Social Marketing: OUTbio San Diego

managing Social media at a Bioscience Nonprofit

 
 

Background

I joined OUTbio San Diego in March 2026 as their marketing lead, with three marketing directives to address: their social platforms, their email newsletter, and their WordPress site. OUTbio is an international nonprofit dedicated to educating and empowering LGBTQ+ bioscientists, and their San Diego chapter was incorporated in 2023. As with my work on AMA SF’s social media, my primary goal for OUTbio’s social presence was to expand on what was working, while refining the few things that weren’t. Luckily, the previous marketing lead had done an outstanding job running social media for OUTbio, with a strong brand identity, high engagement, and a human-forward content stream that put a face to the work the organization was doing. However, there were a few improvements that I thought had to be made quickly, both on the front (cosmetic) and back ends (strategy and organization).   

 

Campaign Details

My Strategy

Although I took over OUTbio San Diego’s social media not long after I took over social media for AMA SF as well, I knew that I had to have a unique strategy for each organization. AMA SF has around twice as many followers, while OUTbio has a smaller but more enthusiastic community. My posts for AMA SF tend to cover a broad range of topics, from event promotion to podcasting to general marketing advice, while OUTbio’s social presence is zeroed in on human-centric community stories and celebrations.

The previous marketing lead made a point of posting at least twice a week on LinkedIn and Instagram, usually promoting or recapping events. I wanted to go just a bit further, not so much that our followers’ feeds would suddenly be flooded with content, but enough that we were more top of mind. I also wanted to make a few minor cosmetic changes to tighten up the brand identity, such as sticking to one single font for each post, maintaining a library of repeated glyphs and symbols, and coming up with a core design layout to make minor variations on.

Execution

The first thing I did when I joined OUTbio San Diego was actually on the back end: I created a content calendar. Up until then, posts had been written and scheduled using an Excel spreadsheet, which provided a convenient hub for all the relevant content (photos, copy, links, etc), but was visually difficult to follow. I remedied this by creating a simple month-by-month calendar that included a one-line entry for each post, along with one of two symbols: a pencil (meaning it needed to be written) or a checkmark (meaning it was done and ready to be posted). I then created a dedicated Google doc for all the copy, so the calendar wouldn’t be weighed down by multiple paragraphs of text for each entry.

My next directive was to request that everyone in the organization provide written recaps and photos of events no more than 48 hours after the fact. Everyone was very receptive to this idea, and I hardly ever have to chase someone down for information that I need for a post. There’s a wonderful sense of collaboration at OUTbio, and I feel not only free but encouraged to run ideas, make requests, and let someone know when something isn’t working.

By the Numbers

I’m delighted to report that in the three months since I became OUTbio San Diego’s marketing lead in March 2026, we’ve increased our engagement levels by over 100% in every category on LinkedIn, our primary social platform. Social media engagement levels were already strong when I joined the organization, but I wasn’t content just to maintain those numbers: I wanted my strategic changes to give us a boost and strengthen our connection with the community. Here is a quick overview of our key analytics on LinkedIn:

 
 

Looking Ahead

I’m thrilled with the response to my marketing efforts at OUTbio San Diego, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still work to be done. My plans going forward include diversifying the feed with a wider range of content – including more volunteer spotlights, celebration of meaningful milestones and holidays, and relevant news and stories about the LGBTQ+ community – and encouraging more user-generated content to repost and share on our socials. My other two marketing efforts at OUTbio are the email newsletter and a redesign of their website – check out those pages on my portfolio for more information!

Select Content Gallery

Here is a selection of posts since I took over marketing efforts for OUTbio San Diego in March 2026. As you can see, I made a point to stick to one single font (Avenir Next) and repeat symbols, glyphs, colors, and design layouts to create as strong a brand identity as possible without becoming too “same-y.” Click on each photo for a closer look, along with the caption.

 

(please note that the caption for Q&As on the Mesa was written by the event organizer)