Mental Health America of

Kentucky: Social Media Strategy

 What is MHAK?
Founded in 1951, MHAK is the longest serving mental health program
in the state of Kentucky.

Their mission: “To improve the accessibility and quality of mental

health and substance use services through advocacy with local, state
and federal policy-makers, education of the public, and promotion of
research-based practices among providers”.
AGENDA

01 02
Social Media Audit SMART Goals
Deep dive into Social Goals for social media.
Media accounts.

03 04
Buyer Personas Competitive Analysis
What do consumers look Look into competitors
like? for inspiration.
AGENDA

05 06
Content Strategy Content Pillars
How to curate content 3 ways to produce
specific to each content.
platform.

07 08
Proposed Content Content Calendar + Conclusion
5 pieces of proposed Calendar for content and
content. closing statements.
@mhakentucky
 @mhakentucky
The MHAK Twitter account has a very high percentage of negative comments. Often, Twitter users
engage with the brand in a negative way.
Most Successful Post: Twitter
 Most Successful Posts: Twitter

The most successful recent posts on Twitter engaged

with followers, encouraging them to interact with the
MHAK brand.

One, involved sending a card.

The other, involved a helpful breathing technique to

stay calm.

CTA’s seem like a strong way to get users engaged with

MHAK.
 Audit: Twitter
What When Why Opportunity

Sharing articles from Typically a Tweet Drive traffic to Increase native

publications related to at least once per website digital content.
Mental Health. day. Sometimes
even 2-3 Tweets “Call out” fellow Need more CTA’s to
Click through to per day, even on mental health engage with
articles on their own weekends. awareness Twitter followers.
website accounts.
Respond to when a
Retweets from similar Build awareness of user ‘replies’ to your
organizations. mental health days, Tweets to help with
registration dates negative inbound
messages.

Change background
picture.
@MHAkentucky
 @MHAkentucky
MHAK on Facebook has seen a steady increase in “fans”. Something is working...
 Audit: Facebook
What When Why Opportunity

Pop up dialogue box 1-3 posts per day, Build awareness of More integration in
even on mental health days, content. One
Similar content on weekends. registration dates solution would be to
other platforms, but launch specific
not all the same. Drive traffic to campaigns.
website
Facebook Live Video Continue with
roughly every Facebook live.
Monday.

Seems to be the most

successful platform in
terms of engagement.
Most Successful Posts: Facebook
 Most Successful Post: Facebook

Just like Twitter, the most successful

Facebook posts included a Call to Action, in
which followers could act upon a digital post.

Including information on voting, ways to

cope with mental health issues and a
self-care check-in.
@mhaofky
 @mhaofky
MHAK on Instagram has a great relationship with users engaging with their content,
unlike Twitter.
 Audit: Instagram
What When Why Opportunity

Similar content on Posts do not seem Build awareness of Utilize the “story”
other platforms, but to have a mental health days, feature.
not all the same. schedule. Span registration dates.
from 1-4 per day. Respond to
Drive traffic to comments.
website.
Run campaigns that
will create more
integrated content.
Most Successful Posts: Instagram
 Most Successful Posts: Instagram

Again posts with a Call to Action are the

most successful. Providing viewers of
the post ways to cope with mental
health.
 Audit: LinkedIn
What When Why Opportunity

Same content Less posts than other Build awareness of Utilize the
found on other aforementioned socials. mental health days, “video”and “about”
socials. registration dates. tabs better.

A lot less Drive traffic to Upload a

following than website. background image
other platforms. on account
homepage.

Create an
integrated
campaign to
organize content.
Most Successful Post: LinkedIn
 S.M.A.R.T Goals
S
Increase engagement on social media Specific,
Measurable,
platforms. Using CTA’s, replies to comments
and other techniques to engage followers.

Measure engagement through replies, Attainable,

M comments and shares on MHAK content.
Relevant,
Increase comments, replies and shares by
20%. Measured easily through HootSuite. Time-bound.
Attainable to increase engagement through a
A more sound strategy to engage followers.
 S.M.A.R.T Goals
Specific,
R More engagement will increase awareness Measurable,
Attainable,
and help the marketing objective. Because
MHAK struggles with engagement, especially

Relevant,
in the comment section increasing
engagement is a highly relevant objective.

Time-bound.
T 6 month time period to increase engagement
by 20%.
 Buyer Personas
What are they?

Semi-fictional representations of the ideal audience of MHAK.

Assists the creation of future content.

Easy way to curate content to fit your audience.

 John Marr

• Union Ironworker with an annual salary and healthcare benefits that

provide him with mental health services.
• Lives with his wife and two young kids.
• Works very long hours and can’t see his kids often, has been
struggling with depression for years now.

