Abraham Harrison LLC was tasked with boosting awareness of Goethe-Institut Washington's cultural programs and German language courses through social media. They increased the organization's Facebook and Twitter presence, engaged local bloggers, and trained Goethe-Institut staff. This drastically improved the organization's brand awareness and engagement in social media. Ensuring an interactive online community was as important as growing followers. Goethe-Institut Washington now has a stronger social media presence and local connections to continue promoting their offerings.

1. Abraham Harrison LLC – Case Study
Goethe-Institut Washington
2011

2. Abraham Harrison LLC: Case Study – Goethe-Institut
Challenge:
To boost local awareness of Goethe-Institut Washington’s
summer courses and cultural events in the short-term
and build a strong social media following in the longer
term. Engage directly at first, while simultaneously
preparing the Institut staff to be able to handle social
media interaction on their own.
Goethe-Institut is an internationally known organization
whose mission is to promote German language and
culture around the world. Goethe-Institut Washington
tasked Abraham Harrison LLC with the challenge of
reaching out to the local community to raise awareness
via social media of its cultural offerings and German
language courses. It had a very limited social media
presence through which to strengthen brand awareness,
expand existing communities and increase support of the
organization.

3. Abraham Harrison LLC: Case Study – Goethe Institut
Strategy/Tactics:
Create interest in the German culture by actively engaging
in conversations and highlighting the tradition and quality of
the Goethe-Institut Washington’s offerings.
Abraham Harrison took the Institut’s Facebook and Twitter
profiles from a nascent stage and built and strengthened
them in both reach and content. After increasing the
following base, the gains were capitalized by providing
interesting and sharable content and constantly monitoring
and engaging with the audience. A blogger outreach to 800
local bloggers was followed by a “meet and greet” at the
Goethe-Institut Washington to entice the bloggers to spread
the word about about the Institut.
Work on the Institut’s social media properties was shared
and monitored by both the Institut and Abraham Harrison as
a way to achieve immediate goals while also engaging in
experiential training for the Institut staff.
Abraham Harrison also conducted a formal, in-person
training day with the Goethe-Institut Washington staff as a
final step to ensure their team was ready to take on
responsibility for ongoing social media efforts.

4. Abraham Harrison LLC: Case Study – Goethe Institut
Results:
Drastically increased brand awareness via online
mentions and strengthened presence in social
media and the broader Washington, DC
community.
Ensuring an engaged, interactive community was
as important as the aim of increasing the base in
Facebook and Twitter. With the advice of
Abraham Harrison, Goethe-Institut Washington
was able to better understand the users of such
social networking sites and provide interesting
and engaging content. The public is attracted to
these sites not just for information about classes
and events, but also to give their input in
discussions and polls. The Institut is now
connected to the local blogosphere and continues
to build relationships with bloggers interested in
the Institut’s offerings. The staff is trained and the
success has continued as Goethe-Institut
Washington’s online presence continues to grow.

5. Further Questions?
We look forward to speaking with you again soon!
Roman Rien
Business Development Abraham Harrison
www.abrahamharrison.com
rrien@abrahamharrison.com