Let’s move beyond followers and talk about supporters.
When it comes to climate action we need to move beyond followers and start talking about supporters. Engaged and active individuals that are willing to work together with mobilizers to accelerate social and climate action. Every person will play an important role to accomplish this task and understanding the whole spectrum of actions that can be taken is crucial, both online and offline.
The first thing we have to acknowledge is the fact that not all mobilizers have the privilege of having access to technology or the resources to become campaigners or organizers full time, reducing the possibilities of getting their message and accelerate change. This can not be ignored if we really want to create an inclusive and diverse movement. It puts a lot of unnecessary pressure, specially to mobilizers in the frontlines, of not only dealing with the crisis first hand, but also having to worry about creating different sources of income to be able to dedicate full time to the cause. We need to support mobilizers around the world to make sure they have the financial resources they need to accelerate their work. We need to intentionally use our platforms to support them and build strategies to contribute the right resources.
Once we manage to start amplifying all voices within the movement we need to understand that followers alone won’t increase our impact. We need to start thinking about ways to engage with people beyond a simple follow, save or comment. To start building active communities in which roles are distributed within the members and map different ways in which they can engage. Some may be able to amplify content while others may be able to help financially on a monthly basis.
In the marketing industry, the term CRM is frequently used when thinking about building engagement with customers. CRM stands for “Customer Relationship Management” and refers to all strategies, techniques, tools, and technologies used by enterprises for developing, retaining and acquiring customers. In climate action this should not be an exception. Our proposal is that we adapt this idea to our industry and start using it as SRM — Supporter Relationship Management, to refer to all strategies, techniques, tools and technologies used for developing, retaining and acquiring supporters to advance the fight for a just and livable world.
If we start implementing some of the tools that have proven to be successful in other industries, with the right twist, we have a better chance at disrupting climate action, allowing us to start measuring the results of our individual and collective efforts. And if it can be measured, it can be improved, allowing us to test new strategies that will boost innovation and accelerate change.
When we make the distinction between a follower and a supporter, we open a world of both online and offline possibilities, moving people from a passive position to an active one.
We will go into more detail about this topic in further posts, so stay tuned. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Listen to our HERO Podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts where we talk to leading and emerging mobilizers on how to accelerate climate action.
