K Street Cafe

Several years ago our Innovate to Motivate conference hosted then Gallup Managing Partner Ron Balmer to talk about Gallup’s research on customer engagement and how it applies to grassroots organizations. It was one of our most highly rated workstorms. Gallup has been at the forefront of engagement research; they define it as the degree to which people will work for or against your organization or brand. I think most of us would agree that definition of stakeholder engagement is worth pursuing. They have published recent research which reinforces Ron’s prescient admonitions.

Engagement matters because the world is driven to distraction. With engagement, your stakeholders give you the benefit of the doubt when you screw up. They also have your brand as a part of their own identity. They can’t imagine a world without your organization or cause, and criticizing your organization means criticizing themselves.

Gallup conducted research with over 17,000 social media users to determine how people interact with social media and its effectiveness as a marketing tool. Gallup doesn’t conduct shoddy research, so I think it’s worth our time to see if there are applications for those of us in the grassroots persuasion business. After all, we are marketers of ideas and action.  (more…)

By Iverson Gandy

Cross-posted from the Adfero Group blog

With the quick popularity of Google+ (G+), many social media gurus are proclaiming the slow but sure downfall of Facebook. To that, I say one thing: not going to happen. Here’s why:

1. Too little, too late

In a very rare and embarrassing moment (and for what feels like the first time), Google made a really big deal about a really bad product. Google Buzz was a complete failure on multiple fronts. From privacy lawsuits to simply bad aesthetics, Google’s seemingly invincible persona suffered a breach in its armor with a subpar product that was clearly a reactive idea in contrast to their usual forward-thinking, proactive approach – and people noticed. The best team in the league showed a weakness, other teams capitalized on it, and now they’re playing catch up, with Facebook remaining the “face” (pun intended) and authority on social networking. (more…)

Cross-posted from the Public Affairs Council blog

It’s hard not to laugh at the Occupy Wall Street campaign, the bizarre group of protesters who recently shut down the Brooklyn Bridge and, dressed as corporate zombies, staggered past the New York Stock Exchange, chanting, “How to fix the deficit: End the war, tax the rich!”

But there was something familiar in the media interviews. “We want a voice, and our voice has slowly been degraded over time,” a St. Louis man told USA Today. An unemployed woman from Connecticut said in The Wall Street Journal that too many people have been dismissive of the protests. “The only way to do it is to show them, to make them open their eyes.”

Substitute the word “government” for “corporation” in the signs and slogans, give them a wardrobe change and a few gray hairs, and they’d look a lot like the early tea party demonstrators.

There are major differences, of course, beginning with the fact that conservative politicians ran to the front of the tea party line to promote their causes. Many liberal politicians have been skittish about being associated with the folks sleeping in a Manhattan park since Sept. 17. While the tea party founders actually organized protests, the group behind the Wall Street demonstrations decided to bring people together first and then figure out its demands later.

But the anger and desire to take back power from the powerful is the same. And, as the demonstrations spread to Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and other cities, major unions like the AFL-CIO and advocacy groups like MoveOn.org are now on board. The mainstream media — no doubt ready to make the same tea party comparison — will surely follow, especially as we enter an election year. The politicians won’t be far behind. (more…)

Overview: Social Media and 2012 Political Campaigns (e.politics)
Beth Becker lays out the various ways that social media will be crucial for politicians who are fund raising, organizing, and communicating in the field throughout the next year.

Alternative to Sending an Press Release (PR Daily)
It can be easy to forget that there are other ways of delivering an important message to the media. Check out this post for some new ideas!

By Kalee Miller and Caroline Sheedy of Adfero Group

With 800 million active users, Facebook has earned the title of most popular social network around the globe. At the f8 conference a few weeks ago, CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg announced some big changes, the latest in the site’s constant evolution. It’s hard for a lot of users to adjust to the new features and, for organizations using Facebook in advocacy efforts, it may seem like things are changing just as they were getting the hang of things. Despite the growing pains, Facebook is a valuable tool that can raise awareness and inspire action.  

