Using social media to create awareness and interest of women by women in the solar industry
The Campaign
1.How we got here
2.The process
3.How does it look?
4.So what?
- How did we get to a campaign? Selected project outputs and indicators
Solar hybrid minigridswork: women encouraged to save and connect and use electricity productively
Improvement in expertise of private actors: women comprise < 5% licensed technicians
(EnDev) –solar is clean, sustainable and a good long term energy solution: therural underserved female population high; 47% relying on kerosene, candles, live fires for lighting by govt. figures. Other studies indicate 87%.
Minigridpolicy formulation at national and county level opportunities and challenges for women; needing capacity to apply a gender lens
Implementation mechanisms: planning and implementation involves beneficiary communities particularly vulnerable groups
There are opportunities for women in the solar sector and empowering women contributes to sustainably lighting Kenya!
The Process
Anonymous identification of champions ->
Approve list of champions ->
Champions contacted->
Storylines developed->
Studio->
Post production ->
Online teasers ->
Launch and online discussions->
Evaluation
2. How does it look like
Images–sanitised and common background instead of in their natural environment
Text: Each had a long interview so text covers pertinent issues about the person
Podcast: personal interaction with the champion. Can be used later on radio.
10 inspiring women in solar across Kenya are featured.
Behind the scenes strategy
She Shapes the City crowd sources the identification of champions
GIZ and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum work on the facts/data background for She Shapes the City for the whole campaign
GIZ and She Shapes the City on the interview scheme for each champion
Social Media Manager at She Shapes the City doing continuous monitoring
Evaluation
Who do we reach? What are their ideas and perceptions after?
Awareness: statistically by different gender groups
Strong quotes from discussions managed by social media expert
Discussions that can be taken up into policy discussions and implementation
Rallying other partners –internally with EnDevSolar Home Systems and more externally
Evaluation summary
Over 1.2 Million views were created by this campaign.
•Raising awareness to 711,000 unique individuals
•Of those, 136,000 were compelled to engage with the content
•Ages 18 to 34 were most engaged and active on social media. This aligns with this age group being most active audience on Facebook in the region.
•2 of the women featured win awards in recognition of their efforts after the campaign
•Paid content received 90% more reach than organic content
•Although this campaign was targeted to a local audience in Kenya and neighbouringcountries, it gained global attention
•Non solar sector individuals were more engaged than solar sector employees
•The engagement was very positive and prompted enquiries and follow up interest
•This campaign drove awareness and recognition on the opportunities of solar energy and sustainably electrifying Kenya by empowering women.
Lessons
There was a lack of engagement where stand alone questions were asked about solar, without the storytelling.
A tangible call-to action offering personal value e.g‘click here to view solar job opportunities’ or prior to an event etcwould be recommended in future campaigns.
More strategic guidance and engagement of Social Media Manager for better reach for the specific target group. The campaign was quite general.
The 2 week duration was quite short. A more progressive approach would yield even better results.
Paid adverts and boosted posts are cheap and increase reach
Use of a media personality was interesting for the teasers to attract attention but not for the real stories