#UpLyftStudents Social Media Campaign

Meet the Team

Nora Ward: Account Executive
Nora is a Communications Studies major and emerging marketing
professional! During her time as a Communications major, she
presented her research at Creative and Research Day from her COMS
254 Qualitative Methods class. She even earned an honorable mention in
Writing for a Real World Issue 16 for her work on dating apps and
microaggressions. Nora is excited to be working with Lyft and helping
their campaign.
Olivia Farber: Account Manager
Olivia is an aspiring public relations professional. She is currently in
her final year as a student at the University of San Francisco, where
she is pursuing a degree in Communications Studies and a minor in
Public Relations. She has developed skills in qualitative and
quantitative research and worked on several PR projects for the
Communication Studies and Advertising Department. Olivia is thrilled
to be working with Lyft on this social media campaign.
Leah Clatterbuck: Account Manager
Leah is an up-and-coming communications and advertising
professional. She is a junior at the University of San Francisco, earning
her double major in Communication Studies and Advertising. She has
presented communication research at the International Conference on
Applied Linguistics and has skills in qualitative research, advertising
strategies, and social media for PR skills. She is looking forward to
assist Lyft in creating a successful social media campaign.
Aaron Ortega: Account Manager
Aaron Ortega is a communications and marketing professional with
over three years of experience. While obtaining his B.A. in
Communication Studies at the University of San Francisco, he worked
as the Marketing Coordinator for Ryle’s Rides, an independant classic
car dealership. He is looking forward to using his newly learned
public relations skills and tactics and implementing them in the Lyft
campaign.
1

Executive Summary

Lyft provides ride-sharing services throughout the United States and Canada. The app allows
users to pick from a variety of services such as shared rides, communal scooters, and communal
bikes. Our client prides itself on its community-driven mission to connect passengers with
drivers who want to ensure the safety of their passengers. Lyft seeks to create a united
community of vibrant passengers and drivers who love their city and want to explore their city.
Although the app caters mostly to a young and affluent demographic in urban areas, our client
cares deeply for the entirety of the Lyft community. Lyft reflects its commitment to issues of
social justice by creating campaigns that use Lyft to promote a social cause (e.g., discounted
rides to voting polls, discounted rides to grocery stores, discounted rides to job interviews). Our
client consistently vocalizes their support of the LGBT+ community, immigrants, and diversity.
They showcase the diversity of backgrounds of drivers and riders alike to highlight how each
person adds to the progressive, vibrant, and safe Lyft community.
The company, however, faces public backlash for issues surrounding sexual assault, harassment,
and background checks. It has come to Team NOLA’s attention that people utilize Lyft’s social
media platforms to comment and vocalize their problems on bad driver-passenger interactions.
Team NOLA noticed a particular amount of disdain and spiteful comments on Lyft’s Instagram
about how drivers disregarded customers safety.
After a careful evaluation of Lyft’s social media, we believe we have crafted a campaign that
will encapsulate Lyft’s community-driven mission of safety and support for those enrolled in a
higher educational institution.
The following documents details information on our client, brand voice analysis of our client and
their competitor, an audience analysis, a SWOT analysis. We also list below our goals and
objectives of our campaign and how we plan to implement these, as well as our budget and
calendar for #UpLyftStudents. Finally, we provide a method of how we will evaluate the
campaign.

2

Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Client Background 4
Client Brand Voice Analysis 5
Social Media Analysis 6
Competitor Analysis 8
SWOT Analysis 10
Audience Analysis 11
Goals and Objectives 12
Strategy and Tactics 12
Budget 13
Calendar 14
Evaluation 15
Conclusion 16
References 17
Appendix 18
3

