Meet Our Client
Horizon Services, Inc. provides alcohol, drug, and mental health services to adults and adolescents. HSI’s prevention programs – like Project Eden – help youth develop healthy relationships and live substance-free lives. Their team members work in the community helping families, businesses, and public agencies recognize and develop responses to SUD which create safer and healthier neighborhoods.
Horizon Services has been serving the Bay Area for more than 40 years. Over this time, HSI has expanded its services to help women, provide co-education to both men and women, provide detoxification, and reach youth and those in the LGBTQ community.
All this experience means HSI can help all kinds of people recover from substance use disorder and determine what level of care and array of support services each person needs to start a life of recovery. When it comes to Project Eden, HSI has helped hundreds of at-risk and substance-using youth develop positive coping skills and a sense of purpose and changed the lives of countless families that may have had a worse path were it not for expert care and support.
The Marketing Challenge
Horizon Services was having trouble promoting its Project Eden youth services online. Despite having extensive connections to local schools, they weren’t filling their programs with youth clients.
Previously, Horizon Services hired Beacon to promote their two adult services locations. Based on the success of these profiles, they wanted Beacon’s team to create a 3rd account, this time focused on promoting their youth services
But copying the branding and messaging of their previous accounts wouldn’t work. That’s because the previous accounts were focused on adults. In contrast, the new Project Eden account was for those aged 12-24. So Project Eden needed completely custom-made branding and messaging.
The main challenge was getting in front of at-risk youth and their families on social media. How could they capture attention and translate it into youth clients for their programs? That included at-risk LGBTQIA+ youth. Horizon Services wanted this community to know that they have a safe space to get treatment and learn more about SUDs.
The second challenge dealt with educating their audience on the harms of SUDs and how to deal with peer and media pressure. Though popular media would make it seem that every teenager uses substances, it was important for Horizon that their Instagram content dispel this myth.
Threading these two needles with a new, branded Instagram account and posts was a challenge Beacon’s team took on. It was our goal to make sure Horizon was happy and that the new content attracted new clients.
How We Got Results
To take Horizon’s dream and make it a reality, Beacon Media + Marketing spent a lot of time on visual branding and content for at-risk youth. Once the account was ready to go, the team created awareness and educational content to produce results.
Goal 1: Create a Branded Instagram Account from Scratch
As our social media strategist Amanda Heath said, “This new account was going to need a completely different look and feel than what we had initially strategized for their adult programs. It was going to need its own brand and identity.”
Our team knew from experience that using the same branding on a youth-focused account wouldn’t work. So they got started on creating 100% new branding for this new account. And that meant new color guides, fonts, and messaging.
The strategy was to use bold and vibrant images and colors. This would appeal to youth, and lend itself to the major themes Horizon wanted to cover in terms of awareness and education.
The end result was that the posts Beacon created generated over a million post impressions in less than 90 days.
Goal 2: Gaining Widespread Attention with Content
In addition to the visual branding, it was important that the messaging resonated with youth.
To this end, our social media team decided to use witty and bold (but relatable) messaging, such as:
“Light Up — the room with confidence.”
“Reasons you need to drink to sleep — (1) you don’t and (2) you don’t but in blue”
This is another reason the new content hit big, reaching 1.08M unique accounts in 90 days.
Goal 3: Myth-Busting Content to Inspire Change
Gaining attention is great for broadening the reach of a profile’s content. But attention alone isn’t enough to attract new clients.
That’s why Beacon began creating educational content, like the following:
“Everyone Vapes? Think again – 90% of high school students reported they had not used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days. You’re not alone in choosing a healthy lifestyle.”
It’s this educational content that got Horizon Services nearly 2,000 profile clicks in 90 days. Dispelling common myths inspires youth to learn more and seek help if they’re struggling to quit using a substance.
With the first 90 days completed and their efforts bearing fruit, Horizon Services is well-positioned to serve the entire East Bay community of at-risk youth.
“I could not be more thrilled with the outcome of this project. I’m so proud of the hard work we’ve done and the foundation it has given us to set this client’s program up for success. “
Amanda Heath, Social Media Strategist Beacon Media + Marketing
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Give us a call at (907) 563-6008 or fill out the form below for a free consultation.