• Male
• Age: 45
• $40,000 annual salary
• Lives in Rural Kentucky

• Uses Facebook on a daily basis

• Afraid to use social media to receive/share information about mental
health
 John Marr

• Primary goal: Struggling with mental health and seeking for a way
to receive treatment
• Secondary goal: to receive mental health services in a discrete
way so that his friends do not find out he’s struggling

• Unwilling to receive information or seek health from online sources,

because he believes the online nature of social media is not private
• Privacy concerns around receiving mental health information online
• Unwilling to comment on posts out of fear of being “found out”

• Destigmatize therapy and other mental health services

• Design an approachable way for consumers to interact with MHAK,
avoiding stigma while enforcing privacy
 Jessica Smith

• High school student with a part-time job as babysitter

• Hoping to go to university and receive a degree in psychology
before going to graduate school to become a therapist
• Lives with her parents and two younger brothers

• Female
• Age: 16
• Lives in Downtown Louisville

• Active on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

• Uses social media to talk about anything and everything. No
barriers of privacy limit her opinions online.
• Not scared to talk about mental health online.
 Jessica Smith

• Primary goal: Have Jessica truly engage with MHAK on many

different social media platforms, while encouraging others to
comment/share/like as well
• Secondary goal: Jessica can encourage her friends to follow MHAK
by sharing their content

• Jessica’s feed is crowded with content from all different kinds of

channels and needs something unique in order for her to engage.
• Because Jessica is social media savvy, content on MHAK must
be high quality across all channels, otherwise she will be unwilling
to spread MHAK’s message to her friends.

• Utilize Jessica’s highly active social media presence to spread the

MHAK brand
• Create high quality content that Jessica is happy to share on her
own feed
 Ellen O’Brien

• College educated
• Recently married, no kids
• High profile executive at an accounting firm
• Because of her new leadership position, struggling with anxiety and
needs information on how to receive mental health services

• Female
• Age 38
• Lives in downtown Lexington
• Salary: $100,000

• Educated about mental health services but unsure how to receive

help
• Uses Instagram and Facebook to keep in contact with old friends.
• Uses LinkedIn for her professional career
 Ellen O’Brien

• Primary goal: Encourage Ellen to engage with MHAK social media

platforms through CTA’s and the comment section
• Secondary goal: Have Ellen tell her friends about MHAK and how to
access mental health services

• Ellen is reluctant to share anything on LinkedIn because of the

serious nature of the platform and her desire to appear professional.
• It will take high quality content in order for Ellen to comment or
repost content from MHAK

• Produce high quality content that Ellen will be able to share without
fear of judgement from her friends/co-workers
• Encourage comments from Ellen in order for her to get information
on how to cope with her anxiety
Competitor #1
Competitor #1: Mental Health of America

● Mental Health America is the parent company of MHAK, and

has a much larger following on social media
● By analyzing their strategy and compelling content on their
most popular platforms; Twitter and Instagram, we can
learn from their success
● Leveraging these insights will make MHAK’s social media
platforms more compelling, and get us closer to reaching
our marketing objective of increasing engagement
Mental Health America
● A post that was recently posted on MHA received
a lot of retweets, quote tweets and replies.
● The post includes yet another Call to Action,
encouraging MHA followers to receive a
personalized mental health check up from their
website in the wake of increasing mental health
disorders associated with COVID-19 social
restrictions
Mental Health America

● Recent successful Instagram post from

MHA includes a CTA to “give
something today”
● Just like MHAK’s account, posts with a
Call to Action are the most successful
● By encouraging followers to act upon
something, Mental Health America
increases engagement on their social
media posts
Competitor #2 Competitor #2: Mental Health NIMH

● Mental Health NIMH is the lead federal agency

for research on mental disorders. They have a
very large following in social media.
● By studying their success, we can understand
what’s working on their platforms, and use these
insights for MHAK’s accounts
● Leveraging these insights will make MHAK’s
social media platforms more compelling, and
get us closer to reaching our marketing objective
of increasing engagement
 Mental Health NIMH
● This recent post about how to make safe plans
on Thanksgiving includes yet another CTA
● By encouraging followers to click through to an
article about holiday planning tips, Mental
Health NIMH engages with their followers in a
compelling way
 Mental Health NIMH
● This infographic recently shared on
Instagram is an example of an
engaging piece of content
● Yet another piece of content that
encourages followers to act upon
their own mental health in a way
that goes beyond digital and social
media platforms
Content Strategy: Twitter
● Demographics of Twitter
○ Twitter users are younger, more highly
educated, and wealthier than the
general public
○ More likely to be democrats
● Implications
○ Curate content specific to younger
demographic that understand social
media trends better
■ Mental health content that is high
quality, with a more serious tone
that appeals to higher educated
younger people

