Internet Advocacy

Overview

1. What qualifies as social media?

2. Why use social media?
3. Utilizing social media in advocacy campaigns
4. Internet advocacy case studies
 Social Media Tools
 Web sites
 Blogs
 Social Networking platforms (Facebook, Flickr)
 Videos (YouTube)
 Twitter
 Social bookmarking sites (de.lic.ious, digg, stumbleupon)
 Wikis
 Instant messaging/chatting
 Texting
 3rd party sites (Meetup, Care2)
 RSS
 Web 1.0 (email, list servs, bulletin boards, chat rooms)
 We’re primarily going to talk about…

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter (plus third-party Twitter applications)
• Blogging

But if you have questions about other social media tools, please feel free to ask!
Why Use Social Media?
TAKES DAYS: Operating without Social Media Connecting in Person

Leveraging Relationships Connecting on the Phone

and / or Over Email

You
Friend

Target

TAKES MINUTES: Adding Social Media to Your Tool Belt

Creating New Relationships and / or

Deepening Current Relationships Connecting in Person
Connecting on the Phone
and / or Over Email

You Targets From: http://lesliebradshaw.com/?cat=485

 Why Facebook?
• More than 400 million active users.
• People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
• More than half of active users return daily.
• Canada has the most users outside of the United States, with more than
6 million active users.
• 75% of users are outside of college.
• 56% of users are over 25. Fastest growing demographic remains 25+.
• Second most visited site on the Internet.
• Facebook is no longer just for college and high school students – people
of all ages are on Facebook, including public officials!
• Note: Facebook is your own personal brand. So keep tabs on your life
there. (check privacy settings, tagged pictures, etc)
 Why YouTube?
• YouTube drew 5 Billion U.S. Online Video Views in July 2008.

• 51% YouTube users visit YouTube weekly or more often, and

52 percent of 18-34 year-olds share videos often with friends
and colleagues.

• Third most visited site on the Internet. (behind Google and

Facebook).

• Creating an advocacy video and posting it on YouTube is

a great way to motivate people to take action on an issue!
– Recruiting new advocates, raising awareness about a specific issue,
rallying community members around a problem and prompting them to
take a specific action.
 Creating an Advocacy Video
• Step 1: Know your audience.

• Step 2: Finalize Your Messages

– List out the most important messages for your audience and put them in
order of importance.
– The video should be for a specific purpose, not about something.
– Know the action you want your audience to take.

• Step 3: Choose Your Messengers

– Who can tell your story most compellingly for your audience?
– Compelling and memorable personal stories are part of most powerful
videos and stories. An “expert” interview may give credibility and help
elaborate nuanced legal or policy obligations.

• Step 4: Choose Your Audiovisual Content

– What are the images and audio that can best support your video to
move your audience to action?
From: http://witnesstraining.wordpress.com/
 Advocacy Video Tips
1. The shorter the better.
When brainstorming for
2. Make your videos search friendly. Use tags your advocacy video…
and descriptions properly when uploading to
YouTube! Do not ask:
“What do we have to say
to get people to listen
3. Research video-editing. If your videos look to us?”
like they were made by a professional they will
do better on YouTube. Instead, ask:
“What do people have to
hear to get them to
4. Promote, promote, promote! To get views, listen to us?”
you will have to do marketing of the video
yourself!

From: http://seo.seocompany.ca/youtube-tips/
 Why ?
• 3,000,000 – number of Tweets/day. (March 2008)
• 86,078 – number of followers of the most active Twitter
user. (@kevinrose)
• 63% – percentage of Twitter users that are male.
• 105,779,710 - registered users.
• 300,000 – new users per day.
• 180 million - unique visitors come to the site every month.
• 55 million – tweets per day.

From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/twitter-user-statistics-r_n_537992.html
 Twitter 101
Twitter asks, “What are you doing” in 140 characters or less .
• Tweet: A message posted on Twitter. Must be 140 characters or less.
• RT: If you see a tweet worth sharing, you can re-tweet (RT) it.
• Hashtag: A way to categorize Tweets. A hashtag is a topic with a hash
symbol ("#") at the beginning. Twitter hashtags, such as #KickButts, help
organize information on Twitter. For example, if you search for the hashtag
#recipe, you will find hundreds of tweets containing recipes because the
Twitter user identified them as such.
– Popular relevant hashtags: #health #smokefree #advocacy.
• @username: A response or message to a specific Twitter user. Also known
as a “mention.”
– For instance:
Need a fun way to educate your peers about Big Tobacco? Try this
Tobacco Underground Gameshow by @BeTheCatalyst:
http://slidesha.re/apvczC
 9 Twitter Essentials
#1: Publish useful tips or facts.

