OAC Blog:

Through the OAC blog, we strive to tell the “why” behind our work as an organization, humanize obesity, strengthen OAC’s presence and support individuals in their health journeys. With this, we strive to publish 2-4 posts each week, making sure to feature a variety of rich and balanced content that includes:

  • OAC news and updates
  • Industry updates and hot-button issues
  • Obesity research and weight management education
  • Member stories
  • General health and wellness education
  • Thought-provoking posts
  • Advocacy-related calls to action
  • Getting more involved

 

Blog Guidelines and Style Points:

  • Blog posts should follow the following structure:
  • Title
  • Introduction
  • Body content (broken down into sections)
  • Conclusion (with supporting links when appropriate)
  • Include a feature image, hero image, and imagery in posts when appropriate to help break up text.
  • Keep a casual, friendly and informal tone that resonates with the average reader while still establishing OAC’s authority.
  • Keep blog posts brief (between 300 – 600 words) but specific and useful. Get to the point as quickly as possible without overly descriptive language or unnecessary information.
  • Guide readers to additional information when appropriate by linking to other OAC resources on our website or outside sources (when necessary).

 

 

Your Weight Matters Blog:

Through the Your Weight Matters Blog, we strive to provide general health and wellness information to support individuals in their journeys with weight management. With this, we strive to publish 3-5 posts each week on topics that include:

  • Nutrition
  • Exercise
  • Behavioral health
  • Mental health
  • Addressing weight and working with a healthcare provider

 

Blog Guidelines and Style Points:

  • Blog posts should follow the following structure:
  • Title
  • Introduction
  • Body content (broken down into sections)
  • Conclusion (with supporting links when appropriate)
  • Include a feature image and imagery within the post when appropriate.
  • Keep a casual, friendly and informal tone that resonates with the average reader interested in weight, health and wellness education.
  • Keep blog posts brief (between 300-600 words) but specific and useful. Get to the point as quickly as possible without overly descriptive language or unnecessary information.
  • Guide readers to additional information when appropriate by linking to other areas of the campaign website and OAC resources when appropriate.
  • If referencing the OAC website or linking to an OAC resource on the YWM Campaign Blog, refer to OAC as the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), Producer of the Your Weight Matters

 

OAC Newsletters

 

Email Newsletters:

OAC uses email communication to connect with supporters and followers based on their specific interests. We produce five main email communication pieces shown below:

  • OAC Insider – Our organizational newsletter with OAC updates, news, member stories and more. This newsletter is published once per month.
  • Wellness Matters – Our health and wellness newsletter with general health education (nutrition, exercise, etc.) This newsletter is published biweekly.
  • OAC Voices in Action – Our newsletter for those interested in opportunities to get more involved and make a difference. This newsletter is published bi-monthly.
  • Events and Education Alert – A special alert for those interested in getting updates about upcoming events and educational resources. This alert is sent on an as-needed basis.
  • OAC Action Alert – A special alert for those interested in taking action on key issues that arise in obesity (weight bias, access to obesity healthcare, etc.). This alert is sent on an as-needed basis.

When writing about the OAC’s specific newsletters, the full name of the newsletter must be used in all references. In addition, the full name must be italicized in all references.

  • Example: All individuals who opt-in to get connected to OAC will also receive the monthly issue of OAC Insider for general news and updates.

 

Email Writing Guidelines:

  • From Name: Ensure that all emails appear as [From: Obesity Action Coalition] and that the [From] email address is relative to the topic of the email. Ex: membership@obesityaction.org or convention@obesityaction.org.
  • Subject Line: Subject lines should be brief but specific and should follow sentence case, taking into consideration proper nouns. Ex: Take action now on the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act!
  • Email Body: Email content should be clear, concise and relative to its purpose. Here are some general guidelines:
    • Put the most important information first.
    • Add imagery when helpful, always using alt text to describe an image for people who cannot see it.
    • Avoid unnecessary links and information that weighs the email down.
    • Rather than adding more content, drive readers back to the OAC website where they can learn more information and get engaged.
  • Call to Action: Include a clear call to action or next step that is obvious to the reader, either by way of bold text, a button, or a call-out box.
  • Footer: All email footers should include the following:
    • Obesity Action Coalition (OAC)
    • Address and phone number
    • Email: info@obesityaction.org
    • Links to OAC social media accounts
    • Unsubscribe link
    • ‘Update My Preferences’ link for readers to update what types of information they are interested in receiving

 

 

Social Media

We use social media to build relationships with our audience through our rich and diverse content, which includes: our news and updates, events, educational resources, engagement, donor-specific and promotional content.

We’re careful and deliberate with the content that we share on our social channels. Our audience and goals are always our main focus, and we strive to keep a balance across our social media accounts.

The OAC has a presence on most major social media platforms:

Other brands and initiatives with social media presences: 

Stop Weight Bias

Your Weight Matters Convention 

Obesity Care Week 

 

Guidelines

Our writing for social media should generally follow the style points outlined in the Voice and tone and Grammar and OAC Style sections. Here are some additional pointers:

  • Write short, but smart
  • Some social media platforms have a character limit; others don’t. But for the most part, we keep our social media copy short.
    • Twitter: 280 characters.
    • Facebook: No limit, but aim for 2-3 short sentences.
    • Instagram: No limit, but aim for 1-2 short sentences.
    • LinkedIn: No limit, but aim for 2-3 short sentences.
  • Adhere to the OAC’s style guidelines, use correct grammar and punctuation—and avoid excessive exclamation points.
  • We try to avoid posting the same content on every social media platform. While some updates should be shared everywhere, we tailor the message to best reach the audiences using each platform. Facebook is used for community-building. Instagram is used to share visual content. Twitter is great for quick updates. LinkedIn is a place for professionals. 
  • Always include imagery on anything that we post.
  • Always include a link or call to action on the post.
  • Include hashtags to highlight content, campaigns, events, etc.
  • Do not capitalize letters in URLs (Example: obesityaction.org/library NOT ObesityAction.org/Library

 

Hashtags

We employ hashtags deliberately. We use them to promote our action program, events, awareness or special campaigns, connect with users and highlight topics. For example:

  • #OACAction
  • #OCW2020
  • #YWM2020
  • #ChildhoodObesityAwarenessMonth
  • #Obesity
  • #Healthcare

 

Social Media Metrics

The goals of our social media are to promote awareness, build communities, inspire action, share our impact and drive donations. We can measure how we are meeting these goals with each social media platform’s metrics. 

Below is how each platform measures metrics. 

Facebook 

  • Likes
  • Comments
  • Shares
  • Impressions – Number of times post was on screen 
  • Reach – Number of people who saw the post at least once 
  • Engagement  – Number of times people engaged with post (reactions, comments, shares, views and clicks)

Instagram

  • Likes
  • Comments
  • Shares
  • Saves
  • Views – How many users watched the video for at least three seconds 
  • Interactions – How many users viewed profile, visited website, etc. 
  • Impressions – How many user accounts were reached 

Twitter

  • Impressions – Times Tweet was seen on Twitter 
  • Engagements – Total number of times a user has interacted with a Tweet. This includes all clicks anywhere on the Tweet (including hashtags, links, avatar, username, and Tweet expansion), retweets, replies, follows and likes.
  • Detail Expands – Times people viewed the details about this Tweet
  • New Followers
  • Profile Visits 
  • Link Clicks 
  • Video Metrics – Unique Views, Views, Audience Retention