Social Media 101: Advocacy in Today’s Media Environment Amanda Phraner, Edelman Digital Health
Social Media 101: Advocacy in Today’s Media Environment
Amanda Phraner, Edelman Digital Health
Our World Has
Changed
There is no longer a top down model of influence.
Opinion-Forming
Elite
Mass Audience
Old Model New Model
Pyramid of Influence Sphere of Cross Information
NGOs
Media
Consumers
Employers
Community
Government
Social Media
Advocates
Influence Has Changed
It has both
collapsed
and
exploded.
Statistics unavailable
The Media Landscape Has Changed
But…..
People still want and have an expectation
participate in democracy and to be informed.
And….
Associations continue
to strengthen
democracy,
encouraging constituents
to communicate with
elected officials on
issues of
importance.
Which is Where Social Media Comes In
Today, people spend more time on social
media sites then ever before.
With the explosion of participation
on social media, it easier to
effectively recruit for
advocacy efforts.
8
Listening
Informing
Connecting
Acting
Online
Offline
News
Media
Open
Honest
Credible
Meaningful
Consumers/
Patients
Caregivers/
KOLs /
Influencers
Employees
A brand’s or organization’s authentic participation in the public dialogue
Today’s Opportunity to Join the Conversation
The engagement mindset.
OUR JOURNEY
STARTS NOW.
So What IS the Value of Social
Media in Advocacy?
To Start With… It Really All About
the use of digital technology to inform and
mobilize people around an issue or cause
and galvanize the supporters to take action.
What Social Media Delivers….
A relatively low cost to set-up channels
New opportunities to listen and engage with constituents and
policy makers
The ability for new means of participation in call-for-actions and
personalized engagements with policy makers
Effective two-way communication with constituents, building your
advocacy community
Quick, efficient disseminate information to interest constituents
with reach into a wider audience
Support for advocacy activities and ongoing connections to the
community
Social Media An Important Part of Advocacy
Extremely Unimportant
2%
Somewhat Unimportant
13%
Neither Unimportant or Important
1%
Somewhat Important 32%
Extremely Important 52%
Last year’s dhAdvocacy Summit attendees said….
Social media is an important part of advocating for constituents.
Active Passive Active
Against Don’t Like Don’t Know Like Supportive
PASSIVE
SUPPORTERS
WHO CAN
BECOME
ACTIVE
ADVOCATES
Moderate Mobilize Manage/Persuadable
Social Media Helps to Mobilize Supporters
And Keep Them Engaged
Social Media Supports Your Priorities
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Education/Awareness
State/Federal PolicyAdvocacy
Barriers to Care Research/Science State/FederalRegulation Advocacy
2013 Attendees: Organization’s Priorities
HOW TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN
So HOW Do You Use Social Media
for Advocacy?
First, Know Your Goals
What kind of direct action are you trying to prompt?
Keep Constituents Informed
Social media can serve as a great advocacy tool that enables followers to stay informed about issues they care most about
• You can help educate people across America; they also have the potential to influence key decision makers
• You can use Twitter to keep followers informed about interesting news related to different aspects of complex policies
• Variety in social content will keep followers engaged and coming back to see what new information you have to offer.
Extend the Reach of Information
The ripple effect can help your message reach individuals and organizations beyond your current reach.
• Ideally, your followers will spread your messages by retweeting or sharing which means that a follower will take your content and rebroadcast it to their network.
• You can also retweet or share news and messages by others to help strengthen your relationships with partners, expand the reach of your presence and bolster the overall conversation on policy issues
Drive Direct Action
Here Are A Just A Few Ways
• Post a news story about pending regulations or policies
• Share a link to a video clip of a local TV news story or personal video from a constituent
• Invite fans or followers to a local event or town hall meeting
• Upload pictures from events such as of a press conference or meeting with policy makers
• Encourage fans and followers to call, write emails and even tweet their legislators
But How Can I Do This?
Today we all face the art of doing
more with less.
Don’t Jump In….Evaluate
• What resources do you have? People. Time. Budgets.
• Where are your constituents most active? Facebook. Twitter.
• Can you sustain the social media program?
Don’t worry about being everywhere.
Be one place well.
Set Your Social Media Objectives
• Is your goal narrow (i.e. publicizing an event) or broad (building and engaging with a community or coalition)?
Identify the purpose.
• Are you primarily communicating with people who are already familiar with you, such as your members? Or are you reaching out to potential members and supporters?
Define the audience you want to reach.
• This should be based on your objectives and intended audience.
Select a social media platform to focus on.
• Assess and evaluate existing materials, toolkits and resources which can be shared. Don’t forget experts count – share their insights.
Gather resources and materials to share through social media.
• Ensure they have defined roles and understand the objectives
Assign someone or a team of people to manage your social media presence.
Know What Which Platforms Matter
http://ow.ly/gQPLD, January 2013
1 billion monthly users,
2 billion posts/comments
per day.
800 million users, 4 billion videos
watched daily, 60 hours
of video uploaded every minute.
200 million users, 74 million
in the United States,
2 new users per second.
500 million users, 200 million
active accounts. Over 1 billion
Tweets every 3 days.
Over 500 million users, about
343 Million active accounts, more
mobile than desktop.
Take Time to
Establish
Processes
Establish Internal & External Process
This is a product
Listen
Assess
Engage
Measure
Submit
Evaluate
Schedule
Publish
Social Properties
(Facebook, Twitter
blogs, etc.)
External Process
Internal Process
Employees & Partners
Set Up Your Governance
Transparency Personal vs. professional
Employee responsibility
Social media citizenship
Good behavior
Know Who You Want to Be
ACHIEVES: Authentic Voice in the Conversation
POSITION: Authority on and
Vested in the Issues
Or Friendly Voice With Shared
Empathy
STYLE: First Person
Or Third Person
Narratives
TONE: Approachable
and Professional
Or Personal and
Friendly
Establish your voice….
