Kathryn Zell April 4, 2021 Journal #11 3/29-4/4

This week was exciting for me. I took part in a sort of touch-base meeting with program

staff for the chapter on Monday (3/29) at 8:30 am. We heard from a top program staff member in

North Caroline how she was managing to bring in 400 new contacts each month and plan

multiple new programs each month using math. She had turned outreach into numbers and

science. It was so interesting to figure out how she has essentially pinpointed a method to be

successful using math. She told us it took her several months to figure it all out. She even had

formulas for when to reach out, how often to touchback before she could predict a close in deal

for education opportunities. She even had days of the week where she knew not to call on those

days because the yield was lower.

I did mostly outreach this week until Thursday (4/1) when I finally had my meeting with

the chapter’s social marketing lead, Amy Johnson. It was very interesting to hear her take and

learn more about her roles because she is just a one-person department. Some states who are

larger in population and involvement have more than one marketing person, but that’s not the

case for Georgia. The purpose of our meeting was introductions with some questions thrown in. I

had previously come up with a Youth and Family Marketing inclusion plan. My supervisor set

this meeting up as an opportunity for me to meet Mrs. Johnson and ask about observations I’ve

made on the chapter’s social media platforms, and ways I thought we could increase our

exposure. I asked some questions regarding their prime target audience. She told me that through

years of research they have narrowed down their main focus to minority women. Most

specifically women between the ages of 40-60 because they tend to be caregivers for their loved

ones. I told her that because I was a Public Health major, we are told to look for ways to prevent

larger problems. We tend to go back to the root of problems and try to intervene there. With that

perspective I explained why the Alzheimer’s Association should consider engaging younger
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audiences. Prevention through education has proven to be extremely successful, especially when

done early. If the organization were to widen their focus onto younger women as well besides

their main audience, it could help increase their message exposure.

When looking at broadcasting information and messages you want to ensure you use

resources and tools effectively. In the second part of our discussion we went through their social

media platforms. I mentioned ways they could be more effective with their advertising, while

being mindful of their small advertising budget. On Facebook I mentioned the new features of

posting “stories” and how it allows content to remain at the top of a user’s feed until they view it.

We also mentioned the ability of volunteers and even new readers to immerse themselves in the

organization’s message in a way that is personal to them. This can be done through social media

contests that encourage real life experiences and feedback. You can encourage readers to like

and share this content with their network and incentivize others to do so as well with small prizes

and creative awards. This allows new viewers to be reached with this content. They are also

more likely to respond to it if someone they know had experience with our mission or message.

After going over the formats and platforms of social media the chapter did have, we

discussed some new opportunities. One thing my supervisor and I mentioned to Mrs. Johnson

was Tik-Tok. It’s a social media platform using videos. While the app covers videos of all kinds,

users and have content tailored to them based on their interests. Some caregivers are already

using the app to document their dementia journey with their loved ones to educate others and

spread awareness. Mrs. Johnson really liked this idea because it was free and the quality was

good and took relatively little time to create content. These videos have high potential to go viral.

At the end of our meeting Mrs. Amy Johnson had to run, but she promised me she would reach
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back out next week to talk about things more with me. She impressed with what I found and

some ideas I had. She’s excited to do more with me in the future.

Monday 3/29: 8:00-12:00, 12:30-5:00 (8.5 hours)

Tuesday 3/30: 8:00-12:00, 12:30-5:00 (8.5 hours)

Wednesday 3/31: 8:00-11:00, 12:30-5:00 (We had a meeting with my parent’s bank to go over

paperwork regarding their accounts) (7.5 hours)

Thursday 4/1: 8:00-11:00, 12:30-5:00 (We had a second meeting at the bank to drill into a safety

deposit box in attempts of finding out if my parents had a will) (7.5 hours)

Friday 4/2: 9:00-12:30 (3.5 hours)

Total Weekly Hours: 35.5 hours

Total Hours to Date: 308.5 hours