Introduction
The purpose of this report is to conduct a social media audit and analysis on the current
situation of ride-share company Lyft and to propose the social media campaign
“#UpLyftStudents” to increase Lyft use and social media engagement among university
students. The goals of the campaign are to demonstrate our client’s support of those enrolled
in a higher institution, increase positive sentiment on their social media platforms, and
display Lyft’s concern for the safety of their passengers.
In preparing and strategizing for the campaign, we audited Lyft’s social media presence and
conducted analyses identifying sentiment, opportunities, and threats, as well as comparing
Lyft’s largest competitor Uber in order to differentiate Lyft and have this campaign stand
out. Through analytics, we found that there was a lot of negative sentiment surrounding Lyft
regarding safety and driver-rider interactions. This led to the idea of the campaign to
encourage Lyft users to engage with the company and share positive experiences, fostering
more trust between the company and its users.
Client Background

Lyft is a ride-sharing app that operates in 640 cities in the United States as well as 9 cities in
Canada that launched in 2012. The company became instantly recognizable with their pink,
furry mustaches attached to the front bumper of the cars; however, the famous mustaches
retired in 2016 and were replaced by innovations to the app. Today the app offers
ridesharing services, bike rides, and scooter-sharing. Young adults aged 18-29 are the
primary audience for Lyft, with adults aged 30-49 years old follow behind this age group
(Pew Center Research, 2016).
The company values its ability to be yourself, uplift others, and making it happen. Lyft prides
itself on its mission statement to improve “people’s lives with the world’s best
transportation.” They live up to their vision statement by providing “ride by ride, we’re
changing the way our world works. We imagine a world where cities feel small again. Where
transportation and tech bring people together, instead of apart. We see the future as
community driven and it starts with you.”
4

Client Brand Voice Analysis

Lyft’s social media centers around the community of its drivers and users. The brand
showcases the diversity of the 640 cities it serves by posting the unique stories of
marginalized and underrepresented voices. Their pink and colorful social media channels
display a community-focused, happy, and inclusive brand. In comparison to Uber’s social
media, Lyft’s feed feels more intimate and connected to their community and the voices that
make up that community. Lyft’s brand voice is inclusive, personal, and intimate while
remaining fun, silly, and adventurous.
The tone of their Instagram is colorful and playful featuring Baby Boomers, Gen X,
Millennials, and older Gen Zs in urban areas using Lyft’s many features. The account is not
afraid to be playful and use tasteful “memes” or funny captions to celebrate a holiday or
promote their brand. They have a few videos with drivers telling their life stories but mainly
focus on pictures that showcase the diversity of the app’s users. Lyft’s most successful
content on Instagram demonstrates the company as fun, lively, trendy, aesthetic, and mobile.
Lyft posts about 3-4 times a week on Instagram to stay relevant, but does not post
overwhelming or annoying content. They typically will not respond to any of the comments
on Instagram. On Twitter, the ride-sharing app will post 3-4 times a week (sometimes
posting 2 tweets on their main timeline). However, the @Lyft Twitter account replies
constantly (every hour almost) to concerns or bad experiences with the apps. These tweets
do not show up on everyone’s feed as they are responses to tweets and show up in the
“tweets and replies” section. On Facebook, they post about 3-5 times a month at the most.
They frequently respond to users on Facebook in the comment section. Lyft will only use a
personalized shortened URL link on Twitter and Facebook.
5

Social Media Analysis

Twitter
@Lyft
- 291k followers
- 97.9k tweets
@AskLyft
- 80.5k followers
- 356.9k tweets
On Twitter, the content consists mainly of news
about the company and links to blog posts. They also post
about social causes, for example, tweeting about their
partnership with @RAINN, an anti-sexual assault
organization, and working with @Afrotech to improve the
representation of Black Lyft drivers and those in leadership
roles.
Instagram
@Lyft
- 166k followers
- 94 posts
On Instagram, the content consists of fun, colorful
pictures of people using Lyft’s services such as scooters and
bikes. There are also inspiring pictures and videos about
Lyft drivers who were able to improve their lives through
Lyft.
Facebook
"Lyft"
- 638k likes
On Facebook, the content is similar to Twitter, with
news and blog posts about the company, but there is more of
a focus on safety and providing support to users. Although
Facebook is the most liked of their social media platforms,
average posts get 100-200 likes, compared to Instagram,
where posts get over 500 likes on average. Twitter has the
lowest engagement, where average posts get fewer than 100
likes.
6

