Storytelling · SMM · Content creation · Volunteering

Social Media Strategyfor a Dog Shelter

As a project for the Marketing Science SMM course.

Role: Social Media Strategist (volunteer) · @hayot_is_life_eng
Course: Marketing Science by Natalia Panfilova (@panfil_)
Organization: Hayot, Uzbekistan's largest dog shelter

Volunteering at the shelter

I've always loved animals. At school, I organized charity cookie sales to raise money for shelters, volunteered there in my free time, and rescued stray dogs and cats from the streets to find them homes.

When I left to study abroad, I couldn't volunteer in person anymore, so I decided to help Hayot Dog Shelter by working on the shelter's English Instagram page, @hayot_is_life_eng. Originally, they were simply translating posts into English from the main Russian account. I wanted to put my marketing background to work and give the account a voice of its own.

Homemade cookies for a school bake sale, with a note that all money goes to an animal shelter — A school bake sale for the shelter

Jasmin in an orange volunteer shirt kissing a shelter dog named Sosiska at Hayot — Volunteering at Hayot

The Marketing Science course

My volunteer work at Hayot earned me a place in Marketing Science, a social media marketing course by Natalia Panfilova. I learned the social media strategy process:

Social listening, mission and positioning
Target audiences and empathy maps
Character building and audience engagement
"Sticky" funnels: customer journeys that turn viewers into followers, and followers into donors

For my final project, I applied all of it to a new strategy for Hayot's English account.

The Strategy: meet Michelle

Instead of translated reports, the account now speaks through Michelle: a former stray with a hard past, rescued by the shelter and adopted by a volunteer. Today she's Hayot's ambassador, teaching "Kindness Lessons" about animal welfare in schools alongside a volunteer.

Michelle is the voice of the 7,000 dogs living at Hayot. My job was to make sure she's heard.

What I built:

Character & tone of voice

Michelle's backstory, her signature look (a traditional Uzbek tubeteika), the nickname "Smiley Pup", and a warm, optimistic, gently humorous first-person voice.

Narrative arc

Michelle's chase for a Guinness World Record for the most lessons taught by a dog (150+ so far), so followers can cheer her on and help her get into the book.

Audiences & positioning

Three segments, each with its own empathy map: young activists, families deciding between buying and adopting, and companies looking for CSR partnerships.

Content series

Paws Up! (easy ways to help), A Dog's Heart (before-and-after rescues), My Friends Are Looking for You (dogs to adopt), and Top Sponsors of the Week.

Donation funnel

Reel → profile with clear numbers and a donate call to action → follow for daily stories → donate or volunteer → a public thank-you that brings people back.

Trial content & pitch

I shot trial photos and videos to test the format, then pitched the strategy to the shelter's managers.