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OakWorks, Inc.
Final Report
May 2015
Megan Mungall, Agency Director
Victoria Vigilante, Research Coordinator
Allie Mason, Communication Coordinator
Maggie Curran, Creative Content Producer
Samhita Tankala, Creative Content Producer

Executive Summary
OakWorks Inc.s objective is to develop a social media toolbox for NC Rail-Trials
(NCRT) administration to educate and engage young professionals (ages 21-30)
through social media interaction. After conducting research, we established this
objective as the best way to reach our target audience, specifically health enthusiasts
within that audience. Through this research and established objective, we were able to
create two deliverables for NCRT that will produce the most positive results: a social
media best practices guide and a social media plan. The goal of our campaign is to
engage young professionals through Facebook and Instagram to educate and
encourage involvement.
We started by researching our audience and discovering the best ways to engage with
them. Young professionals include early grads and young people in the workforce; these
people are enthusiastic about being outdoors, meeting new people and being healthy
and they enjoy sharing their experiences on social media. To understand our audience,
we conducted a survey among Elon students, which we are generalizing to the larger
young professional population. The survey covered questions on the topic of
health/fitness and NCRT. In addition, we conducted secondary research and looked at
several health/fitness organizations and organizations similar to NCRT. We continued
our secondary research by looking into young professionals/student behavior and their
communication methods and health/fitness habits.
After conducting research, we developed a media plan. We decided to put our focus on
Facebook and Instagram. We found these social media tools to be the most beneficial
for our plan to engage our audience. Instagram is very visual and increasing in
popularity, so its an effective way to share NCRT information and stories. Facebook can
be visual and informative at the same time and NCRT already has a Facebook
presence to build off of. And when used the right way, both of these platforms can
engage audiences and convert followers/likes into volunteers or members.
Our strategy is to use these social media tools to educate our audience about NCRTs
mission. We want our audience to experience NCRT, not just learn more about it. We
found that working with Instagram and Facebook will be the best tools to tell a story and
share information. We created a social media best practices guide to develop a
guideline on how these tools should be used. The guide includes how to create an
Instagram account, the best way to post on both platforms, and how to measure
success. In addition, we created a social media plan. This plan included several
campaign ideas and posts that NCRT can use to engage followers and build a larger
social media audience. This report has the following items enclosed.

Table of Contents
Research Summary 4
Objective .. 5
Media Plan . 5
Strategy 5
Tactics .. 6
Deliverables ..... 6
Social Media Best Practices Guide .. 6
Social Media Plan . 15
Tactic Timeline .. 23
Tactic Budget . 23
Conclusion .. 23
Appendix 24

Research Summary
OakWorks Inc.s goal is to gain more members to join NC Rail-Trails. Our target
audience is young professionals, ages 21-30, since our research found that they tend to
be more active and more engaged on social media (See Appendix I for full report). We
hope to help them learn more about the Rail-Trails mission. Understanding this
audience from a health/fitness and communication perspective will help NCRT gain
more awareness, thus gain professionals interest and financial support. For our
campaign, we plan to engage our target audience better through social media,
specifically Instagram and Facebook. We are choosing the American Tobacco Trail as
an example for our campaign, but it will provide a foundation for themes and content
that can be repurposed for other trails.
In our research, some strengths we discuss are location, the ultimate goal of the
organization and the general brand. Some weaknesses we explored in our research
report include the execution of the brand across social platforms and the publicity of
events. OakWorks Inc. found several opportunities with Rail-Trails. One of these
opportunities include our audience, recreational young professionals who are in their
last years of college/early years in their career. Another opportunity we explored is
social media. With its integration into every aspect of daily life, social media would be a
useful tool to execute and make the brand of NC Rail-Trails stand out.
For our primary research, we conducted a survey. We sent our survey to Elon University
students, receiving 100 responses, asking questions ranging from general to specific on
the topic of health/fitness and Rail-Trails. We concluded that people in our target
audience are generally health conscious and would actively engage with Rail-Trails if
there were more awareness, whether by using the trails or social media interactions.
Since we lacked the resources to send out a more widespread survey, we used Elon
students to understand a small part of our target audience and generalize it to the larger
young professional population.
We conducted secondary research on the American Tobacco Trail area and the different
events that are already held on the trail. In addition we looked into different
health/fitness organizations in the area. We also explored similar organizations and how
they are set up. We concluded that we need to make audiences understand better what
it means to be a member and display that through different outlets. We continued our
secondary research by looking into young professionals/student behavior with
communication methods and the idea of health/fitness. Social media and search
engines have become part of our audiences lifestyle, so this should be capitalized on in
our campaign. In addition, we discovered that young professionals and students would
be more willing to take part in physical activity if they have fun and inviting resources.

