Background
Most Americans not only believe in climate change, they’re also ready to act. But with doom and gloom everywhere they look, environmental content leaves people feeling overwhelmed and stuck.
Challenge
With the help of social media creators, The Mariposa Foundation sought to reach young people with hopeful climate messaging.
In this pilot, we laid the groundwork for a network of influencers who can move their followers toward environmental action and advocacy.
We developed a brand for a general audience, Sustain, and a sub-brand for BIPOC youth, It’s Getting Hot Y’all, to establish a credible social media presence and accompanying content for influencer outreach and recruitment.
Branding
When developing a name for the brand, Sustain was chosen to stand out in the climate space. It serves as a call to action and an identifier for the community. We crafted a hopeful, approachable, and action-oriented tone.
The imagery used throughout the campaign features lush landscapes—a nod toward the positive future state we’re working towards.
As a BIPOC youth-focused sub-brand, we wanted to establish a connection to Sustain while leaving room for It’s Getting Hot Y’all to explore a more playful brand system.
The tone is more bold, conversational, and cheeky while maintaining the motivating, active elements of the Sustain voice. We borrowed a colloquial phrase for the name to express emotion and a communal sense of responsibility in a lighthearted way.
Content Development
A series of posts were developed for both brands to introduce the Sustain network and call on influencers to join the community.
Three incentives were offered to potential influencers: boosted posts, training and resources, and a contest to win $500.
We developed a timely holiday campaign to keep climate conversations relevant.
A welcome guide including influencer responsibilities, downloadable graphics to post, and guidance on social media channels was provided to creators after they joined the network.
Influencer Guide
Strategic Planning
Audience
The Mariposa Foundation expressed interest in engaging the following audiences: parents/caregivers, BIPOC youth, blue-collar workers, and pet owners. We identified four phases of the campaign to build the network. This pilot phase focused on identifying potential influencers within the defined audience groups and building the campaign infrastructure.
Recruiting Influencers
We used a combination of automated and manual outreach methods to connect with potential influencers. A flexible approach was key to navigating recurring platform shifts and audience identification challenges. Below you’ll see the roadmap we used to build the foundation of the campaign and engage a diverse, committed group of creators.
The Impact
We recruited 28 creators, more than double the target goal of 10–15. Influencers recruited were racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse. Ultimately our goal was to impact influencers’ followers. To better understand how audiences were responding to our content, we ran a paid media test with lookalike audiences.
During the five-week campaign we achieved:
Reach: 33,872
Engagement: 7,171
Engagement rate: 14.6%
Typical engagement rate for similar campaigns: 1-2%
The project team included: