Social media marketing is important. But this fact was only emphasized further during the pandemic as people were told to stay in their homes and marketing efforts that require physical interactions are halted. Private companies and public agencies are forced to come up with ingenious ways to reach their market minus the risks of face-to-face interactions – and this all happened through social media.

This session’s instructor is Angelina Martin. She is the owner of Online Media Solutions, an agency that provides onsite and remote training and support for animal shelters. Her experience working in nonprofit organizations such as the Animal Legal Defense Fund and her background in numbers allowed her to develop effective social media strategies for animal care and control organizations to improve their outcomes.

Specifics Angelina discussed on this webinar include:

• How the pandemic shaped how animal care and control agencies implement their marketing efforts and the critical role of social media in this transition.
• How a minor investment in social media marketing can reap significant results.
• The value of consistency and having dedicated personnel in social media marketing.
• Questions that look into frequency, the target audience, the content, and its timings and balance that must be taken into account for the social media outline.
• The four primary questions to consider for your social media plan.
  • What you want to accomplish that delves into your organizational goals for implementing social media marketing.
  • How much time will be spent on social media marketing and the availability of resources dedicated for this task.
  • How return on investment can be measured by capturing where community members heard or learned about an adoptable animal or programs within your agency.
  • What language fonts and colors are to be used to establish your brand to create familiarity and foster trust.
  • How to audit to ensure that your social media content is aligned with your identified goals.
• Debunking the myth that it all begins with great content and establishing why social listening is considered the most important aspect of social media marketing.
• The steps to effective social media marketing that demonstrate how social listening enables you to create content that the community actually wants to engage with.
• Terms used in social media marketing to familiarize with.
• Conducting a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis to identify and understand what’s working and what can be improved using social media insights and analytics.
• Social media strategies to employ that maintains the momentum and consistency of your pages and manage your online reputation.
• Case examples were presented to demonstrate how effective social media marketing that incorporates social listening, consistency, posting with a purpose, and efficient storytelling can…
  • Generate the necessary supplies and funding through donations from community members.
  • Decrease the length of stay for animals within the shelter and increase adoptions, reunifications, and live release rate.
  • Establish an agency’s position as a valuable resource providing services and education for the community.
  • Streamline shelter operations, enhance staff productivity, and boost employee morale.
  • Engage the community through powerful stories and mobilize them during critical events and disasters.
  • Foster partnerships with other rescue groups and businesses within the community.
  • Improve the animals’ outcomes particularly the longtime shelter residents that are harder to place.
  • Manage an agency’s online reputation.
• A rundown of the most popular social media platforms and tips on how to leverage each of these for your agency’s benefit.

Questions from the webinar attendees are about:

• The challenge that comes with allocating a dedicated person and resources for social media.
• A social media management model that employs one lead person supported by ancillary team members.
• Deciding whether a specific type of content must be put into temporary stories or permanent timelines.
• Adapting to social media platforms’ algorithm changes.
• What the process of priming a post entails.
• The frequency and sequencing of the posts.

Other Webinars with this Speaker:

• Intro to Social Media Marketing for Animal Shelters (this webinar)
• April 7:  Social Media & Disaster-Related Events for Animal Shelters
• Aug 11: Social Listening for Social Content for Animal Shelters
• Nov 1: Online Reputation Management for Animal Shelters
• Feb 7: Social Media Marketing Strategies for Animal Shelters

Click here to view and register for other upcoming Animal Welfare webinars on the JCH Platform or

Here to view and register for other upcoming PIO, Social Media and Communications webinars.

Resources and Handouts

• Handout: SWOT Analysis
• Handout: Social Media Plan Template
• Registration Link for Non-Profits to get Free Access to Canva Premium

Audience Comments

• “The potential of social media. Many possibilities/ This was great. Very informative and kept my attention.” — Rachel
• “All of this was wonderful. Priming a post is truly going to be a game-changer. Learning how to socially listen. The pointers on Long-time animal residents is super helpful too! My list for my takeaway and AHA moments is long. Thank you soo much Angelina!!” — Becky
• “Angelina made it very clear that social media is the most powerful tool that animal rescue groups and shelters can use to promote their animals.” — Julie
• “Great usable tips that I can implement today at no cost! Best webinar ever! Thank you SO much!” — Brenda
• “Absolutely blown away by this presenter and the depth and scope of the topic that she shared. So well done–content & graphics; and concise and easy-to-grasp concepts! Ms. Martin was very clear and articulate and I can’t wait to hear more from her!” — Eugenia
• “I realized how little I really understood about the whole concept of social media and how to gain maximum effect for my organization.” — Joan
• “All of it was great, seen real examples and the part of social LISTENING. Also the swot… I’m a veterinarian, so no matter how basic it was allá great learning experience, it was fast, but very good.” — Janice
• “Everything was explained clearly and was a big help. Using the indirect approach and SWOT will come in handy for sure. Angelina was great!” — Morgan
• “The most valuable part about this seminar was the information on what and what not to post in order to gain community attention and recognition. Great seminar and wonderful presenter!” — Olivia
• “All of it. As a newly-formed animal welfare organization, we have a lot to learn to grow our group & become visible to area communities.” — Sue
• “This was one of the best webinars I have watched on your site. The presenter was extremely knowledgeable and had great content to help those of us struggling in the social media department.” — Suzette

This webinar has been certified by the National Animal Care & Control Association and is approved for 1 Continuing Education Unit. Please refer to your NACA membership portal for current CEU submission process. Current NACA Members who attend the live presentation or watch the recording will be able to download a jointly issued attendance certificate that includes the National Animal Care & Control Association logo. Visit the NACA training page for a complete list of future trainings.