Past Campaigns
“Undercover Lyft”
Lyft created a Youtube series with celebrities
disguised as Lyft drivers to surprise the riders in
2016. The videos feature celebrities such as DJ
Khaled, Shaquille O’Neal, and Demi Lovato. The
campaign received between 5 million to 19 million
views making it their most successful campaign on
their Youtube channel; moreover, it was Lyft’s most
successful campaign in terms of views and
engagement.
“#RideWith” series
Lyft curates the #RideWith series of Instagram videos and post featuring Lyft drivers
to establish a more personal connection. This series illustrates Lyft’s devotion to their
community-driven values and commitment to the diversity of the company. #RideWith is a
relatively new trend and has received approximately 10,000 views on Instagram.

7

Competitor Analysis

Introduction
Uber is a ride-sharing company founded in 2007 in San
Francisco, now available in 853 cities in 83 countries
worldwide. Uber dominates the market of ride-sharing
services and is Lyft’s main competitor. Despite the
various criticisms and controversies the company has
received, it remains one of the largest companies in the
industry.
Brand Voice
Uber, the first and most prominent ride-sharing app service, is a leader in the industry and
maintains a professional, and concise brand voice. Additionally, Uber features content that
aims to foster the personal connection between the passengers and drivers in relation to the
company.
Industry and Social Media Area
Ride-share companies tend to focus on safety, utility, and connection, and Uber is no
exception. As the most notable ride-sharing app service, Uber holds a bigger following than
Lyft. Uber utilizes the following social media platforms:
- Instagram: 992k followers
- Twitter: 1M followers
- Facebook: 22M likes
Content
Uber maintains a professional and clear brand voice with its content. However, Uber
incorporates user-generated content featuring screenshotted tweets from users on their
Instagram with positive experiences. Uber promotes their international status by featuring
pictures of “jet set” adventures on airplanes (as Uber picks up passengers at the airport).
Uber tends to flaunt its status and influence as a company, but not the power of the
community. Lyft is able to balance and promote both its power as a company but also the
diverse and vibrant passenger and driver community.
8

Audience Reaction
Many reactions to Uber’s posts are negative, usually about users being overcharged, having a
bad experience during a ride, or just general complaining about Uber as a company. They
also have low engagement rates, despite having one million followers on Twitter, most of
their posts range from 20 to 150 likes, which is very low, considering the size of the
company.

9

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
● Lyft has a strong following on all social media platforms with over 160,000 followers
on each platform.
● Lyft has a strong community-based brand voice and represents diverse individuals,
giving them a lot of brand awareness.
● Lyft utilizes its platforms to build customer outreach and trust.
Weaknesses
● Lyft’s promotional posts are falling short due to it feeling inauthentic or taking away
from the overall brand voice.
● Lyft has had harsh media and press over women’s reporting the lack of safety when
using the app.
● Lyft is currently missing stronger influencers to represent or support their brand,
which would drive up the brand’s credibility and reputation.
Opportunities
● Lyft has the opportunity to reach a wide target audience, such as students who prefer
to stay out late and need a safe way to get home after public transportation closes.
● Since there is a negative association with the company regarding sexual harassment
allegations, Lyft has an opportunity to socialize the app’s safety features and the
driver’s background checks to ensure safety.
Threats
● Competitors like Uber have a larger audience and continue to innovate.
● Lyft is being criticized for facing lawsuits about sexual harassment and assault
between drivers and riders.

