Spreading Awareness with Paid Social Media

Insights

SCCADVASA originally came to Online Optimism in 2021 because they needed to expand their reach beyond their existing audience and didn’t have the internal capacity to manage complex paid social campaigns. As a statewide coalition supporting 13 domestic violence programs across South Carolina, they needed messaging and imagery that could resonate with diverse audiences, from survivors seeking help to community members wanting to support prevention efforts.

The annual challenge in this partnership is creating campaigns that are both impactful and sensitive. The messaging and imagery needs to:

• Educate people about what constitutes domestic violence and sexual assault,
• Avoid triggering imagery or victim-blaming language,
• And be inclusive of race, gender, sexuality, ability, age, and more identities.

Each campaign to date, from 2021 to 2025, has brought unique goals and audiences, requiring Online Optimism to adapt the approach while maintaining SCCADVASA’s trusted voice.

The creative we develop for SCCADVASA’s campaigns is largely built on customized stock imagery. We’re very intentional about finding imagery that reflects the diverse makeup of the campaigns’ audiences and language groups, so that the ads can speak to people of all backgrounds within those communities. Every year, we also find a way to tweak our customizations with new colors, patterns, and graphic approaches, keeping the creative fresh while still recognizably SCCADVASA-branded.

Beyond social media, our team adapts our campaign messaging and creative for billboards and newspaper ads, creating dozens of additional designs across multiple sizes and styles each year. We maintain visual cohesion across all touchpoints while ensuring each format is optimized for its specific medium.

Throughout the campaigns, we are in close communication with SCCADVASA’s team, adjusting as needed to ensure the campaigns align with their mission and current initiatives.