness by 20% before the event through Instagram, Email marketing, YouTube, and local outreach.
  • Improve engagement by 15% through live coverage via Facebook and Instagram stories and local news coverage. 
  • Increase community involvement by 10% during the event by exceeding the historical involvement. 

Marketing Strategy:

Pre-Event Planning and Promotion:

  • Create HIPAA compliant online registration form
  • Email Marketing
    • Campus E-News announcement, one month prior
    • Past participants receive save-the-date two months prior to the event
    • One month prior E-mail reminder 
    • One week prior second E-mail reminder
  • Community Marketing
    • Contact local news and organize press release
    • Coordinate with campus communications for student radio, info-graphic promotion material, and signage
    • Organize promotion through local schools 
  • Social Media Marketing 
    • Use #gkas2022, #gkas #UNCDentistry 
    • What is GKAS? Promotional video on YouTube, cross-posted to Facebook and Twitter six weeks prior
    • TicTok promotional video release three weeks prior
    • Instagram post with a link to the registration one month prior
    • Facebook event organized six weeks prior
facebook post with learn more action button and a dental hygenist and child giving thumbs up

During the Event:

  • Secure photo and video release from participants
  • Day of reminder post on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
  • Promotional photo backdrop
    • Encourage social media posts, tagging, and hashtagging
  • Live Facebook Stories
  • Instagram Stories
  • Photography and Videography for post-event engagement

Post-Event:

  • Send thank you email to attendees with a link to a qualitative survey
  • Send thank you email to volunteers with a qualitative survey
  • Create success-story promotional material with a public thank you to participants, and an invitation to participate next year
    • Upload video to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter
    • Instagram post with images from the event and success story
    • TikTok thank you video
  • E-News recap of the event
Give Kids a Smile Success thatnk you instagram post

Data to Consider:

Quantitative Metrics:

  • How many volunteers participated in the event? How does it compare to previous years?
  • How many attendees participated in the event? How does it compare to previous years?
  • Which registration links generated the most conversions?
  • Which posts generated the most impressions?
  • Compare earned media of the event generated via shares, hashtags, likes, etc. to previous years.

Qualitative Metrics:

  • How did participants learn about GKAS?
  • What areas were successful?
  • How can we improve?

Key Performance Indicators:

  • Increase awareness by 20% before the event.
    • Compare impression data and conversions
  • Improve engagement by 15% before, during, and after the event.
    • Compare social media engagement via shares, tags, and posts
  • Increase community involvement by 10% during the event
    • Compare the number of volunteers and participants to past events
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