Source: SproutSocial and PewResearch

 Content Strategy: Twitter
● Demographics of Twitter
○ Reaching the 10% of Twitter users with the
most reach on the platform will be integral
to success
○ These 10% of users make up 80% of all
Tweets, favorite or “like” more , and have
an overall higher influence on engagement
● Implications
○ If MHAK can reach these 10% of followers
that influence engagement patterns on
Twitter they will succeed in reaching their
marketing objective
Source: PewResearch
Content Strategy: Twitter
● Leverage most popular hashtags relevant to the Twitter platform
○ #covid19
○ #mentalhealthawareness
○ #mentalhealthservices
○ #mentalhealthmatters
● Engage with replies to encourage further engagement on Tweets
○ As of now, MHAK fails to do this on Twitter
○ A simple way for your followers to engage with your brand
● Reach the 10% of Twitter users who dominate the content on the
platform by using an engaging strategy that motivates them to
interact with MHAK’s content
 Content Strategy: Facebook
● Demographics
○ Older demographics than other social
media platforms
○ 183 million users in the United States,
making in a very popular social media
platform
○ Skews more older than other social
media platforms
● “Almost 75% of U.S. adults don’t go a day
without checking Facebook. Plus, more than
half of Americans check Facebook multiple
times a day” (Hootsuite)
Source: SproutSocial and Hootsuite
Content Strategy: Facebook
● Implications of Demographic
○ Content curated to older demographic
○ New content is necessary because most Facebook users
check their feed everyday
● Continue using Facebook Live
○ Make sure to include text in the saved Live videos to give
context to followers
● Encourage comments to increase engagement
 Content Strategy: Instagram
● Demographics
○ Heavily skewed to younger demographic
● “According to Piper Jaffray’s 2019 Taking Stock
With Teens consumer insights survey, 85% of
teens say Instagram is their preferred social
network” (Hootsuite)

Source: SproutSocial and Hootsuite

 Content Strategy: Instagram
● Start using story feature
○ The younger demographic is social media savvy and want Instagram
stories to engage with to be considered relevant
● Encourage comments
● Utilize hashtags and location feature to “speak the language” of the platform
○ #SelfHelpSunday
○ #AwarenessThursday
○ Stories that are posted and then saved under COVID+Mental Health
 Content Strategy: LinkedIn

● Demographics
○ Majority of users are in the middle of their professional careers
between the ages of 30-49
○ Skews male
○ 50% of more college educated (HootSuite)
○ Most of LinkedIn’s US users earn more than $75,000 (HootSuite)

Source: SproutSocial and Hootsuite

Content Strategy: LinkedIn
● Long form, “professional looking” written posts
○ Common way people use LinkedIn, will attract audience of middle
aged, college educated professionals who use the site for their
careers
○ Include relevant “studies” about mental health to better reach
audience
● Encourage comments to increase engagement
● Share more from other MHAK accounts
Campaign Idea

Goal:

Increase engagement on all social media platforms. Including;

comments, replies, retweets, shares, reposts and overall conversation
about MHAK.

Idea:

An integrated campaign across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and

LinkedIn speaking about how to cope with the increasing mental health
problems associated with COVID-19. All through Call To Actions.
Content Pillars
1) Mental Health Awareness content
a) Content specific to certain mental health days, celebrations
or remembrances.
2) Self help content.
a) Not necessarily COVID specific.
b) Provide easy way to cope with mental health problems.
c) CTA’s.
3) Social Distancing Ideas that encourage socialization in a safe
way.
a) CTA’s that will get people to feel less isolated, in turn,
helping with their mental health.
Content Calendar - Monthly Calendar to follow for the 6 month time period to
reach marketing objective Instagram story Facebook Post

LinkedIn Post Tweet

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31
Content Calendar
#selfhelpsunday #socialdistantwednesday
● On Sundays, across each ● Each Wednesday, across
platform we will have each platform we will
#selfhelpsunday that will share ways in which our
align with our content followers can entertain
calendar, encouraging our themselves while social
Campaign Idea and distancing!
increasing engagement ● Another CTA that has
● Another CTA that has proven over and over
proven over and over again to increase
again to increase engagement
engagement
 Conclusion
● Through an integrated campaign, across all social media platforms,
MHAK will increase engagement.
● By providing ways to cope with mental health during COVID through
CTA’s, MHAK’s social media platforms will see an increase in
engagement including: likes, shares, comments, replies, etc.
○ Proven to work by existing MHAK content and competitors
● Content on each platform must be curated to the audience as
discussed in the Content Strategy portion of this presentation
● The content calendar provides a roadmap to post, and although it
decreases overall content on social media, in terms of posts per day
on each platform, it coincides with the outlined strategy. Often more
less is more and we don’t want to be constantly recycling content
across platforms.
● Thank you for listening.
Bibliography