1. CAAS’s We are Aviators Facebook Journey
Mavis Chung
Senior Manager, Manpower Development
Aviation Industry Division
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore

2. Overview CAAS’s youth outreach initiatives We are Aviators
Lessons learnt on engaging youth through social media

3. Youth outreach initiatives

4. To develop a passion for aviation in our youth
Outreach objectives
To develop a passion for aviation in our youth
To educate youth about Singapore Aviation, its careers, and its role in nation-building
To raise the entry rate of students from aviation courses into the industry

5. How have we been trying to reach 280,000 students and educators a year?
Why the youth?
Children develop aspirations and dreams at a young age, and consider these in their education specialisations
Who specifically?
Secondary school level and above (13 and above)
Student influencers
Our approach
Exposure to aviation work environments
Creating platforms for industry to engage with students
Fostering aviation themed-student clubs
Enabling partners to support outreach
Engagement
Aviation Learning Journeys
Aviation Open House
Social Media
Media Campaign
Entrenching interests
Air Scouts
Inspiring Aviators series of talks
Youth Aviation Ambassadors
Integrating aviation into curricula
Aviation in Schools Initiative
Encouraging partner-led aviation activities
Aviation Outreach Fund
Empowering educators
Aviation Lesson Toolkits
Aviation Immersion Programme

6. How could we do more?

7. We are Aviators Our social media engagement strategy

8. As part of our youth outreach strategy, CAAS created the We are Aviators Facebook page in September 2011 to engage youths on all things aviation
Increase information flow and access on aviation youth outreach
Strengthen CAAS and the aviation industry’s interaction with youth online
Provide a platform for the youth to engage each other on their common passion in aviation
Objectives
Youths and young working adults aged between 17 to 25 years old
Individuals with an interest in aviation
Target audience
8-10
POSTS
Per month

9. A Facebook engagement plan was launched in 2015 and we achieved a significant increase of 220% in fan base. As of Nov 2016, WAA has over 34,000 fans.
Over the course of the year, we’ve published 147 posts (an average of about 4 posts a week.
This year, our posts have reached a total of 6,243,405 (an average of 22,298 a day).
On average 3.19% of users reached engage with our content – which is above the industry engagement standard of 1% to 3%

10. Social Media enabled us to reach our target audience a lot more cost effectively1 2
Our most engaged fans fit the profile of our target audience: between the ages of 17 to 25 years old who are studying or have studied aviation and who are interested in or are currently pursuing a career in aviation.
A significant number of engaged fans are women
The number of female fans grew from over 5,000 early this year to 8,553 (40% increase) 3
Majority of the page fans are Male (75%) aged between 25 to 34 years old (36%) followed by 18 to 24 year old males (33%).

11. Hashtags help readers orientate themselves within the page, enabling them to better participate in content creation and find the information they want
#DreamOfAviation
Inspiring messages that aim to entice the youth in signing up for a career in aviation
#FindYourBearings
Tips and infographics aimed at helping aviation aspirants
#AviationAspirations
Crowdsource fan stories, images and questions related to the aviation industry
#AviationTrivia
Aviation trivia factoids and engagement contests
#OnTheRadar
Relevant aviation news items and press releases
#AviationFlightMarker
Important events and milestones in aviation history

12. For contests, GIF games have been very popular low-entry activities and have helped to greatly increase page reach and engagement 3)
Total Reach: 93,525
Engaged Users: 2,670
Engagement Rate: 2.85%
Reactions: 817
Comments: 754
Shares: 136
Total Reach: 62,119
Engaged Users: 2,096
Engagement Rate: 3.34%
Reactions: 891
Comments: 461
Shares: 126
Total Reach: 95,423
Engaged Users: 2,392
Engagement Rate: 2.51%
Reactions: 832
Comments: 435
Shares: 105

13. The most popular content buckets have consistently involved human interest stories and aviation trivia
Total Reach: 95,535
Engaged Users: 3,834
Engagement Rate: 4.01%
Reactions: 1,748
Comments: 12
Shares: 188
Total Reach: 60,118
Engaged Users: 3,108
Engagement Rate: 5.17%
Reactions: 801
Comments: 17
Shares: 55
Total Reach: 98,880
Engaged Users: 6,861
Engagement Rate: 6.93%
Reactions: 711
Comments: 32
Shares: 496

14. The best days for engagement are Wednesday and Thursday, and best times for likes and comments happens mostly during in the late afternoon to evening (from 4pm onwards)

15. Summary of engagement analysis
Crowdsourcing testimonials (Eg: My Aviation Aspiration) has provided some of the most meaningful content for the page. In fact, quite a number of contestants have volunteered to be featured on the page.
For post formats, having a balanced mix of GIFs, blog/canvas posts, videos, link shares and photos has helped to drive reach.
Favourable designs tend to include people and infographics.
When it comes to shared news links, engagement is highly dependent on the subject matter – but the most consistent performing links usually include people stories.

16. Lessons learnt on engaging youths through social media
Facebook continues to be a cost-effective, high-reach platform for youth engagement;
Human stories and aviation trivia appears to resonate well with our fans;
People are more willing to go through content which interest them (i.e. they will read long article if it draws their interest. eg: Inspirational stories);
Users tend to access FB page via mobile devices; important to ensure that content posted is mobile optimised.

17. Even though WAA facebook page has yielded significant reach; important to continue efforts to sustain mindshare and engagement with youths:
Continue engaging youths on We Are Aviators Facebook page with educational and interesting content
Work with our appointed social media agency to devise strategies that will continue expanding the reach of the posts
Continue to measure the effectiveness of strategies implemented and make necessary adjustments to cater to the target audience
Our next steps:

18. Thank you