K Street Cafe

Politics Changed by New Media: Panel Speaks on the Issue (Red and Black)
Recent panel discusses the effects YouTube, social media, and blogs have had on American politics in the last ten years.

Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted
(The New Yorker)
Is social media capable of inspiring and facilitating meaningful activism?

Jeff is right on the mark in his post “Your Social Media Strategy May Not Be A Strategy.” But it may even be worse than he reports. Some companies and organizations don’t even have clear tactics when it comes to social media, but still think they have a strategy.

I often remind people that knowing how to use social media is not the same thing as knowing how to use it strategically and tactically.

I have trained many college students (in my classes and interns at work) who claim to know how to use social media at the start of the training. By the end of the training the invariable comment that they never thought it through strategically or tactically before.

Our strategy at the Center for American Progress and Center for American Progress Action Fund is to use social media to influence influencers so they will share our ideas with their audiences. Sometimes that is simply to get our policy reports, videos, and interactive graphics out to an influential audience. Sometimes our goal is to mobilize people to take action to influence policymakers.

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W.H. Builds Message Wall for the Troops (Tech President)
Utilizing classic online activism techniques, the White House new media team gathers virtual salutes to mark deadline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Reach Older Users on Facebook and Twitter (PC World)
As the age of social media users matures, organizations must be mindful of engaging an older audience.

Kicking Up Our Action Efforts: Email List (Daily Kos)
Daily Kos launches email activism program, aiming to become an “activist powerhouse.”

Don Draper’s View on Focus Groups: Ignore Them
(PR Week)
Do focus groups give a true portrayal of audience reaction to a new idea?

DC Activists Stage “Virtual Sit-in” on Local Politician’s Facebook Pages (The Huffington Post)
Gone are the days when a “sit-in” consists of taking over a physical space with actual bodies to make a point – last week the Save Our Safety Net campaign hosted a virtual sit-in on a DC council member’s Facebook page.

There’s an App for that: Dems, GOP take 2010 Campaign Fights to iPhone, iPad (Hillicon Valley)
Ahead of tough upcoming midterm elections both parties are poised to take campaign battles to the iPhone and iPad.

Mobilizing online activists is the bread and butter of many advocacy organizations. But successful campaigns need to go beyond signing petitions and sending emails to policymakers. Yes, these remain important elements to any campaign, but it is equally important to use the internet as a persuasion vehicle. While campaigns are driving activists to take action, they should also be working to spread the message of the campaign across the web.

One way to achieve this is to incorporate a fundraising appeal specifically designed to raise money to run online ads for the campaign. Online ads are not only affordable, but they can also be very effective at persuasion and shaping the language of a policy debate.

We have been using this approach recently at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Our two current campaigns, How Did This Happen?, a campaign to educate the public about how conservative policies and ideology are the root cause of the current financial crisis (HowDidThisHappen.org), and the Golden Pledge to protect Social Security from privatization (GoldenPledge.org) each supplement an action request with a fundraising appeal to help run online ads promoting the campaign’s message (see the ad images below).

While funds raised in this manner may be modest for some campaigns, it doesn’t take much to make a difference. For example, running the ads on blogs, rather than major media sites, can be very cost effective. For each $1,500 raised, an ad can be served nearly a million times. That is enough exposure to reach tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of new eyeballs; people who are not already on your email list.

And if you build a tell-a-friend feature into the campaign, so that anyone taking action or donating funds on your website is prompted to send the link around, you have the potential to reach even more people.