Objective
To develop a social media toolbox for NCRT administration to educate and engage
young professionals (ages 21-30) through social media interaction.

Media Plan:
After conducting our research, we found that Facebook and Instagram are the best
platforms for our target audience. Instagram is highly visual, so its a great way to share
images related to NCRT. It is increasing in popularity among young professionals, so its
a great medium for NCRT to enter into. Since NCRT already has a Facebook presence,
we want to capitalize on that and turn current likes into volunteers or members, while
also gaining more likes.
NCRT already has a Twitter page, but through our research we found that it isnt the
most effective platform for reaching young professionals. We suggest linking Facebook
and Instagram posts to the Twitter account so that there is consistent content that
directs a Twitter user to more information. We will explain how to link posts within our
Social Media Best Practices Guide.

Strategy
Young professionals use social media to learn and to engage, so we want to bring the
messages of NCRT to the platforms they are already using. Other organizations similar
to NCRT are successfully employing social media to share stories, post pictures, and
encourage involvement, so we want to create more NCRT social media content. Social
media can help to reflect the brand and build the membership base while educating the
target audience.
Our research showed us that young professionals expect organizations to use platforms
like Instagram and Facebook to interact with their audience. And since NCRT has
limited resources, social media is the most cost-effective and targeted method to
educate and gain volunteers and members. Young professionals, especially health
enthusiasts within that group, are already using Rail-Trails, but are unaware of the
connection to NCRT. By establishing a connection to the trails and sharing the story of
how NCRT is involved, the audience will be able to understand why NCRT is worth
supporting.
We want to help NCRT share their story, and how their story interacts with people who
use Rail-Trails. NCRT may not make the trails, but it makes the trails possible, and
social media is the best way to share this.

Tactics
Deliverables:
Sample social media plans for Facebook and Instagram
Social media best practices guide with user guidelines and analytics information

Social Media Best Practices Guide:

Introduction
This guide provides information about Instagram and Facebook, since both social media
outlets are important to the future success of North Carolina Rail-Trails. This outlines
the best way to post on each site, the best way to engage, and how to measure the
success. Theres also information about linking the Instagram and Facebook posts to
Twitter, and Hootsuite, a social media management website.
Instagram
Instagram is a growing online social media platform
that allows users to interact in a fun and engaging
way. Instagram is used largely on mobile devices
and allows users to share photos and videos with
their followers. NC Rail-Trails can engage
stakeholders and expand brand awareness through
the use of Instagram. The following guide is a brief
overview of how to use the social networking service
in a way that would most benefit NC Rail-Trails.
How to Get Started
Create account and encourage followers on
current social media platforms to follow
account
Choose a relevant profile picture and create a
brief description of NC Rail-Trails and link to
the website
o (See example from Wake County
Parks to the right)
Follow relevant companies and people
o ex: health and fitness companies,
other non-profits, etc.
How to Post
Click on the blue camera button on the
bottom center of the application to upload a picture or video
o You have the option to either take a photo or video in the app or use one
that has been previously stored in your phone
Post images of trails, volunteers, board members, etc.
Use hashtags in order to increase exposure and connect with other users

Use trends like throwback Thursday creatively

o ex: Post a picture of a trail when it was still a rail with the hashtag #tbt for
throwback Thursday

Engagement Tips
Follow other users
Search hashtags to find users with similar
interests
o ex: search #AmericanTobaccoTrail and
engage with posts (see photo to the
right)
Encourage followers to comment on posts
o ex: Whats your favorite thing to do on
trails - ride, walk, run? Let us know in
the comments!
Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to connect with the
larger Instagram community
Use common hashtags and create your own
o for example, hashtags can be used for
specific events (#25yearsofNCRT),
NCRT in general (#NCRT), etc.
Analytics
Instagram has not created a comprehensive analytics
program, but you can measure engagement through
the number of followers and interaction on posts. You
can gage which posts are more popular than others by the number of likes they
receive and the number of people that comment. However, there is still no way to
measure how many times your post has been viewed.
Facebook
Writing Posts for Facebook
Use an informal, conversational and natural tone
Provide visual elements (photos, videos) or a link for more depth
Use action words, donate today or click here, to encourage engagement
Be short and concise, usually 80 characters or less, especially when adding
multimedia content
Ask a question so that followers are encouraged to comment or share
Engagement Tips
Like similar and relevant organizations
o Suggestions of similar pages to like:

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Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Virginia Creeper Trail
American Tobacco Trail
Share other posts from similar organizations to engage their followers
If a user comments on a NCRT post, be sure to comment back or like their
comment

Hashtags
Hashtags allow Facebook users to engage with others
Use hashtags seen in OakWorks Inc.s Social Media Plan
Click on the hashtag link to see other posts with the same hashtag
o Like these similar posts
o Use these posts to follow more people and gain more followers
Paid Advertising
Facebook offers several types of advertising methods that depend on your objective.
Heres what Facebook offers:
Page Post Engagement: Promote your Page posts
Page Likes: Get Page likes to grow your audience and guild your brand
Clicks to Websites: Get people to visit your website
Website Conversions: Get people to perform certain actions on your site
App Installs: Get people to install your mobile or desktop app
App Engagement: Get people to use your desktop app
Event Responses: Increase attendance at your event
Offer Claims: Create offers for people to redeem in your store
The best options for NCRT are:
Page Post Engagement: advertise a specific post, like for an event or to show an
image
o Example: post about the
Page Likes: create an advertisement for the page as a whole; this will encourage
more likes, as you can target it to a certain audience and choose the image,
copy, etc.
Clicks to Websites: bring traffic to the NCRT website
Website Conversions: bring traffic specifically to the Donations page
Step by Step Guide:
(Images from a Facebook page that Agency Director, Megan Mungall, manages on her
personal account. The images will be different, but the process will be the same.)
Step 1:
Go to the North Carolina Rail-Trails Facebook page. Click the blue promote button in
the top right corner. Click Go to Ads Manager.

Step 2:
After you have clicked on Go to Ads Manager, click green Create Ad button in the top
right corner. If youve done any previous advertising, the advertising information and
analytics will show up on this screen.

Step 3:
These are the objectives for the campaign. See above for an explanation of them.

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Step 4:
After youve clicked your objective, you will need to fill out account information for billing
purposes.

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Step 5:
Next, you will fill out demographic information. Since the OakWorks Inc campaign is
targeted to young professionals, you will enter:
Location: Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Burlington, Greensboro
Ages: 22 to 30
Gender: All
Languages: English
Interests: Browse Health and Wellness, Hobbies and Activities, Running,
Biking, Cycling, etc.
Behaviors: Browse Charitable Donations, Environmental and Wildlife

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Step 6:
Choose your budget.

Step 7:
This is for Promoting a page. Choose an image, such as the logo or the graphic, to
share.

Here are a few websites to help you through this process:

A Beginners Guide to Facebook Advertising
About Advertising on Facebook (official Facebook advertising page)
Analytics

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Facebook provides an easy-to-use insights program, which allows you to analyze your
Page as well as your ads. Facebooks Help Center gives answers to a large amount of
questions, and can typically walk you through any problem/question you have.
The insights are located at the top menu bar on your Page. Click the Start Tour button
to understand more about the insights section.

When you scroll down, you will see Your 5 Most Recent Posts. The blue Boost Post
button is an easy way to advertise a specific post. So, if your post is already seeing
some positive reach and engagement, you can choose to boost it even more. Or, if a
post isnt gaining the reach or engagement youd like, then you can boost the post for
more.

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Twitter
Through our research, we found that Twitter is not the most effective platform for
reaching young professionals. However, NCRT already has an existing Twitter account,
and it is important to include this. As people search for NCRT, the Twitter page will show
up, and its important to have relevant content posted, even if it is not original content.
So, linking the Instagram and Facebook account to the current Twitter account will allow
any new post on Instagram and Facebook to be tweeted out. Then any Twitter user is
able to see current information and be directed to one of the two preferred platforms for
NCRT.