10

Audience Analysis
The primary target audience for the #UpLyftStudents campaign is college students roughly
between the ages of 17 and 22. Team NOLA and Lyft recognize that the average college
student age can range anywhere from 17 to 40 or older; therefore, we also propose that the
campaign span for those enrolled in two year junior colleges, four year institutions, and
graduate schools (New America, 2017).
Instagram is a particularly popular social media app especially among emerging adults ages
18-24, and is used by 67% of young people ages 18-29 in the United States (Pew Center
Research, 2019). As part of our campaign, we will utilize online influencers as well as
celebrities to reach the young adults on Instagram. Marketing Hub (2017) conducted an
online survey reveals that influencer marketing is the “fastest growing online online
customer acquisition method”. It is for this reason Team NOLA believes that the social
media influencers working in tandem with the on campus ambassadors will lead to an
increase of Lyft usage among college students.
Geographically, Lyft provides services to approximately 640 cities throughout the U.S. and 9
cities in Canada. As of 2018, Lyft serves 23 millions users who are mostly located in
metropolitan areas and the places surrounding those areas (BusinessofApps, 2018). Half of
all American adults (53%) have used ride-hailing apps, however one-third (33%) have never
heard of these services (Pew Center Research, 2019). Ridesharing apps are high in urban
areas, but Pew Center Research (2019) reports that ridesharing usage is consistently low in
rural areas (see Appendix A). Moreover, 43.5% users of ridesharing apps consistently are
more affluent making more than $75,000 a year (Business of Apps, 2018).
Understanding the psychographics of college students is essential to Lyft in order to grab the
attention of this demanding user-base. Among young adults, ride-hailing usage is particularly
high among college students and graduates (see Appendix B). Pew Center Research (2019)
reports 39% of college graduates use ride-hailing services. Ridesharing users are more likely
to view ride-hailing services with mostly positive sentiment, especially concerning the ease of
access of the app. The convenience of the app, college students not carrying cash, price
comparison to traditional taxis, and eliminating drunk driving are all factors that drive
college students to use ridesharing apps.

11

Goals, Objectives, Strategies & Tactics
Goal 1:
Show support and encouragement for people enrolled in a higher education institution.
A. Objective 1: Increase the number of rides for students by 30% during the 2020-2021
academic school year (August 2020-May 2021).
a. Strategy: Offer discounted rides back to campus (2 year community college
or a 4 year university)
i. Tactic: When signed up with a valid student email address and when
the end destination is a university/college campus, the ride will be at a
15% discount.
Goal 2:
Increase positive sentiment on Lyft, especially in the comment section of Instagram and
Facebook.
A. Objective 2a: Increase positive sentiment in the Instagram comments by 15% in a two
month period.
B. Objective 2b: Increase positive sentiment in the Facebook comments 5% in a two
month period.
a. Strategy: Actively using media outlets to promote the hashtag
#UpLyftStudents.
i. Tactic: Post a short video introduction of celebrity influencers
explaining #UpLyftStudents and how to contribute to the hashtag and
get the promotion.
Goal 3:
Create a brand image of safety and concern for the community.
A. Objective 3: Generate 100 posts of user-generated content with the hashtag
#UpLyftStudents in the first month.
a. Strategy: Implement campus ambassadors to introduce #UpLyftStudents to
university students.
i. Tactic: Hosting tabling events on college campuses with Lyft
merchandise and incentives (e.g., free pizza, air fresheners, pink
bandanas, stickers, pink necklaces, Lyft water bottles, tote bags, etc.).
ii. Tactic: Repost user generated content photo series on Instagram and
Facebook with the hashtag #UpLyftStudents.
iii. Tactic: Create instagram stories using contrancted designs.

12

Budget
Cost Rational
$80,000 Personnel (NOLA)
$100,000 Influencer Expense
$20,000 Media Costs
$5,000 Incentives (Tabling Items)
$5,000 Administrative Expenses
$10,000 Contract Work
Total: $220,000

13

Calendar

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7
Research
Competitor analysis
Create Budget
Social Media Research
Influencers
Send out contracts
Create social media
calendar

Finalize Contracts
Pay Fees
Introduce hashtag on SM
Track SM interaction
Begin influencer
strategies

Continue implementing
SM strategies

Incorporate school
ambassadors

Evaluation of sentiment
Evaluation of campaign
at the end of campaign

14

Evaluation

To measure the effectiveness of the campaign, we will use Lyft Analytics and other analytical
tools to evaluate our objectives.
Objective 1: Increase the number of rides for students by 30% during the 2020-2021
academic school year (August 2020-May 2021).
● Use Excel sheet keeping track of number of rides of people registered with a student
email during the school year.
Objective 2a: Increase positive sentiment in the Instagram comments by 15% in a two month
period.
● Use Brandwatch Analytics to evaluate Instagram sentiment, comparing before the
campaign to after a two month period.
Objective 2b: Increase positive sentiment in the Facebook comments by 5% in a two month
period.
● Use Brandwatch Analytics to evaluate Facebook sentiment, comparing before the
campaign to after a two month period.
Objective 3: Generate 100 posts of user-generated content with the hashtag.
● For Twitter hashtags, use Brandwatch Analytics to track volume of posts with the
hashtag.
● For Instagram hashtags, click on the hashtag within Instagram to see volume of posts.

