Objective

The driving ideas behind Smile Train’s Instagram strategy are to amplify the voices of those affected by clefts, showcase the life-changing impact of our work, and build a global community that inspires action for our cause. Ultimately, we aim to move beyond traditional charity narratives by empowering individuals with clefts to share their own journeys, fostering dignity, representation, and awareness.

For 2024, specifically, our key objectives were to increase engagement, expand our reach, and drive meaningful impact.

The results have been remarkable—growth in followers, increased engagement rates, and more direct impact through fundraising and advocacy. By harnessing the power of Instagram, we’ve turned awareness into action, ensuring that more children worldwide receive the life-changing cleft care they deserve.

Strategy

To achieve our goals, we prioritized storytelling, interactive engagement, and community-driven content to ensure Smile Train’s impact was not just seen but felt.

Plan of Action & Execution

1. Authentic Storytelling: We centered patient stories to give those with clefts a global platform to share their journeys in their own words. Through Instagram Reels, carousels, and first-person narratives, we highlighted not just surgeries but real people’s emotional and social transformations.
2. Engaging Content Formats: We leaned into Instagram’s most effective tools—short-form videos—to craft behind-the-scenes stories from medical partners and user-generated content from our global network.
3. Strategic Partnerships & Collaborations: We worked with influencers, brand partners, and ambassadors to expand our reach. By featuring well-known voices who aligned with our values, we reached new audiences and increased visibility.
4. Fundraising & Call-to-Action Optimization: We leveraged Instagram’s donation tools to create compelling fundraisers tied to impact-driven milestones, such as funding surgeries for specific patients.

Key Features That Made Our Work Unique

• Empowerment Over Pity: Unlike traditional charity storytelling, we positioned children and adults with clefts as heroes of their own stories, not just passive recipients of aid.
• Localized Storytelling: We showcased our sustainable, local model by featuring content directly from medical partners in different countries, highlighting their expertise and impact.
• Consistent Engagement: By responding to comments, resharing community posts, and using interactive stickers, we fostered a two-way conversation, making followers feel like part of our work.

Challenges & How We Overcame Them

• Combatting Misconceptions: Many people associate cleft care solely with surgery. We reframed the conversation through educational posts about speech therapy, nutrition, and other long-term cleft care needs.
• Algorithm Shifts: With Instagram constantly evolving, we adapted by testing different formats, increasing video content, and optimizing our posting times based on analytics.
• Global Coordination: Our work spans over 70 countries, making real-time storytelling complex. We overcame this by working closely with regional teams to source timely, culturally relevant content.

By focusing on authentic storytelling, interactive engagement, and education, we have made our Instagram into more than a social platform—it has become a catalyst for awareness, action, and lasting impact for the global cleft community.

Results

Our 2024 Instagram strategy exceeded expectations, driving unprecedented engagement and awareness for Smile Train’s work. With 29,585,424 impressions, a 221% increase YoY, we successfully expanded our reach, ensuring that more people around the world were exposed to the life-changing impact of cleft care.

One of our primary objectives was to amplify authentic patient voices and shift perceptions around clefts. The overwhelming positive response to our patient-led content, with increased shares and comments, demonstrated that our storytelling resonated deeply with our audience. Our engaging campaigns, patient takeovers, and expert-led discussions significantly boosted engagement as well, fostering a stronger sense of community and connection.

Additionally, we aimed to drive action—whether through donations, advocacy, or social sharing. By optimizing Instagram fundraising tools and clear calls-to-action, we saw a direct impact on donations and campaign participation, proving that our content was not just engaging but also actionable.

The success of our efforts is reflected not only in numbers but also in the personal stories we elevated, the conversations we sparked, and the lives we helped transform. By leveraging Instagram’s full potential, we turned awareness into impact in 2024, making it one of our most successful years yet.

Media