To link Instagram to Twitter:

Go to profile page

Click on settings image in the top right corner

Scroll down to Settings and click Linked Accounts

Youll see the option to link several accounts, including Facebook & Twitter

Choose Twitter and fill out the prompted information

When youre creating an image to post, click the Twitter button and it will be
automatically posted to Twitter once its posted to Instagram

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The tweet will include the caption and a link to the Instagram post

To link Facebook to Twitter:

Visit www.facebook.com/twitter

Click Link a Page to Twitter

Pick which account/page to Link to Twitter (personal account or other managed

pages could be present, so choose NCRT)

Follow the directions to link, and all Facebook posts will be tweeted!

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management website that can be very helpful with
scheduling posts. The website allows users to manage several accounts from different
social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, all on one dashboard. One of
the best features of Hootsuite is that is allows users to schedule posts in advance. This
feature is especially helpful when implementing a social media campaign, when there
may be more posts than normal. You can also engage with social media followers
through Hootsuite, making it easier to respond to multiple interactions on different
websites.

Although the dashboard, seen below, may look a bit overwhelming, it is easy to use and
a great tool for organizing all of NCRTs social media sites in one place. Hootsuite can
link to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and WordPress.

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This article, found on Mashable.com, is a great guide to begin using Hootsuite to its
best potential: http://mashable.com/2013/09/18/hootsuite-beginners-guide/

Social Media Plan:

Introduction
The following plan includes sample posts for Facebook and Instagram, as well as a
contest/campaign specific to each, related to a hashtag or the 25th anniversary or an
event, etc. This will help provide examples for the NCRT administration, as well as give
them materials to post through their own social media accounts.
Instagram
Below are Instagram samples that could be posted at any time to educate and create
conversation about NCRT.
Instagram Post #1

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#NCRT preserves #NanthalaBikeway into a scenic #trail through #NanthalaGorge

#TransformationTuesday
Instagram Post #2

Live the #NCRT trail life- show us how you #trail by posting a photo with the hashtag
#NCRThowItrail

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Instagram Campaign
Show Us How You Trail Instagram campaign will continue to build awareness and
curate user generated content for the platform throughout 4 weeks.
Week 1:

#NCRT preserves old rail corridors & helps create #trails in #NorthCarolina- Share with
us how you help preserve your #community
Week 2:

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#NCTR preserves to create a place for families & friends for all sorts of #trail activitiesShare with us how you #trail
Week 3:

A #healthy meal is always the best start to any day! Share w us how you prepare for a
day out on one of the #NCRT

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Week 4:

#TB to the beginning stages of one #NCRT- Share with us a rail corridor in need and
help us #preserve&trail
Other Sample Social Media Posts
Post #1:
@NCRail-Trails: #HappyEarthDay! How are you celebrating? Post a picture of how you
are celebrating Earth Day with the hashtag #NCRTEarthDay!
Post #2:
@NCRail-Trails: How do you #trail? Post a picture of how you utilize the NC Rail-Trails
with the hashtag #showushowyoutrail.
Post #3:
@NCRail-Trails: #tbt Look at these before and after pictures of the __________ Trail!
#NCRT
Post #4:

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Check out this New York Times article on the benefits of exercising outdoors. Get your
health on by heading to the American Tobacco Trail this weekend!
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/the-benefits-of-exercising-outdoors/?_r=0
Post #5:
Want to help preserve the rail-trails? Become a member of NC Rail-Trails on our
website! http://www.ncrailtrails.org/membershipform
Post #6
Check out this article on the Five Unexpected Benefits of Exercising Outdoors! Get
your health on by heading to the Ecusta Trail this week!
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/03/25/5-unexpected-benefits-exercising-outdoors/
Facebook
Facebook Campaign
Humans of NC Rail-Trails Campaign
Every week, feature a volunteer (working on one of the trails) or someone using one of
the trails and ask them a few questions like:

What is your story with this trail?

What are doing out here today?
What do you do to stay healthy?

Get a quote from them and post it along with a picture of the person you are featuring.
Example of what the Facebook post might be:

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I come here with my father because it is my chance to be a daughter and spend time
with dad. #HumansofNCRT
**This campaign gives an opportunity to see how the trail impacts people and their lives.
It provides a human touch to NCRT and what it promotes and encourages as an
organization.
Other Facebook Posts
For certain holidays make a post that links the holiday with NC Rail-Trails.
Valentines Day
(Get an original picture of two people holding hands on railroad)

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(http://mymondanite.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/in-love-couple-at-train-tracks-holding-handsbeautiful.jpg)

Need date plans? Take your loved one out to the trails NC Rail-Trails love
#ValentinesDay
New Years Day
(Picture of one of the trails)

(http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/43/2e/ad/432eadec74359eca1d0237943a57f54f.jpg)

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New Years resolution to start exercising and living a healthy lifestyle? Start with one of
NC Rail-Trails favorite trails. #NewYearsResolution
(end Social Media Plan)

Tactic Timeline:
The goal of our plan is to provide social media content that can be used for any time.
Refer to the social media plan for suggested timelines for a specific campaign.