In other words, make sure your tweet has VALUE!

 9 Twitter Essentials

#2: Include a link.

 9 Twitter Essentials
#3: Retweet to acknowledge others.

#4: Say please.

The best way to get
someone to RT you is
to ask them to.
 9 Twitter Essentials

#4: Reach out with follow friday (#FF).

#5: Answer other people’s tweets.

 9 Twitter Essentials

#6: Respond when something grabs your attention.

#7: Introduce yourself to new followers.

#8: Ask for help.
#9: Say thank you.

H/T: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/12-tips-to-engage-people-on-twitter/
 Other Great Twitter Tools
• Twitpic: Allows you to upload photographs
• Twitdoc: Share documents
• Twellow: Popular twitter directory
• Twitsay: Record voice messages for Twitter
• Twtpoll: Create online polls for Twitter
• Act.ly: Petitions for Twitter
• Tweetchat: Great for participating in a Twitter
Chat
Act.ly Petitions
 Act.ly Petitions
• Create a petition targeting a specific Twitter user. (many public
officials and companies are now on Twitter).

• Enter the text of your petition. Make it look professional.

You can see who has signed the petition on the side
 Act.ly Petitions
• People can sign the petition from the petition’s page or by just RT’ing it when
they see it in their feed on Twitter.

• The petition keeps track of how long it takes for your target to respond.

You can also easily

post the petition to
Facebook
 Act.ly Petitions
If they respond, it shows their response at the bottom.
 Change.org
• Letters can be automatically routed to the user’s elected
federal or state representatives.
• Or letters can be automatically sent to a specific target.
• Integrated with Facebook and Twitter
– Shows the number of Facebook shares and Tweets
• Easily create widget for the web
 Why ?
• 71 million blogs on the web.
• 22% report updating their own personal blog at
least once in the past week.
• 44% of teens percent report reading a blog at
least once a week.
• Blogging is a great way to expand on a Tweet
and provide your followers with more
information. You can also import your blog posts
to your Facebook fan page note section.
 Blogging Best Practices
1. Develop a plan.
2. Remember, blogs take time to grow.
3. Cover a niche or be specific about topic.
4. Reach out to similar bloggers for help or promotion.
5. Update often!
6. Leave comments to get comments.
7. Respond to reader comments.
8. Publicize your blog (technorati, Facebook, blogcatalog, Twitter)
9. Cross-promote. Mention your blog in press releases, link back to it on
Youtube, tweet when you have a new blog post, integrate your RSS feed
on Facebook, include it in email signatures, etc).
Don’t Empower, Enable!
 A Good Facebook Update,
Blog Post, Tweet …

• Shares timely and current news.

• Tells a story.
• Promotes an event or cause.
• Makes your voice heard.
• Shares information.
• Motivates others to take action.
 How can you encourage your
fans/followers to take action?
• Keep it focused. General requests will only leave your
fans confused. Focus on specific actions like sending
an email, leaving a comment on a Facebook page or
calling members of Congress.

• Make it fun. Motivating your busy fans to take action is

hard enough — having a depressing, end-of-the-world
theme to it won’t help.

Always inject positive vibes into what you’re doing so

that they know their actions make a difference.
 Promote your Facebook Page & Twitter
• Embed the fan page “Like Box” and the Twitter stream box on
your website.

• Invite your email subscribers to join your fan page and follow
you on Twitter.

• Add your Facebook fan page and Twitter url’s to your email
signature
.
• Create a catchy landing tab with a video that explains exactly
a) what your fan page is about, b) who it’s for and c) why they
should become members.
– Example: http://www.facebook.com/stevespangler

• Take photos when you hold events and upload the photos to
your fan page. Encourage fans to tag themselves.

• Upload videos and embed on your website.

Promote your Facebook Page & Twitter
• Link your Twitter account to your Facebook fan page so that you
can automatically post your Facebook content to Twitter.

• Get fans and followers via text messaging.

Facebook: You’ll need to get your first 25 fans and secure your username
(ww.facebook.com/username). Then, to join your fan page, Facebook users just send
a text message to 32665 with the words “fan yourusername” OR “like yourusername”
(without the quotes).

