I am currently working on a few different statewide initiatives and I thought I would be fun to share how I am using social media to support these causes. One cause is a political race and the other is a campaign to ensure the Governor and legislatures of Arizona don’t eliminate the adult education program (I know…why do I have to convince our political leaders that even adults deserve an education? Who knows and I’ll spare the details. However, I will share some things to keep in mind when supporting a statewide cause.
1. Only choose to support a cause that inspires you and has lots of motivated people behind it. This is critical. You will get swamped and tired very quick so it is important that you have something other than “I really feel bad” about this situation to keep you going. Additionally, you will have more influence when people see how passionate you are.
It is also important to choose a cause that is in alignment with your business and you feel you have a reasonable chance of succeeding with. Winning is not everything, but everyone loves a victory party.
2. Make sure you identify your goals and make them measurable. Is your plan to get massive exposure; If so, how much? Influence political leaders; which ones? Raise funds? How much? For each of these questions it will be imperative that you identify the online groups and communities where the people you want to influence hang out in. You should be where they are to create positive conversations that lead them to supporting your efforts.
3. Identifying your time line is critical. Will your campaign last 4 weeks like I’m expecting the “Save Adult Ed for Arizona” program or will it last 6 -9 months like a political race? The amount of work and how fast you do it, will be based on knowing your time line.
If you have a longer campaign cycle it will be important neither to overwhelm people with too much content nor to wait for the last min. A steady pace of 2 – 3 post a day on Facebook with many people posting as much as possible to a Group or Fan page is perfect. 10- 15 tweets a day on twitter is also a good goal.
4. Social media is powerful but don’t limit yourself there. Become friends with media personalities on social media sites before you need them. Comment on their work or their post and weave your cause in when the timing is right (i.e. when the opportunity presents itself in chatting or a post. Bombarding someone you don’t know well could get you blacklisted super fast. You will also want to make plans for your team to write letters to the press, their representatives or host a rally. You can easily use social media to spread the word about these things.
5. If you are using your business as a tool to the support the statewide change you would like to see, make sure you choose a position on the team that will allow your business to really shine. What platforms are you or your employees good with, e-mail campaigns, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogging? My strength is Facebook but I also took on blogging for the “Save Adult Ed Arizona” program. I soon became aware that getting certain parts of the blog to work was an unexpected challenge. To overcome this, I quickly asked for help and shifted that task to someone more capable. It is also important to remember that how well your business performs becomes your brand forever in the community. Always go the extra mile to deliver a brand worth talking about.
6. Choose a structure for your team. Will your team be small with one person in charge of social media or will it be filled with masses of motivated people from everywhere, whom you will only need to gently guide to ensure your message gets out?
Will your span of control be centralized and hierarchal, where someone at the top reviews everything and some authority figure or personal disaster puts an end to your efforts, or will your organization be decentralized?
Decentralized organizations have no real leader; people lead themselves and collaborate with others that are committed to an idea in order to get the word out.
If your operation is centralized look for ways to delegate or you’ll burn out. If it is decentralized, make sure its easy for your supporters to get wide access to the content you want communicated. One volunteer saying the wrong thing could derail your entire cause.
7. Stay organized with collaborative tools like Google calendar, Docs, Groups, Zoho or Groupsite. There are many free collaboration tools available. Make sure you identify your needs before hand then choose the collaboration platform that works best.
8. Think big, build alliances, and conquer the counties. This step is paramount. In order to have a loud voice it is important that you build a number of alliances that support your efforts both on and offline. Every organization should play to their strength and organize various aspects of the campaign.
It is also equally important that you have representatives in various counties managing social media efforts in those areas. These representatives can leverage personal contacts and local groups they are affiliated with to spread the word faster than someone unfamiliar with that county.
