The Federal Reserve has an image problem and is often seen as formidable and out of touch. We intend to use the Atlanta Fed’s Instagram account to help us change that image by humanizing our brand. We want consumers and businesses across the Southeast to view us as an approachable partner that cares deeply about the community we serve. With striking, relatable images in our Instagram feed, we believe we can introduce a more relatable brand.
Overall Goals
- Build an engaged community of advocates and employees.
- Cultivate direct lines of communication.
- Engage with reactions to our post (respond or like comments), as well as with posts that tag us.
- Monitor non-tagged posts through hashtags, location tags, and other related features and engage those accounts when appropriate.
- Repost images when appropriate.
- Showcase our mission-oriented initiatives.
- Use Instagram Stories to feature selected partnerships and volunteer endeavors.
- See goal 2 regarding brand awareness.
- See goal 3 regarding the enhancement of event and outreach experiences.
- Encourage submission of user-generated content.
- Open submissions to employees and provide feedback to those submitting photos.
- Use polls and sliders with Instagram stories to solicit responses and request feedback.
- Cultivate direct lines of communication.
- Boost brand awareness.
- Build offline relationships with organization-approved community partners.
- Schedule in-person coffee breaks and happy hours with counterparts at these organizations to get to know them.
- Build offline relationships with organization-approved community partners.
- Enhance and complement event and outreach experiences.
- Supplement outreach visits by demonstrating why these communities are important to us.
- Show our president actively engaging with the community and actively participating in tours of these communities to learn about issues affecting them.
- Explain the work we do in the communities we serve, as well as its impact.
- Plan and develop the expansion of #ThisIsTheSixth to tell the story of the people and communities behind the work we do. Give context to the importance of our work, if applicable.
- Implement the second stage of this campaign. Use a regional visit in the second half of 2018 as a testing ground for the proof concept for this project.
- Demonstrate that Atlanta Fed’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability.
- Continue to feature the diversity of our staff and to celebrate diversity and inclusion.
- Ensure that images demonstrate diversity.
- Be inclusive in holiday representation.
- Find innovative ways to discuss sustainability efforts.
- Find opportunities to show the Bank’s recognition of success in these areas.
- Continue to feature the diversity of our staff and to celebrate diversity and inclusion.
- Showcase employees and recruit new talent.
- Through #ThisIsTheSixth, occasionally tell the story of a specific person’s role as it relates to issues the series has previously addressed. This is an occasional series with a timeframe to be determined.
- Highlight the specific work of the Atlanta Fed through Stories.
- Frame Stories as a takeover/day-in-the-life with direct coordination with the strategist or individual involved.
Key Performance Indicators
- Goal: Build an engaged community of advocates and employees.
- KPI: Increase engagement by 2% annually.
- Metrics: Comments and likes on posts, comments on Stories, tags in posts, tags in Stories, location tagging in posts, brand hashtag usage
- Goal: Boost brand awareness.
- KPI: While we don’t want to focus only on follower growth, we do want to see a follower conversion rate of 5% annually by reaching people who weren’t previously following us.
- Metrics: Follower growth
- KPI: Have the Bank tagged in relevant posts by visitors, employees, community partners, and the public at least five times per quarter.
- Metrics: @AtlantaFed tags and mentions
- Goal: Enhance and compliment event and outreach experiences.
- KPI: See an increase year-over-year in hashtag performance for branded conferences.
- Metric: Hashtag performance for branded conferences.
- KPI: Continue to see an event-to-event increase in engagement metrics for outreach experiences. Commit to post an outreach initiative (executive office, corporate citizenship, or general outreach) at least once a month.
- Metrics: Engagement rate increase for outreach visits, follower feedback
- Goal: Showcase the meaning behind and impact of the work we do in the communities we serve.
- KPI: Tie together the work of multiple departments in at least half of Stories posted.
- Metrics: Number of departments represented in story. Once follower growth allows us to have access to more Stories functionalities, clicks on links in Stories (website conversions).
- Goal: Demonstrate organization’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and sustainability.
- KPI: One post per month highlighting our diversity, inclusion or sustainability efforts
- Metrics: Post engagement, follower feedback.
- KPI: Be cognizant of being inclusive regarding holidays.
- Metric: Number of inclusive holidays represented
Key performance indicators are tracked via the dashboard and assessed on a monthly basis. Strategic changes are made as necessary.
Ongoing Performance Analysis (Quarterly)
- What’s working and in what sense?
- What’s not working, and why not?
- How will we amplify what’s working?
Target Audience
We are targeting an emerging audience that has very little knowledge of our brand.
Tone of Voice
The tone is casual, conversational.
Post Types
Images, video
Curated Feed Visual Identity
Posts feature high-quality photos and video that stand out against other brands a user may see in their feed. The images used on the Atlanta Fed’s Instagram account are exclusive to Instagram and are not used on any other Atlanta Fed site or platform. Images taken by Atlanta Fed employees and used on the account become the property of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and may not be reposted to the photographer’s personal account(s) unless photo credit is given to the Atlanta Fed.
