Social Media · 2023–present
Social media that earned a 292% lift in comments
Original graphics, targeted captions, and interactive campaigns for a campus sustainability program.
- Client
- NAU Green Fund · TCAA · NAU CHER
- Services
- Social Strategy, Content Design, Community Management, Auditing & Reporting
- Outcome
- +292% — increase in comments, NAU Green Fund
The challenge
A student-funded sustainability program has a hard communications problem: the people it serves change every year, most of them don't know the program exists, and the subject matter — grant funding for campus infrastructure — isn't naturally social-media shaped.
The approach
I audited the existing presence, then rebuilt the content mix around three things students actually respond to: original graphics instead of stock, captions written for a specific person rather than a general audience, and interactive campaigns that gave people a reason to reply rather than scroll.
The impact
Engagement rose 16% and comments rose 292% at NAU Green Fund. At TCAA I now create social content and campaigns highlighting programs, community impact, events, and ways to get involved; at NAU's Center for Community Health and Engaged Research I produced and edited photo and video content showcasing research and community partnerships.
What moved the number
Comments are a harder metric than likes, which is exactly why they’re worth chasing. A like is a reflex. A comment is a decision.
Three changes did most of the work:
Original graphics over stock. Every post got something made for it. In a feed of recycled photography, a designed asset reads as effort — and effort reads as legitimacy.
Captions written to one person. Not “students are encouraged to apply,” but language aimed at the specific undergrad who has an idea and doesn’t know funding exists for it.
Campaigns that asked for something. Polls, prompts, and calls for student projects gave people a low-cost way to participate. Once someone has commented once, they are meaningfully more likely to do it again.
Beyond the numbers
The Green Fund work is where the metrics live, but the approach carried into everything after it. At TCAA the same instincts apply to a different audience — donors, neighbors, and partners rather than students — and the content is designed to make participation feel easy: here’s the event, here’s the program, here’s exactly how to get involved.
Next case study
Print collateral built for hierarchy, not decoration