Tactic Budget:
Social media use is free, so the only need for a budget comes from paid advertising
through each platform. Please refer to the best practices guide for tips on paid
advertising.

Conclusion
In conclusion, OakWorks Inc. has developed a best practices guide and social media
plan that NCRT can use to educate and engage young professionals (ages 21-30). Our
research found that these deliverables are best suited for raising awareness of NCRTs
mission with our target audience comprised of young professionals. Our primary
research included a survey administered to Elon University students and our findings
showed that young professionals prefer to engage with organizations via social media.
Therefore, our social media toolbox provides all of the necessary information on how to
create and maintain social media accounts. We believe social media campaigns will
cause an increase in engagement both on social media and with NCRT as an
organization. As this social media content builds education and encourages action, the
increase in engagement will convert followers/likes into volunteers and members.

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Appendix I
Research Report
Executive Summary
OakWorks Inc.s goal is to gain more members to join Rails Trails. We want to
understand our audience, which are upperclassmen in college (Triad area) and early
graduates (Triad area) who are health enthusiasts, a group we will refer to as young
professionals. Health enthusiasts are people who enjoy physical activity like running,
biking, walking, and more. We hope to cater to our audience and help them get the
most out of Rail-Trails. Understanding our audience from a health/fitness and
communication perspective will help us gain more members, thus their interest and
financial support. For our campaign, we plan to engage our target audience better
through social media and promotional events that Rail-Trails holds. We are solely
focusing on the American Tobacco Trail.
In our report, some strengths we discuss are location, the ultimate goal of the
organization and the general brand. Some weaknesses we explore in our report include
the execution of the brand across social platforms and the publicity of events.
OakWorks Inc. found several opportunities with Rail-Trails. One of these opportunities
include our audience, recreational young professionals who are in their last years of
college/early years in their career. Another opportunity we explored is social media. With
its integration into every aspect of daily life, social media would be a useful tool to
execute and make Rail Trails brand stand out.
For our primary research, we conducted a survey and plan to conduct a focus
group. We sent our survey to Elon University students, receiving 100 responses, asking
questions ranging from general to specific on the topic of health/fitness and Rail-Trails.
We concluded that people in our target audience are generally health conscious and
would use Rail-Trails if there were more awareness. We plan to continue our primary
research and conduct a focus group. A focus group will help identify our audience on a
more personal level, while providing more qualitative research.
We conducted secondary research on the American Tobacco Trail area and the
different events that held on the trail already. In addition we looked into different
health/fitness organizations in the area. We also explored similar organizations and how
they are set up. We concluded that we need to make audiences understand better what
it means to be a member and display that through different outlets. We continued our
secondary research by looking into young professionals/student behavior with
communication methods and the idea of health/fitness. Social media and search
engines have become part of our audiences lifestyle, so this should be capitalized on in
our campaign. In addition, we discovered that young professionals and students would
be more willing to take part in physical activity if they have fun and inviting resources.

SWOT analysis

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Strengths
Ultimate goal of the organization
Location of the American Tobacco Trail
Brand personality
Clear target audience
Weaknesses
Publicity of events
Execution of brand across social platforms
Overall brand awareness
Confusion with other organizations
Opportunities
Targeting recreational health enthusiasts
Utilize social media to publicize brand
25th Anniversary year
Threats
Similar organizations in the Triad area
Variety of outdoor recreation provided separate from NC Rail-Trails

Research Analysis
Research Questions:
Would Triad area health enthusiasts become members of Rail Trails?
What age group of health enthusiasts would most likely become a member of
Rail Trails?
What activities and group activities would attract more members and
participants?
What health/fitness organizations are Triad health enthusiasts already a part of?
How did they find out about them?
What social media communication methods (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.)
do health enthusiasts follow?
What benefits would people like to see with their membership?
What external factors prevent Triad health enthusiasts from becoming a
member?
What would make the trails more attractive?
How are similar organizations organized with members or donations?
Primary Research:
For our research, both primary and secondary, we wanted to focus on college
students as well as young professionals in the Durham, NC area. We aimed to limit our
research to college students and young professionals under the age of 25, as they
would be new to the workforce, and/or having recently graduated college. Our primary
research contains a survey sent to over 30 individuals. The questions found in our
survey were asked in a generalized manner, then eventually lead to more specific
questions, regarding NC Rail-Trails. In addition to our online survey, we plan to
complete a focus group to get more individualized responses from our participants.