Our photos use natural lighting (no flash) to guide the viewer’s eyes to the subject and maintain the scene’s visual integrity. Things we consider when looking at a single photo for the feed include both the story it’s telling and the execution of the image. We’ve included a frequently asked questions section to better explain the more technical execution components. The questions we ask when developing the story and concept of a specific image include:
- What story are you trying to tell?
- What’s going to be in the frame?
- What makes it unique?
- Would this image be appealing to the Instagram audience as outlined below?
Someone visiting the @AtlantaFed profile sees a grid of 12 images that are representative of our brand. Any visitor—new or existing—should be able to scroll through the grid and see that the images maintain a certain look and feel.
Content Type
Most photos and video should include a living being (human or animal). Instagram photos with faces generate 38 percent more likes than those without.
Posting Frequency
Posting is dictated as time and resources allow in the current organizational structure. The content calendar is housed in Asana.
Brand Colors
Color photos should maintain a natural look while remaining visually striking. Black and white is sparingly used to express the special importance around certain events and moments (e.g. the first or last day of a new president).
Content Creation
The strategists overseeing the platform determine the content. If assistance is needed to execute a specific photo or campaign, that will be requested with the appropriate parties. The platform consists of a curated feed, Stories, and a grid that collectively presents content meant to drive engagement.
Stories are the casual storytelling mechanism that we can use to present more real-time, in-the-moment content. Because of their nature, our Stories don’t necessarily meet the curated feed’s visual identity standards. They aren’t meant to serve the same purpose as the curated feed and grid, but rather are meant to present the Atlanta Fed even more casually.
Our “12”
The “12” images that make up the grid represent the main type of content of our Instagram channel. We’ve identified the following 12 as a starting point for our account. This list is not exhaustive and our content is not limited to only the topics listed below.
- Our leadership
- Our building or grounds
- Dogs
- Holidays
- Our community
- Diversity and inclusion
- Sustainability
- Museum/archives
- Our partners
- Events
- Who we are
- Video
Content Mix
50%: Community, Partners, Holidays, Sustainability
25%: Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, Who We Are, Museum/Archives, Buildings/Grounds, Dogs, Events
User Submission Process
We encourage employees to submit original/raw photos for consideration by emailing the photo. Within a week, the user will receive a response regarding the submission. If the submission isn’t used, the individual will receive feedback on the decision. It is highly suggested that anyone who wants to submit photos view our profile page on a personal device at http://www.instagram.com/atlantafed to see the visual identity of the account. If you have an idea on the specific vision you feel your image is telling, please include that information in your email.
If the submission is used, the submitter (by virtue of submitting the photo) is granting the Atlanta Fed permission to list his or her first and last name in the caption as a credit. The images used on the Atlanta Fed’s Instagram account are exclusive to Instagram and are not used on any other Atlanta Fed external site or platform. Used images become the property of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and may not be reposted to the photographer’s personal account(s) unless photo credit is given to the Bank.
Please answer the following questions in your submission email:
- What story are you trying to tell?
- What makes this image unique?
- What goal can this image be tied back to?
- Build an engaged community of advocates and employees.
- Boost brand awareness.
- Enhance and complement event and outreach experiences.
- Explain the work we do in the communities we serve, as well as its impact.
- Demonstrate that Atlanta Fed’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability.
- Showcase employees and recruit new talent.
- What caption do you have in mind for this image? (subject to editorial and reputational review and discretion)
- Is there a specific vision you see for this image?
What we’re always looking for:
- Seasonal/Holiday
- Obscure holidays like Bike to Work Day (subject to reputational review)
- Sixth District (not just Atlanta!)
- Those spontaneous things that pop up wherever you are (movie filming!)
Editorial Review
The strategists overseeing the platform have editorial control over the content posted. What we consider in evaluation is:
- What makes this image unique?
- Does this image meet our visual identity standards?
- Would this image be appealing to the Instagram audience?
- What goal does this image complement?
Reputational Review
The external relations strategist and assistant vice president for Public Affairs conduct reputational review. If reputational issues are raised, the image is not used. If an image or series of images is approved for external use in other areas, the images should be approved for use in all external areas.
Review Process
Editing is done by the content publishing team’s designee. Reputational review is done by either the external relations strategist or a Public Affairs officer.
TO: Editor, Reputational Review
CC: VP, AVPs, Instagram managers
Hashtags
#federalreserve #atlantafed
Other hashtags vary by content and are relevant only to the content being posted.
Campaigns
#ThisIsTheSixth highlights our branch cities and the diversity and breadth of the District.
#DogsOfTheFed highlights some of our four-legged visitors to the green spaces around our building.
#ServeTheSixth highlights our corporate citizenship endeavors.
Paid Strategy
Promotional campaigns are considered on an ad hoc basis and depend on funds available. Individual paid campaign strategies are written for these campaigns with goals, KPIs, and metrics outlined.
CASSIE CHANCE 