Twitter: Ask them to sign up for Twitter by texting START to 40404. Then, have them
text “FOLLOW yourusername” to 40404 (without the quotes)

• Use Print Media. Your Facebook fan page, Twitter username, etc.,
should be clearly displayed on all print media, including business cards,
letterhead, brochure, print newsletter, magazine ads, and products.

From: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/21-creative-ways-to-increase-your-facebook-fanbase/
 Remember!
• Important to engage communities online, but don’t utilize every tool just because it’s on the
web

• There’s no formula for finding success online.

• Research, research, research!

• Get to know the communities you’re trying to reach.

• Don’t be afraid for experiments to fail.

• Social media doesn’t replace traditional PR and media. It works best when the two work
together.

• Social media may be cheap, but it takes time!

• Social media should be seamless with traditional PR.

Examples of Internet Advocacy
Campaigns!
(and how they could be improved)
 Case Study: Cancer No 9
Fall 2007
• RJ Reynolds launches Camel No. 9 in an
effort to gain a great market share among
women.

• Full page ads started in January 2007

appearing in the following:
– InStyle
– Cosmopolitan
– Marie Claire
– Vogue
– Elle
– Glamour
– Newsweek
– Lucky
 TFK Responds
• Launch national action alert using Camel No. 9.
• Start targeting bloggers and mobilizing on outrage.
• Follow-up with another alert on April 4, 2007 to same
list.
 It Gets Worse
Spring 2007
• RJR releases ads next to
“advertorial” on vintage
clothes highlighting
vintage clothing shops
around the country.
• Release 100 version of
cigarettes.
• Continue Ladies’ Night
events.
 Targeting Vogue
• TFK decides to target Vogue magazine
because it had the largest share of
readers under 18.
• Editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, is an easy
target.
• Launch action alert asking volunteers to
e-mail or fax Vogue magazine. Alert takes
life of it’s own.
• Over night, around 4,000 emails/faxes
are sent to Vogue.
• Continue targeting bloggers.
• Reach out to Facebook and create
groups.
•After 4,500 emails and
4,000 faxes, Vogue finally
sent us a response.
•We told some reporters
about it and got some
good media coverage.
 Cancer No. 9 Emerges
• Female college student in
Oregon starts Myspace profile
called Cancer No. 9.

• Attends Ladies’ Night events

and sends TFK pictures of bling.

• Designs her own series of

counter-marketing posters and
distributes them before events.

• TFK starts working with her.

Protests to Camel
No. 9 promotional
parties were
planned on
Facebook.
 RJR Feels the Heat
November 27, 2007
• R.J. Reynolds spokesperson,
announces that RJR will pull all
print advertising on Camel brands
in 2008.

• “This was a business decision,

designed to enhance the
effectiveness and efficiency of our
marketing programs,” said Jan
Smith, a spokeswoman for
Reynolds.
 Discuss & Brainstorm!

1. What did the Cancer No. 9 campaign do

well?

2. If the Cancer No. 9 campaign was

happening today, what additional social
media tools could we use? How?
 Case Study: Kelly Clarkson’s
Concert
• Kelly Clarkson’s April 29th concert in Jakarta,
Indonesia, was being sponsored and heavily
promoted by the tobacco company PT Djarum
under the name of its cigarette brand LA Lights.

• Television, billboard and online ads for the

concert featured Clarkson’s image and the LA
Lights logo and even carried health warnings,
making clear they are cigarette ads.

• Approximately 35% of the Indonesian population

smokes, and tobacco use kills more than 200,000
Indonesians each year. An estimated 78 percent
of Indonesian smokers started before the age of
19.
 TFK Responds
• Issued a press release.

• Launched http://tobaccofreeidol.com/
– We asked people to:
• Post on Kelly's Facebook page:
• Tweet @KellyClarkson about it using the hashtag #tobaccofreeidol
• Send an email to Kelly's manager, Narvel Blackstock

• Created a Facebook group.

 Kelly Clarkson Fans & Tobacco
Control Advocates Respond!
• Fans posted hundreds of messages on Clarkson’s Facebook fan page urging her to
renounce the sponsorship and sent more than 1,300 e-mails to Clarkson’s
management.

• They also utilized Twitter to send Kelly Clarkson messages urging her to drop the
sponsorship.

• The public outcry sent a powerful message to all entertainers that they should not be
involved in marketing tobacco products, which spread death and disease throughout
the world.
Tobacco Control Advocates respond on
Facebook
 Success!