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Since our overall goal is to get more people to become members of NC Rail-Trails, we
wanted to focus on a younger audience since we have easier access to their opinions,
as college students ourselves. Additionally, we feel that adults under the age of 25 tend
to be active and health-conscious. Our survey questions can be found towards the end
of this document.
Secondary Research:
For our secondary research, we wanted to focus on NC Rail-Trails American
Tobacco Trail, and the surrounding areas. We wanted to examine which events are
already taking place on the American Tobacco Trail, to get a feel for events that work,
and how to grow them in the future. Additionally, we wanted to look at various health
organizations in the area. This would allow NC Rail-Trails to see what organizations are
available to potentially partner with for future events. Also included in our secondary
research, was general research about companies or organizations that could be in
direct competition with NC Rail-Trails. We wanted to look at the other non-profits and
how they accept donations. One of our goals is to raise more money for NC Rail-Trails,
so looking at other organizations and how they go about this process enabled us to get
a better feel for how we can help NC Rail-Trails. Additionally, we looked at
communication methods that young professionals frequently use to get their news. The
Millennial generation uses a variety of news mediums on a daily basis. Finally, we
looked at young professionals and students fitness habits. The conclusions for our
research findings are below, further in the document.

Insights & Implications:

Our survey provided the following insights & implications:
(see survey results: https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-STBV5D37/)
Through our ten question survey receiving 100 total responses, sent to Elon
University students, we gained insight into various behaviors that can be generalized to
our target audience, young professionals. Most students prefer to go outdoors to
exercise, and most are willing to travel about 30 minutes to an outdoor recreation site.
About 72% of respondents said they would like to learn about trails via Facebook,
followed by email (56%) and Instagram (53%). Leisure walking/running was the most
desired form of outdoor activity, with 92% choosing that as a priority. A little over 50%
said they would spend about $5-$15 to utilize an outdoor recreation space. But when
asked about donating specifically to preserve abandoned rail corridors to create leisure
trails, about 72% said they would not donate. We asked an open-ended question about
what would encourage the respondent to donate to NC Rail-Trails, and most the most
common themes were: if they had more information, especially a visual of the trail; a job
or some steady income that would allow for donations; an incentive to donate.
This survey illuminates several aspects of NC Rail-Trails that can be
emphasized. For instance, visually appealing and informative social media could help
brand awareness, as well as donations. There is a want for outdoor exercise, but there
has to be brand awareness first. After this awareness, donations and membership could
be increased, as long as the target audience has a somewhat flexible income, an active
lifestyle, and an incentive for providing financial support.

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Our secondary research provided the following insights & implications (divided by
category):
Health Organizations:
After looking at the health/outdoor organizations in the Durham area it was
concluded that there are many available programs and activities for all ages. There
were 45 general indoor fitness facilities listed in the areas. Including programs catered
towards children, such as Trips for Kids, which provides outdoor outings and
environmental education. There are many races held in the Durham area creating
environmental and girl empowerment awareness. Additionally, when looking on the
Durham North Carolina home page of recommended Things to Do, Rail Trails The
American Tobacco trail was featured as a top trail to visit in the Hiking/Running Trails &
Areas page among the sports and recreation recommendations. However, The
American Tobacco out linked page lacked images and updated information for the
public. Rails Trails has a presence among the health and fitness organizations in
Durham, but it needs to be updated and tailored to the correct public.
Similar Organizations:
After looking at organizations that are similar to NC Rail-Trails, we believe we
can use that as a foundation to add changes to the NCRT website and membership
explanation. Currently, NCRT does not give a powerful enough message to really
encourage people to donate and become members on their website. After looking at
Rails to Trails and the Carolina Thread Trail, and how successful both organizations
have been, we think that NCRT has a lot of potential to grow. Adding more website
content could positively affect NCRT donations and memberships. Overall, creating a
new messaging strategy for donations and memberships could be an important aspect
to focus on during this campaign, since these organizations have seen success from
how theyve built their messaging around financial support.
Young Professionals & Students, Communications Methods:
Social media and search engines have become a part of the lifestyle of a person
part of the millennial generation. They are more willing to give information to
brands/organizations that they trust. Social networking dominates their lifestyles.
Knowing this information and data will help us move forward into implementing a social
media plan for Rail-Trails. Knowing what social media networks are used the most will
help us understand which ones need to be addressed first for Rail-Trails.
Young Professionals & Students, Health & Fitness:
According to this secondary research, many young people are not getting the
recommended amount of physical activity, leading to obesity and other health
complications. Our campaign can focus on helping those who struggle to stay active by
utilizing several determinants of activity, including social influence, perceived benefits,
and motivation. For example, a 5K race can motivate someone to start running -possibly with friends -- with a goal in mind. The data provided by the CDC suggests that
people would be more likely to be physically active if they have available resources that
are fun and inviting. We can use this data to highlight the usefulness and value of trials
for people who are looking to become more active.

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Finally, the fitness tracker trend can be incorporated into several aspects of our
campaign. For example, we could create a rewards system for people that use the trail
the most according to their fitness trackers GPS. There are many more opportunities
that we will explore for this increasingly popular technology.

Conclusion
NC Rail-Trails has a variety of opportunities to take advantage of to strengthen
the organizations brand and donation base. By targeting young professionals who are
health enthusiasts, the brand can grow and see both financial and social support. Social
media is a crucial aspect of sharing the brand and encouraging donations, membership
and volunteers. Our campaign will help to illuminate the strong aspects of NCRT and to
build upon the weaker aspects, such as brand confusion and membership benefits. Our
audience must be able to visualize their interaction with NC Rail-Trails, whether its
through social media, using the trails, donating, or volunteering.

The Next Steps

As we move forward we are continuing to target our audience of college students
and young professionals in the Durham Triad Area because of the interest in health and
fitness. Our communication tactics will be primarily through Facebook and Instagram.
We realize that our target audience prefers those two channels for immediate
information as well as browsing entertainment sites. We recognize that Rail Trails home
web page will have to be altered to match the engaging social media channels we will
create for them. We realize by making these social media channels attractive more
people will be likely to learn more about the non-profit and what it has to offer. We will
work to market leisure running/walking more of a unique activity so that our target
audience will want to travel and enjoy the trails. We specifically will be looking into
making The American Tobacco Trail more eventful and exploit the volunteering
opportunities since the majority of our survey audience was interested in volunteering
their time. We recognize that our target audience views health and fitness as a trend
and want to incorporate that into our campaign. We want to strengthen the brand of
Rail-Trails and utilize the trails and location to make it a popular attraction people will
want to incorporate into their daily lives. And beyond this, we want people to commit
financially to the organization and what it stands for. We believe building the donation
incentives and benefits will greatly improve the membership foundation. Rail-Trails has
the opportunity to provide a new health and fitness style and we believe we can make
that possible.

Appendix
Citations:
American Tobacco Trail. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2015, from
http://ncrailtrails.org/trails/American-Tobacco-Trail

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Infographic: Snapchat More Popular Than Twitter Among Millennials. (n.d.). Retrieved
March 8, 2015, from http://www.statista.com/chart/2570/most-popular-social-appsamong-millennials
Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., & Zickuhr, K. (n.d.). Social Media & Mobile Internet
Usage Among Teens and Young Adults. Retrieved March 9, 2015, from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED525056.pdf
Sterling, G. (2014, July 15). Survey: Best Way To Reach Millennials Is On Social Media.
Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://marketingland.com/survey-best-way-reachmillennials-social-media-91241
WakeGOV. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2015, from
http://www.wakegov.com/parks/att/Pages/park_info.aspx
Trips For Kids Triangle mountain biking experience. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2015,
from http://www.tripsforkidstriangle.org/
Florence Forth Road Race. (2015). Retrieved March 8, 2015, from
http://florenceforth.org/
Girls on the Run Spring 5K. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://gotr5krun.com/
Things to Do. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2015, from http://www.durham-nc.com/thingsto-do/