Development of Media/Social Media Campaign by Non-Governmental Organisations

Development of Media/Social Media Campaign by Non-Governmental Organisations
Introduction
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and interest groups need to create awareness about their activities as part of achieving their goals. There are many strategies that NGOs can adopt to create awareness. One strategy would be to develop a social media campaign fronted by celebrity humanitarians. As Budabin and Richey (2018) indicate, celebrities have become increasingly important to NGOs and other organisations that are concerned with safeguarding human rights. They help in creating awareness and promoting important causes because they have access to the masses. It is important to note that research has indicated that celebrity humanitarian efforts are ineffective in raising awareness about a cause. Brockington and Henson (2015) suggest that using celebrity humanitarians is ineffective because often, the attention of the public shifts from the cause itself and to the celebrity, making them more popular. Also, this approach tends to shed more light on the inequalities of the world. The approach of using celebrity humanitarians to raise awareness has its challenges, it can be effective in creating visibility for the NGOs. Thus, NGOs and interest groups need to apply this approach with caution and strategically. Using a strategy that incorporates social media and celebrity humanitarians can effectively increase awareness and give NGOs the visibility they need. On one hand, social media provides people and organisations with a platform to connect with a large audience from all over the world (Funds for NGOs, n.d.). Also, since social media allows instant communication, information can be sent to many people in just a click of a button. On the other hand, celebrities have a large number of followers on social media, which makes them a great tool to create awareness. Also, most celebrity humanitarians are not political but can share their political perspectives and views with the public (Piknerova & Rybakova, 2017).
Developing a Media / Social Media Campaign Fronted by a Celebrity Humanitarian
To develop a campaign that incorporates social media and celebrity humanitarians, NGOs need to consider several factors as listed below.
* The target audience- The target audience is the people that the NGO wants to become aware of and more informed about its activities. While most NGOs target the whole world because they want to create change, they can narrow down their target audience to people who are most affected by the activities of the organisation. The target audience for an NGO can be policymakers, donors, social workers, and practitioners in the NGO’s area of concern, among others. This audience has the ability to create change and making them aware of the NGOs' activities is one way of ensuring that they support the NGO’s cause. Identifying the target audience ensures that every social media post made by a celebrity humanitarian reaches out to people and groups who already know a little about the organisation and those who know nothing about it but have the potential to support the NGO (Funds for NGOs, n.d.). Once the target audience has been identified, it becomes possible to engage them by seeking the services of celebrity humanitarians. Celebrity humanitarians only need to make a post of their social media platforms about the NGO and their large number of followers will start gaining awareness about the NGO.
* The budget allocated to the campaign- Budget allocations are crucial. NGOs depend on donations to support their cause and achieve their objectives. As a result, the operating budgets differ depending on the financial resources at the NGO’s disposal (Budabin & Richey, 2018). When developing a social media campaign fronted by a celebrity humanitarian, NGOs need to determine the budget that will be allocated to the campaign. The budget will also determine which celebrity the NGO can work with. As Tumber and Waisbord (2017) indicate, celebrity humanitarians also want to be associated with well-known and resourceful organisations. Therefore, the higher the budget allocated to the campaign, the higher the chances of attracting high-profile celebrities; the A-stars. For instance, Ben Affleck's celebrity humanitarian work in Congo was with an NGO that had great financial resources and support from elite politicians (Budabin & Richey, 2018). Probably, an NGO with a lower budget would not have been able to attract such a high-profile celebrity, regar...