• In recent days, Clarkson's Facebook page has been flooded with

fans begging her to reject the cigarette sponsorship, saying she is
sending the wrong message to kids about smoking. Anti-tobacco
groups have blasted the singer for using her image to sell products
that kill 200,000 Indonesians every year.
- ABC News
 Case Study: #LosetheCig
How it all started
1. Supercool Creative, a Los
Angeles marketing firm, was
using a smoking superhero as
its logo.
2. Gary Ploski (@garyploski)
sent a tweet to @Supercool
Agency that said:
“Your superhero… is
smoking? That’s not really
cool.”
3. Supercool’s social media
strategist, William
Chamberlain
(@chamberlainwill), brought
it up with management.
 Case Study: #LosetheCig
4. Supercool Creative said: “If Supercool Creative gets 500
tweets telling us the logo is no good we’ll change it… on
our business cards, letterhead, websites, social networking
sites… everything.”

5. Gary simply requested that people retweet

“@supercoolagency #losethecig.”

6. Aden Miller
(@adincmiller) posted a
notice on GLOBALink,
the global tobacco control
network.
 Case Study: #LosetheCig
• 140 characters are not enough to explain a campaign’s efforts!
– Gary and William Chamberlain kicked off the campaign by writing a
blog post.
– Several other organizations and individuals blogged about it:
• Free & Clear, Path for the Blue Eye, National LGBT Tobacco
Control Network

• Advocates RT’d it, including:

– Scout (@scoutout), Director of the National LGBT Tobacco Control Network
– Cristine Delnevo (@lozzola), Director of the Center for Tobacco Surveillance
and Evaluation Research at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
– Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (@tobaccofreekids)
– Doug Ulman (@livestrongceo), CEO of the Livestrong Foundation
– Legacy Youth Activism (@LegacyYouthAct)
 Case Study: #LosetheCig
Example Tweets

• @lgbttobacco: ACTION ALERT: with 500 RTs, this ad agency

agreed to drop the cig from their logo.

• @KickButtsDay: Attn Advocates! Please tweet to

@SupercoolAgency & ask them to change their logo &
#LoseTheCig!

• @MissHealth: Hey @SupercoolAgency, 6.3+ million kids alive

today will die from a smoking-related disease. That's not cool.
Change the logo & #LosetheCig

• @FightforAirNY: Have you joined the #LosetheCig effort?

We're trying to get @SupercoolAgency to #LoseTheCig in their
logo.
 Case Study: #LosetheCig
Success!
• Reached 500 unique tweets in 10-days.

• Lessons Learned:
– Hashtags are important.
– Tweet to specific known tobacco control or public health advocates and
ask for their support.
– Use blogs to support your campaign.
– Ask Twitter users with a large number of followers to support you.
– It takes a lot of work.
• “Gary reached out to about 50 anti-smoking and health-related blogs with a
summary of the cause. He kept up the ongoing call to action after the first
week of ramping up the campaign and made sure to connect with each and
every one of the Twitter users who participated in it, even if it was simply to
ask them to repost the campaign message a second time.”

• Ways it could have been improved?

http://www.adinmiller.com/content/lessons-advocacy-campaign-twitter-losethecig-case-study
Case Study: Special Olympics Results:
• 3.8 million Impressions
• 55,000 Facebook users
Organic Interest: • 10,000+ Pledges
• Media & Blog Stories: 7,000+ • 16,000 video views
• Twitter Posts: 10,000+ • 100+ blog posts
• 1,200 Tweets

“The president
made an offhand High-Profile
remark making Twitter Placements:
fun of his own • John Mayer
bowling that was • Rosalind Wiseman
in no way • Chicago Tribune
intended to • Fox5 (lead to on-air)
disparage the
“I bowled a 129. … Special
It’s like – it was like Olympics.”
Special Olympics, or - Spokesman Bill
something.” Burton
- President Obama

March 19 March 20 March 31 Today

Jay Leno Show Story explodes Special Olympics Conversation continues…
launches social media
campaign with help from NMS
From: http://lesliebradshaw.com/?cat=485
Case Study: World Water Day

Tactics Results

Blogs • 25 high-value blog posts

• 191,489 impressions

Media • Simple, enjoyable content

Sharing • Gave online audience an asset to share

Social
• 110 targeted Facebook ads
Networks
• Facebook group: 2,100+ members

Raised over 400,000 liters of water

Twitter

From: http://lesliebradshaw.com/?cat=485
 Tweet your questions to @MissHealth
using the hashtag #CCSocMed
& if I run out of time, I’ll answer them after this
session

© SAP 2009 / Page 55