The main objective of any online advocacy campaign is to bolster awareness and to get people passionate and advocate for your cause.
According to a 2015 Public Affairs Council survey, more than 60% of respondents said they met their primary goal by utilizing online tools.
Much like a digital marketing campaign, digital media can help expand and boost the influence of any advocacy campaign. Many organizations use social media but may not know how to use it effectively or cohesively with traditional and grassroots efforts.
Tell a Story
Complex issues make it difficult to get your point across. A lot of messages get lost in translation. Having a presence on social media can allow you to tell your story in a creative and efficient way so that it can easily be interpreted. Utilizing personal stories from individuals through photos and videos can have a massive impact on how the public perceives an issue.
Awareness
Incorporating a digital component to your advocacy campaign can be a powerful tool to widen your audience and expand influence. With a few simple clicks, Facebook and other social media ads allow you to target thousands of specific individuals you are trying to reach with your message. In coordination with creative content and compelling stories, you can construct a cohesive brand by utilizing a hashtag, which can also broaden your reach.
Communication
Another beneficial element of combining digital media with advocacy is that it makes it easy to mobilize and persuade individuals to contact their representative. Digital forms of communication like email blasts and social posts shouldn’t exclusively be used. But in conjunction with grassroots and traditional initiatives, people directly can tweet, comment or message their legislator. This also helps to amplify your message because friends of friends are now seeing these posts.
As the influence of social media broadens, we expect to see more agencies and associations regularly utilizing a digital component for their advocacy campaigns.