Here are a few rules to live by:

1.       A Few Can Activate Many

Engagement, not number of fans, is key. On average, every time someone shares a link to your organization’s website on Facebook, two to five people will visit it. In any online campaign, it’s imperative to utilize social context. People care about what their friends are doing and are heavily influenced by actions. If you can show Facebook users that their friends “liked” or engaged with your page, chances are high that you can get them involved, too.  
So, now the question is, how? 

 
• Use Facebook Questions. Asking your fans a question leads to viral exposure. If you ask a question, it will appear on your fans’ newsfeed. If they answer or follow that question, their friends can also see the activity. This is also a good way to get direct feedback from your fans. 
• Use Facebook to live stream your events or town halls. Free tools like UStream allow you to broadcast your event to all of your fans. Also, if you use event materials to let people know they can tune in on your Facebook page, you are likely to get more fans.
•  Make everything you can an event.  All of your organization’s events should be shared on Facebook. You should also use this tool for virtual events or calls to action (i.e. “Call your congressman by noon today!”).  Again, this allows your fans’ friends to see their action, making them more likely to join in. (more…)

Facebook Forms Political Action Committee (Reuters)
The social network has pledged to begin supporting ‘candidates who share [Facebook's] goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.’

Facebook’s New PAC Shows DC’s Innovative and Risk-Taking Methods Are Spreading to Silicon Valley (TechPresident)
According to Micah Sifry, Facebook’s creation of a Political Action Committee indicates that large campaign contributions and ‘intensive lobbying’ are becoming the norm for tech giants.

You’re the Entire Social Media Marketing Team. Now What? (PR Daily)
PR Daily has created a 6-step list of “must-dos” to maximize your online branding efforts, particularly useful if you’re on a tight budget.

Protest Closes Off Wall Street Roads (WSJ)
Once again, the masses have taken to social media to organize a protest; this time, Manhattan’s financial district is occupied by demonstrators who were mobilized via Facebook and Twitter.

Troy Davis’ Death Row Case in Georgia Goes Global (USA Today)
In a joint effort to prevent the execution of Troy Davis, the NAACP, Amnesty International and the grasroots organization Change.org “are flooding Twitter with several tweets a minute, signing online petitions and, starting today, planning to rally around the country.”

Many Americans are consumed with football in the fall.  But the budget and economic crisis has advocacy professionals obsessed with a slightly different group—the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—or the ‘Super Committee.’

The Super Committee is charged with recommending how to reduce the U.S. deficit by at least $1.5 trillion over the next ten years, and has until Thanksgiving to do so. Committee members say comments from the public are being taken seriously (here’s the web form to prove it), though some of them are also limiting participation: for instance, Senator Baucus (D-Mont.) is not taking messages from any one who doesn’t live in Montana — even though the mission is national in scope.

The limited time frame for decisions and the committee’s difficult task makes advocacy especially challenging. What’s an advocacy group to do?

Hopefully, most organizations have plans in place to handle a sudden grassroots need. But if your organization was not quite as prepared as others, don’t despair. Even in this Internet age, all politics is still local. (more…)

New Crowdfunding Site Promises to Be a Kickstarter for K Street (TechPresident)
Upcoming website YouLobby allows activists to pitch their campaign and accumulate donations. But will the idea sink or swim? You decide.

Gallup: Aim Social Media Marketing at Loyalists, Not Prospects (ClickZ)
According to Gallup analysts, “Since marketers are less likely to engage prospects directly through social media, they should encourage or guide their current customers to advocate on their behalf instead.”

Building the Case for a Bigger Social Media Budget (ClickZ)
According to Michael Della Penna, “Today’s tough economic times have placed a greater emphasis on marketing ROI. As experimentation with social media continues, marketers need to get serious about building the case for investing in and growing community efforts.”

Keep Facebook Content Fresh: 5 Easy Ideas (PR Daily)
Coming up with new posting content for Facebook can be exhausting. Here are some quick and easy tips to reinvigorate your organization’s page.