[JUDGING] spunout
Section: Social Media Strategy: NGO
Organisation Name: spunout
General Strategy Questions
Name Of Brand Client
spunout
Name Of Brand Client Copy
YES
Personpeople Who Led This Campaign
The strategy is led by spunout’s in-house Digital Marketing team: Gráinne Harte, Head of Digital Marketing; Caoimhe McEneaney, Art & Creative Design Manager; Molly Roberts, Social Media Manager; and Fintan Brennan, Digital Content and Paid Media Executive. The team works closely with Content, Services, Fundraising and Youth Participation. Our approach is “by young people, for young people”: volunteers youth-proof information, identify priorities through youth consultations, share lived experience through spunout Voices and create user-generated content. Many are enthusiastic about appearing in videos, bringing real faces, language and experiences directly into our social channels.
Do You Use Alt Text In Your Images And Caption Your Videos
Yes. Captions are standard across our video content, making information accessible to people who are Deaf or hard of hearing and to those watching without sound. We use clear, high-contrast caption colours informed by WCAG guidance and follow plain-English principles so complex information remains understandable. Alt text is added to images on spunout.ie. We recognise that it has not been applied consistently to every Instagram asset and have introduced training to improve this across our social content. Accessibility is also considered through mobile-first formats, clear design, content warnings and relevant signposting. We continually review our approach as platforms and accessibility guidance develop.
What Objective For Campaign
Our overall objective was to increase awareness, usage and trust in the full spunout ecosystem, positioning spunout as a default source of information and support for young people in Ireland rather than being understood solely as a website containing articles.
The strategy aimed to make services including Text About It, spunout academy, navigator, Youth Information Chat and our service directory clearer and more visible. We also wanted to move from one-way publishing towards active community participation, showing up in young people’s online spaces and building trust through conversation.
A further objective was to reach parents, teachers, youth workers and other referrers with clear, shareable information. We sought to strengthen spunout’s human, youth-led identity through real voices, stories and visuals, helping trusted content stand out in an AI-saturated and increasingly fragmented information environment.
Our secondary objective was to increase awareness of spunout as an independent charity and encourage public donations, as the organisation can sometimes be mistaken for a state body or fully state-funded service. Social media played a central role in promoting the Deep Blue Dip, our first major public fundraising campaign in several years. Its success has created a new annual fundraising opportunity, with the campaign planned to return in 2027.
Outline Your Strategy For This Campaign
Our strategy is built around “one brand, different life-stage voices”. As spunout supports people aged 14 - 34 across different services, we tailor tone, format, targeting, and calls to action rather than speaking to a 16-year-old and a 32-year-old in the same way.
Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts form our core social mix, supported by paid media, partnerships & PR. We recognise that apps increasingly keep audiences within-platform, making website journeys harder. We therefore create complete, useful content specifically for Instagram and TikTok while maintaining clear pathways to academy, navigator, Text About It and other supports.
Our approach is “by young people, for young people”. Volunteers shape priorities through youth consultations and youth-proofed information, and enthusiastically create UGC and appear in videos. We prioritise their real voices and lived experience over polished stock content.
Content is planned in Notion, where briefs, assets & captions are reviewed with final editorial oversight from the Head of Content. The Digital Marketing team meets weekly to review the calendar, delivery and performance. Fortnightly trend meetings examine social trends and news affecting young people, allowing us to respond with timely, relevant information. Platform analytics, GA4 and search behaviour guide continuous optimisation. We try to be as reactive as possible.
What Were The Outcomes For This Campaign Metrics Next Question
The strategy has created a clearer, more joined-up way of presenting spunout’s information, learning and support services. Social content now does more than promote individual articles: it helps young people understand the wider ecosystem and find an appropriate next step, whether that is trusted information, a self-directed course, service navigation or immediate emotional support.
A stronger focus on real voices, lived experience and youth-proofing has made the brand feel more human and relevant. Clearer life-stage targeting also reduces the risk of content feeling too young, too adult or disconnected from its intended audience.
We look beyond surface-level reach and impressions to understand meaningful engagement. Metrics such as views to at least 25% help us assess whether a video genuinely held attention. Shares and saves are particularly valuable because they suggest that a young person found the content useful enough to revisit later or share with a friend who might need it.
Regular reporting allows us to identify the topics, formats and platforms that encourage this deeper engagement. It also helps us respond to changing platform behaviour, misinformation and AI-driven search disruption, and move investment towards content that holds attention and supports action. Overall, the strategy has strengthened collaboration, two-way community engagement and long-term trust.
What Are Your Metrics For This Campaign Real Metrics Please
Our 2025 KPIs measured both scale and meaningful engagement, including reach, 25% video views, saves and shares.
Across TikTok and Meta, content achieved a combined reported reach of 2,993,677 against a target of 3 million, reaching 99.8% of the annual goal. Platform audiences may overlap, so this is not a fully deduplicated figure.
Engagement metrics 2025:
-8,609 saves against a target of 8,000, achieving 108% of the target
-9,524 shares against a target of 8,000, achieving 119% of the target
Follower count
15,000 Instagram followers by August 2026
11,200 TikTok followers by August 2026
In 2025 The spunout.ie website recorded:
- 908,324 Irish sessions
- 1,113,706 Irish page views against a target of 1.1 million
- 664,050 engaged sessions in Ireland against a target of 592,000
This meant we exceeded our page-view, engaged-session, save and share targets and came within 0.2% of our combined reach target.
We use platform analytics, GA4, Search Console, and campaign dashboards to review reach, video retention, saves, shares, website journeys, and service outcomes, rather than relying on follower growth or impressions alone.
Is There Anything Else You Want To Add Be Brief
spunout has supported young people in Ireland for more than 20 years, but our competition for attention is no longer limited to other organisations. It includes creators, algorithmic entertainment, online communities and AI-generated advice. We understand the way everyone is searching and getting their information online is changing not only for young people, and we are trying to stay ahead of that curve while having a huge bank of resources via our websites.
Our strategy responds by making trusted information feel unmistakably human: shaped with young people, grounded in evidence and connected to a meaningful next step. The goal is not simply to generate reach, but to earn lasting trust in the moments when a young person needs information or support.