No matter how big someone’s presence is, or how well they kept up with new trends a certain year, there comes a point in time when we all need a makeover.
This was the case for RELAPO this semester.
Introduction
RELAPO is the biggest public relations association based out of Mexico in Latin America, they have existed for over 55 years, and they have an amazing group of members that go across all possible industries, creating invaluable experiences and opportunities to network. Among the associates, there are representatives from the state and municipal government, collaborators in the media, hoteliers, restaurant owners, independent public relations agents, institutional leaders, business consultants, tequila producers, members of foundations, and service companies, among others, who engage in activities related to public relations.
Because of this, my surprise was big when I tried to find them online using Google and they only had an Instagram and Facebook that was used scarcely throughout the year, and a website that had broken images and no clear design.
Throughout the course of this semester, I got to work to help them with their online presence. All of this with a much-needed makeover in their strategy.
I met with RELAPO’s team for the first time and we quickly identified the three parts into which my project was going to be divided to reach their ultimate goal of getting online and keeping up with younger generations:
- Create a content calendar for their Instagram page
- A website redesign
- A plan within this plan that focuses on gaining younger members inside the association
Content Calendar
For this part, I worked with RELAPO’s team to get their logo, colors, and overall image. With this, I created a content calendar for the month of August that matched their brand. I worked with a marketing member on their team and he mentioned that he wanted to have a variety of topics arranged in a “triangle” layout. One topic once a week, the second topic twice a week, and the following week that number would switch.
With these instructions, I decided the content would focus on hot topics in the public relations industry and current events, and twice a month they would do a member highlight so that their audience would become familiar with the array of professionals that belonged in RELAPO.
I also created a post template for them to use when they actually start posting on their social media. This template came from looking at the previous style they had been using on their accounts and revamping it while staying true to their characteristics.
The measurements of the success of this content calendar will be tied directly to Instagram’s analytics, to which RELAPO’s team will have access at no cost after the publications go live.
I created a document with instructions on how to access these analytics.
A Website Redesign
When I found their old website, I knew something needed to change. I decided to do the redesign with Wix.com, as it is a simple builder to use and it would work for RELAPO since they mentioned they needed something simple so they could keep updating it and using it long after this project.
I incorporated their branding materials into every page of the website.
Before
After
The website came to be one of the only things with an actual cost that needed to be presented to RELAPO’s team, so I created a chart with the best option for them and what they needed the website for.
The website is to be set up with Google Analytics when it goes live. For this, I also created a document with instructions on how to do this, taken from Wix’s official steps on how to do it.
Plan to Recruit Younger Members
During the meeting when this whole project was set in motion, Ana Mendoza, director of RELAPO, told me that one of her biggest concerns was that the majority of the members of the association averaged over 50+ years of age and that RELAPO needed younger audiences.
As a BYUI student that sees every day the benefits of networking and how much this helps fellow students like me, I immediately knew that RELAPO needed to target colleges and universities in Mexico, so people that are at the beginning of their careers could take advantage of all that RELAPO has to offer.
In Mexico, there is a big and important network of universities under an umbrella called Universidad de Guadalajara. The director of RELAPO is familiar with this institution, so I decided the best course of action was to set up in motion a plan to host conferences, in a span of a semester, introducing RELAPO on different campuses of this network of universities that might have students interested in the communications field.
However, before we could do anything else, there was an important detail that could extinguish a college student’s interest in joining RELAPO: The association has a monthly membership fee of $500MXN pesos, which can be a lot for a college student, not to mention the $1000MXN pesos one-time subscription fee at the beginning.
Seeing this, I called students in Mexico, explained to them what RELAPO is and its benefits, and asked them how much would they be willing to pay, being reasonable, and the price came down to $200MXN pesos. With this information, I came up with a different type of membership that would only require $200MXN pesos a month if you could prove that you are actively enrolled in an educational institution. This option was added to the website under the “Memberships” tab.
Now that that was out of the way, I talked to administrators at the Universidad de Guadalajara and they informed me that to allow any event from an outside institution, the institution needed to reach out to the campus secretary with an event proposal.
I created a proposal template so that RELAPO could use it to contact and set this plan in motion.
This plan has the advantage of costing no extra money, as the educational institution it targets is public and the only cost is to go through the bureaucratic process of event approval.
In the case of the informational event taking place, I also created a list of open-ended questions to ask after the presentation to student attendees.
The success of this plan would be shown in the receptiveness of students and possible new memberships.
Time Account
Conclusion
My biggest takeaway from this project was the opportunity to work with an association based out of my home country that works so hard to tell the world what public relations is about. Every study opportunity that I have gotten in these almost four years at college comes with the hope that one day I will be able to apply this on an international scale and find ways to bring my culture and people into the work I do. I was able to test my ability to show my abilities in two different languages and settings. RELAPO and this project gave me the opportunity to climb one step of that stairwell that my career is set out to be, and for that I am grateful.