Helping a Foodbank Find its Feet: Our Case Study

Why did Bromley Borough Foodbank need us?

The South London-based Trussell Trust organisation, Bromley Borough Foodbank, wanted to increase the donations they were receiving, form relevant partnerships, attract volunteers, and make local people in need aware of the support available. 

They recognised that to do these things in today’s digital world, they’d need a greater online presence. And what's the best way to build one? Social media.

Our mission...

They already had accounts on the four main channels. However, as the charity largely relies on volunteers, the profiles lacked consistency in terms of tone of voice, imagery, and post regularity. The team was also struggling to develop original content ideas that would engage a younger audience.

So, our mission was to provide a set of resources and knowledge designed to help them implement an effective long-term strategy.

How did we do it?

We began with a messaging document. This included bullet-pointed lists of important insights like their audiences, mission, and some examples of similar channels to use for inspiration. 

The next step was to do a social media audit, analysing and sharing concrete data taken from their pages - follower counts, demographics, effective posting times, the best-performing current content.

We then used the messaging document to create a social media handbook - a 20-page, branded guide detailing the BBF tone of voice, imagery, and compliance regulations, as well as sections to outline how to optimise posts for each channel. This also, vitally, included some ideas on how to create engaging visual content.

This was accompanied by an annual events calendar divided into three categories: local events, national holidays, and relevant awareness days. A pre-made bank of these would be useful when it came to scheduling regular social media posts over the course of the year.

Lastly, we used these pieces to create a month’s worth of daily social media posts and assets. 

Social media success!

Bromley Borough Foodbank now had a detailed yet accessible set of resources to share with any staff and volunteers responsible for their online channels. This meant they could build greater consistency across LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Facebook. Most importantly, though, we had not only provided a short-term solution covering that month's worth of content, but a strategy they can apply to ongoing social media management.