How social media gave the Poppy a digital facelift

This article provides an insight into the background to the revitalised digital strategy, how the strategy was implemented and the results for Poppyscotland. The charity rebranded and adopted a new fundraising strategy in 2006, but needed to remove the core conception that the poppy relates only to the World Wars.

Taking a strategic approach, Poppyscotland used social media to overcome these challenges by utilising a range of digital platforms to present a contemporary message.

The results of the strategy include:

• Over 2 million page views and 20,000 post feedbacks (likes, comments, shares, etc)
• 100% increase in web traffic year-on-year (17,000 unique visitors during 2010 appeal vs 34,000 in 2011)
• 12,000 downloads of the appeal’s YouTube videos
• The celebrity Twitter campaign reached more than 1.5 million Twitter users
• The charity’s most successful Scottish Poppy Appeal ever, raising a record £2.34 million