AMERICA’S NAVY SOCIAL
My task for five years was to reshape America’s Navy’s entire social visual language to help recruit Gen Z. The bigger challenge? A complex military approval structure meant trending content was limited. So, we had to build a highly-converting community WITHOUT the internet’s biggest cheat code.
Brick by brick, we shifted the presence from passive posting to active, authentic conversation. We moved the center of gravity from Facebook to Instagram, Snapchat and Reddit. Myself often crafting over 90 pieces of content every quarter.
We ran" “Ask Me Anything” AMAs to build trust and learn from the audience. We created “Boot Camp Roll Calls” to connect new recruits with one another. We even became one of the first military branches to openly post about Pride Month. Giving our audience a new visual language like stickers, emojis, screenshot games to show their own “Future Sailor” pride.
Instead of a polished TV spot, we gave them the full, unvarnished fleet, every single day. An always-on strategy that was a major contributor to a recruitment pipeline that helped see 58% of leads become qualified, and 27% of those convert to contracts in 2023.
Highlights
We were building a culture, not an ad campaign. This is just a snapshot of our daily, organic craft. Spanning everything from custom emojis and pop culture call-outs to vital fitness tips and career info. Each post built to be equal parts entertaining, informative, and authentic.
Ask Us Anythings
This wasn’t just about posting; it was about building trust through radical transparency. On occasion, we turned Instagram Stories into an AMA chat, using the Question sticker to field questions on everything from ship life to career benefits. This evolved into our most powerful tool, letting our audience ask (within reason) “literally anything” and giving them the unfiltered answers they craved about Navy life.
Boot Camp Roll Call
Unlike college, recruits don’t meet their teammates until they arrive at Boot Camp. We fixed that with “Boot Camp Roll Call,” a simple social post series that invited Future Sailors to find and connect with each other in the comments. Within hours, it became a digital hub, with recruits building friendships and a sense of community well before they ever shipped out.
THE MISSION INCLUDES EVERYONE
We weren’t afraid to make a clear stand on our channels. We wanted to show that serving isn’t about politics; it’s about the mission. Our content championed the fact that the Navy is a place for everyone, and that its job is to protect and defend all Americans, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
Sailor Things
We didn’t tap into pop culture too often, but when we did, we made it count. To sync with the Stranger Things Season 3 release, I personally animated this “Sailor Things” tribute. A fun, scrappy “upside-down joke” that let us share in a cultural moment and prove we’re obsessed fans like the rest of our audience.