Increasing Voter Turnout Using Social Media
Case Study
WAHIBA CHAIR | SENIOR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST & INSTRUCTOR
WAHIBACHAIR.COM

WAHIBA CHAIR, MBA
Senior Marketing Strategist & Instructor
Digital + Social Media
I help organizations create integrated + measurable strategies
using data + relationships.
WAHIBACHAIR.com

Client
Elections BC is a non-partisan office of the British
Columbia legislature responsible for conducting
provincial and local elections.
As part of my work with Elevator Strategy, I had the
opportunity to lead the social media strategy and
execution for the 2017 BC General Election.
Note: This case study does not reflect the views or opinions of Elections BC.

2017 General Election Campaign
This Social Media Campaign
was part of an integrated BC
wide media campaign including
TV, Radio, Digital, OOH etc.
It was also the “Phase 2” of a
“voter registration” campaign.

Objectives [Social Media]
• Increase voter turnout, especially
amongst Millennials
• Inform British Columbians on
when, where, and how to vote
• Increase engagement and
advocacy

owned + paid + earned
media tactics to drive
British Columbians to
action; i.e. voting using
#iVoteBC as an
engagement platform.
Elections BC
Content
(Owned)
UGC (Earned)
Sponsored
Content +
Influencers
(Paid)
Awareness Consideration Voting Advocacy
#iVoteBC
STRATEGY

OWNED MEDIA
Elections BC Channels
Elections BC
Content
(Owned)
UGC
(Earned)
Sponsored
Content +
Influencers
(Paid)

Channel Branding
To keep the BC Election top of mind, social media
headers were updated during:
• Start of the campaign (April 11th)
• Advance Voting (April 29/30, May 3-6)
• General Voting Day (May 9th)
People seemed to appreciate the reminders.

Elections BC Content
• Using a consistent voice, crafted social
media copy around key messaging
• Aligned with overall campaign creative
but adapted to each channel
• Heavy use of GIFs, videos, and visuals
• Trackable online CTAs (Calls to Action)
• Amplified select postings using social ads

What to Expect When You Vote?
119,061 Reach
216,623 Impressions
44,096 Views
44,518 Engagements

213,493 Impressions
4,925 Engagements
1135 link clicks
Simple visuals worked really well on Twitter

Instagram was a new channel
for Elections BC.
In addition to organic postings,
we created website ads using
image and video creative.
“Learn More” drove people to
relevant pages on the Elections
BC website
Instagram Website Ads

Elections BC Channels (Key Results)
8.54M impressions
1M+ engagements
generated through the EBC social media
channels during the Election period.
Facebook delivered the highest reach and
engagement results.
Impressions by Channel

BC Millennials were the key audience reached through the EBC social channels.
Source: Sprout Social

PAID MEDIA
Sponsored Content & Influencers
Elections BC
Content
(Owned)
UGC
(Earned)
Sponsored
Content +
Influencers
(Paid)

Sponsored Content + Influencer Strategy
We partnered up with leading digital
publishers and influencers with
access to target demographics.
Tactics ranged from sponsored
videos and articles to social media
postings and site take overs.

Sponsored Video
125,000+ Views82,000+ Views

3,500+ Views
Sponsored Articles

3,800+ Views
Sponsored Articles

Sponsored Social Posts
48,300
Impressions
1,419
Engagements

Site Take Overs

Influencer Support
Influencers such as Miss 604 updated their
profile photo with the “I Vote. Do You?” filter and
showed their support on social media.

Sponsored Content + Influencers (Key Results)
22,600 Article Views 208,559 Video Views
1.48M Impressions 7,093 Engagements

EARNED MEDIA
User Generated Content + Partner Support
Elections BC
Content
(Owned)
UGC
(Earned)
Sponsored
Content +
Influencers
(Paid)

Tactics to Promote Advocacy + UGC

“First time voter” UGC

Positive Feedback

Twitter Canada Support

#iVoteBC Selfies

#iVoteBC Results

#iVoteBC Results
41.4% of #iVoteBC posts featured original content from British Columbians

#iVoteBC was trending on General Voting Day

Social Media Results*
43.4MPotential Campaign Impressions
1.3MMedia Views
33.4M#IVoteBC potential impressions
1M+ Engagements
98% Growth in Social Media Audience
*Various sources including but not limited to: Sprout Social, Key Hole, native channel analytics, and publishing partners

67.61% increase in advance voter turnout since
previous election
7.71% increase in the % of registered
voters who voted since previous election
Campaign Results*
*Source: EBC Records and Website

Thank You!
WAHIBA CHAIR | SENOR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST & INSTRUCTOR
LEARN MORE AND GET IN TOUCH AT: WAHIBACHAIR.COM
@WAHIBACHAIR