Social Media Recipes for Change & Advocacy Raven Brooks, Executive Director, Netroots Nation You've got the tools, skills, and following for success in advocacy, but how do you apply each of them to bring about change? In this session you'll gain some key practical tips that you can apply to your next campaign.

1. Social Media Recipes for
Change
Raven Brooks, Netroots Nation
@ravenb

3. Integrated Campaigns

4. Supplement Offline and
Online Actions
• Traditional PR -> re-package and create your
own media
• Organizing -> Target volunteers and
supporters using social media
• Events -> Use social channels for the peer
pressure factor. Get messages beyond
attendees.

5. Start with goals

6. Do this
• Goals -> Strategies -> Tactics
• Goal: We want to pass a law
• Strategies: We’ll change public perception
and target legislators
• Tactics: Create compelling content to share
online. Repackage it to take action. Leverage
social channels for volunteers and outreach.

7. Not this
• “We need to get to 10,000 facebook fans”
• “We want to create a viral video”
• “We’ve got to build up our Google Plus
following”

9. Social media is a
conversation, not a
broadcast

11. 1. Coverage

13. Source: epolitics.com

14. Source: epolitics.com

15. How does it work?
• Think bigger
• Be your own media
• Engage your supporters to help you
• Engage directly with journalists
• Utilize hashtags

16. 2. Listen to your
supporters

17. Traditional methods
• Polling
• Focus groups
• Staffing a support phone line or email
address
• All of these cost $$$ and are slow

18. New methods
• Directly engage supporters
• Figure out who is following you
• Utilize tools to see who you should be
following like Twazzup
• Figure out what your supporters care about
with tools like attentive.ly
• Use twitter lists to monitor conversations

19. Keys to effective
advocacy
• Timely
• Relevant
• Strong theory of change

20. 3. Outreach

21. A changing ecosystem
• Starting in 2002-2003 political blogging
began to bloom and came into prominence.
• State and local blogging was at its height in
2006.
• Starting around 2009 a lot of the
conversation began to move to
microblogging platforms like twitter,
facebook and tumblr

22. How do you adapt?
• Create content designed for sharing with broad
appeal.
• Make sure supporters are asked to share actions
they take on social networks.
• Repackage content to make it easier to share.
• Develop relationships with bloggers and
influential twitter users.
• Use and follow key hashtags

23. Questions?
@ravenb