In 2017, wild fires decimated our county. I was working for the county as the social media coordinator for animal care & control. Within hours of the fires, hundreds of animals were coming into the care of animal shelters. Within days, all of us began sharing lost and found animals on our Facebook page, to help reunite them with families who had lost everything that they owned.
There were hard moments, and the best moments during the aftermath. And after it was concluded our shelter helped reunited over 250 animals with their families. And then the next disaster happened, and then another and another…
Over time, I realized that what we learned should be shared with other animal shelters, to help them, help more animals in an emergency or disaster related event. So I created Online Media Solutions to help.
Social Media Marketing is a key ingredient in the recipe for successful outcomes of animals and community members during a disaster or emergency.
Social media managers or coordinators are one of the vital avenues for accurate, timely and important communication before, during, and after a disaster related event.
Helping to ensure animal shelters have access to social media resources is crucial in an emergency or disaster as there is an increased opportunity to positively highlight shelter activities utilizing an indirect approach and social listening.
Social media can:
- Ensure accurate and timely information is available to community members through use of sharable graphic, etc.
- Decrease the length of stay by increasing awareness of the location of lost/found animals, helping to reunite them quickly with family members
- Ensure accurate and timely information is available to community members
- Increase donations of supplies by utilizing sharable graphics and links to items
- Increase monetary donations by creating awareness of the disaster or emergency response
- Provide educational resources for community members through use of templates
Helping to ensure animal shelters have access to social media resources is crucial in an emergency or disaster as there is an increased opportunity to positively highlight shelter activities utilizing an indirect approach and social listening.
Interested in learning more about social media during disasters or emergencies for animal shelters?
Check out our low-cost upcoming webinars by visiting: https://onlinemediasolutions.biz/live-webinars-for-animal-shelters/ or subscribe to our YouTube Channel for tips/tricks.
Online Media Solutions was created to help more animal shelters, help more animals in need. We are here to help – Send us an email for a free consultation at info@onlinemediasolutions.biz
Register for our FREE upcoming Social Media during Disaster Related Events (including the 2022 Shelter Crisis) webinar from the Justice Clearinghouse.
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