15

Conclusion
In conclusion, we believe by implementing the #UpLyftStudents through campus
ambassadors and celebrity influencers, we can encourage more students to use Lyft to
increase sales while also creating a stronger image of caring for the community and
promoting safety for students. After conducting a social media analysis on the current state
of Lyft, we found that they were lacking in featuring younger generations, especially
students, despite this being one of the largest demographics of Lyft users. We also found a
lot of negative sentiment regarding scandals surrounding Lyft, especially about sexual assault
and Lyft not caring for the safety of riders. Our campaign supports those in higher education
by recognizing how having a safe ride home can be expensive, and through the promotion,
we hope to promote the safety of university students by offering them a special discount.
Over the seven weeks of the campaign, we hope to achieve our objectives of increasing
positive sentiment in the comment sections of Instagram and Facebook, and have more
people, especially students, download Lyft and view it in a positive light.

16

References
Beer, J. (2019, March 29). How Lyft built its $24 billion brand image with pop culture.
Retrieved from
https://www.fastcompany.com/90327038/how-lyft-built-its-24-billion-brand-image-with-
pop-culture.
Greiner, A., McFarland, M., Sherman, I., & Tse, J. (2019, March 28). A history of Lyft, from
fuzzy pink mustaches to global ride share giant. Retrieved from
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/03/business/lyft-history/index.html.
Grocer, S. (2019, April 11). How Uber and Lyft Compare, in Four Charts. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/business/dealbook/uber-vs-lyft-ipo-financials.html.
Iqbal, M. (2019, April 29). Lyft Revenue and Usage Statistics (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/lyft-statistics/.
Lyft Mission, Vision & Values. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.comparably.com/companies/lyft/mission.
Lebowitz, S., & Shontell, A. (2017, October 18). Lyft's cofounders met on Facebook and lived
on opposite coasts - here's how they launched a $7.5 billion startup long-distance.
Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-john-zimmer-and-logan-green-started-lyft-2017-1
0
Lyft, Inc. (n.d.). Become a Driver or Get a Ride Now. Retrieved from https://www.lyft.com/.
Lyft. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/lyft.
Lyft. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/lyft.
McGrath, F. (2017, August 16). The Demographics of Uber's US Users: GlobalWebIndex.
Retrieved from https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-day/uber-demographics/.
Perrin, A., & Anderson, M. (2019, April 10). Share of U.S. adults using social media, including
Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/10/share-of-u-s-adults-using-social-medi
a-including-facebook-is-mostly-unchanged-since-2018/.
Reinhart, R. J. (2018, July 25). Snapshot: Who Uses Ride-Sharing Services in the U.S.?
Retrieved from
https://news.gallup.com/poll/237965/snapshot-uses-ride-sharing-services.aspx.
Smith, A. (2016, May 19). Who in America uses ride-hailing apps like Uber or Lyft. Retrieved
from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/05/19/on-demand-ride-hailing-apps/.
The Remarkable Rise of Influencer Marketing [INFOGRAPHIC]. (2019, March 19). Retrieved
from https://influencermarketinghub.com/the-rise-of-influencer-marketing/.
Uber by the Numbers: Users & Drivers Statistics, Demographics, and Fun Facts. (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://muchneeded.com/uber-statistics/.
Uber SWOT Analysis 2019: SWOT analysis of Uber. (2019, November 28). Retrieved from
https://bstrategyhub.com/swot-analysis-of-uber-2019-uber-swot-analysis.
17

Appendix
Appendix A
Appendix B

18

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