Get a Content Plan in Place
Focus Audience Content Theme
Define your
audiences
Outline relevant
resources and
actions
Ladder to
central
themes
Content creation
(Photos and Videos)
Conversation (Blogs,
Forums, Twitter)
Interaction
(Social networks)
Education
(Wikipedia and
Social Bookmarking)
Academics Government Media NGOs Employee General
Public
Plan Your Content to the Audience
Take a Holistic Approach to Content
Evaluate upcoming events and activities into a weekly or monthly calendar
Develop unique, interesting and shareable content
Make complex information easier to understand
Create an entree into new or existing conversations
Optimize resources and tools
Ask and answer questions about timely news or policies
Find Ways to Make The Most Out of Everything
Announcement
PowerPoint deck on
Slideshare
Video speech on YouTube
Transcribe for blog post
Extract charts and graphics
Turn into a Twitter chat
topic
Create a webinar or
training
Determine Review Processes
Planned
Activities
Organization
Assets
Observances
and Milestones
Partner Groups Timely News
Government Affairs Constituent Relations Communications
PHASE ONE
Known activities and
evergreen content will
be collected and serve
as the basis of the
draft monthly calendar.
PHASE TWO
Core departments to
provide input on
additional activities for
the calendar.
PHASE THREE
Review and final
approval of content to
be posted on social
channels REVIEW / APROVAL
Draft Content Calendar
Final Content Calendar
Be Prepared to Respond
Get Ready for the “Critical Advocacy Moment”
Think About the Long Term
• Build communications
with a focus on
community
• Foster relationships with
followers, develop trust
• Create mutually
beneficial interactions
Understand How Stories Work on Facebook
• If Twitter is for your head,
Facebook is for your heart.
Fluffier, heartwarming
content, or simple,
visual humor works well
on Facebook.
• Curated content – use Fan
photos to incorporate your
message or product.
• Most people in Facebook began their relationships with
Facebook friends offline, and carry those relationships
over to the online realm.
• Successful engagements are personal.
• Because only a maximum of 8% of a brand’s fan base
will organically see each post, paid promotion is almost
imperative in garnering reach, driving shares and
broadening the audience.
What Content How to Engage
Understand How Stories Work on Twitter
• Twitter is heavily used by
media and industry
communities to break news
and provide commentary on
live events in real time.
• Many Twitter users develop relationships with users
they’ve never met in person - relationships exist solely
online. This results in the strong bond among people
within a similar industry on Twitter.
• The ability to easily maintain a conversation via
@replies on Twitter, makes it a good tool for customer
service and real time engagement.
• Content shelf life is extremely short, lasting only about
an hour. So, paid advertising helps to extend the shelf
life through promoted tweets
What Content How to Engage
Monitor, Monitor, Monitor
• Know what is being said, and proactively identify
opportunities to engage/respond
• Understand the impact of news
• Monitor your efforts and adjust as needed
Qualitative metrics: listen to your supporters
Quantitative metrics: growth of your following,
engagement
And Measure, Measure, Measure
SAMPLE MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORK PARTICIPATE IN
ONGOING CONVERSATION
BUILD AN AUTHORITATIVE
AND AUTHENTIC VOICE
CAPITALIZE ON PEAKS
OF INTEREST
Quantify interaction with the target
audience.
Identify which types of content,
language and post cadence facilitates
the most positive engagement.
Disseminate resources
and fact-based content
to build trust among the target
audience.
Establish a clear and consistent
voice.
Align the narrative
with audience needs.
METRICS METRICS METRICS
Total Follower Growth: Benchmark the
rate (%)
of follower growth.
Reach: Understand how many users
saw the tweet.
Engagement Rate: People mentioning,
retweeting, favoriting the number of
posts divided by number of posts.
Number of Mentions: Analyze the
brand messages being amplified.
Favorites: What messages do
stakeholders believe in? How can
they be leveraged?
Retweets: Understand what is
being shared.
Link Clicks: The number of links
clicked in a message/post.
Recommendations:
Do user support share
or recommend content with their
community?
Sentiment: Track perception
(sentiment)
of comments and brand mentions.
Don’t Forget to Use Tools to Make It Easier
• HootSuite
• Google Analytics
• Topsy
• Social Mention
• Simply Measured
• Tweet Deck
• Klout
from the Community Toolbox –
University of Kansas
A Quick Checklist
to Get Started
Conduct a Brief Strategic Review
Be clear about your main goal – what direct action are you
trying to prompt?
Evaluate the time and resources available to you and your team
Determine how you will measure success
Evaluate where your supporters are most likely to be online
Information from: Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas.
Sign Up for Accounts
Create a central platform online (i.e. a website)
Sign up for accounts, enter profile information
Choose the social media tools that will help you communicate
with supporters and potential supporters (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
Information from: Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas.
Become Familiar with the Tools
Listen and monitor activity
Develop a voice that is authentic, transparent, and contagiously
enthusiastic
Request the action you are seeking in a clear and direct way
Engage in conversations
Information from: Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas.
Build in metrics for evaluating progress
Develop Systems For Managing Your Efforts
Information from: Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas.
Develop a single content plan / calendar of topics to post, outlining timing of advocacy requests and desired outcomes
Integrate and streamline social media efforts, while retaining an authentic presence on each platform
Integrate online and offline efforts for maximum success
Use established metrics to evaluate your progress
Keep listening to your supporters
If you stop using a social media tool, take the content down or redirect supporters to an area where there is active engagement
Now Let’s Get Online