Digital Mobilization Tactics For An Increasingly Digital World
By Elyse Dickson, Amber Hubert, Kevin Singer, Evan Stepper, Dana Variano, Samantha Wong
Last week, we laid out some tips for earned media during a crisis and our digital team talked about how to adapt your messaging during a public health emergency. Now we’re going to discuss some online event and community building tactics and best practices for digital advocacy.
So, what does digital look like in the midst of COVID-19? With physical necessities like schools, health appointments, and government services going digital, it’s clear that the internet is no longer a simple commodity or luxury: it’s a requirement. If you don’t have access to the internet today, you don’t have equal access to society. Digital is no longer a gimmick or a nice to have. It has become the default, both in a broader context and specific to communications and advocacy.
While this new trend toward digital is bringing change at an increasing rate of speed, not everything about how we communicate is different. People still listen most to those they know and trust — but the trend toward using micro-influencers and organic voices of credibility to push messages will increase, as people still care about where their information comes from — and who delivers it.
Similarly, your content must still be tied to what’s happening at the moment, but it may no longer reign supreme. Instead, conversation is the new king in town and engagement is more important than ever. Supporting partners, sharing information, connecting people to resources and using digital to help each other — that’s where we’re headed. Though nothing can replace the connections and relationships built in-person, many of the digital leaps we are experiencing now will become permanent. There’s never been a better opportunity to mobilize digitally and make online engagement last beyond these emergency measures.
Here are some tips for doing so in your community:
Event Tips
Don’t Lose Your Audience
Attention spans are shorter in the digital world than in the real world. Be sure to give breaks, add gaps, and limit programming to no more than two or three hours. Consider breaking up your event into more days than you would a live event, so that you can shorten the daily program length and increase participation and audience focus. Additionally, be wary of how humor, tone, and other interpersonal dynamics are affected by the digital medium and adjust accordingly.
Professionalism Still Matters
Creating official events for your organization should still feel official. Using professional software, like Pathable or Planning Pod, can make it easy to organize logistics for a large virtual event. These tools can also integrate branding, embed in a website, conduct live polling, and open the floor up for questions to increase interactivity and keep your audience connected. Leading up to Earth Day on 4/22, for example, RALLY assisted CAYouthVsBigOil in organizing a series of virtual events to gather youth across California to connect, share resources, and build momentum.
Go Live
Instead of canceling an event outright, consider whether presentations or sessions could be effectively transformed for a live stream or webinar. Facebook Live and Instagram Live provide easy sharing options to notify your audience about your event. Consider assigning a co-host or moderator to break-up the presentation and make it more interactive despite the lack of an in-person audience.
Using the Right Format
Not all events are equal. In the analog world, organizers must make decisions about venue size, how attendees participate, and other logistical components. Online events are no different. Here’s a breakdown of the most common online event types:
- Webinar: Up to 3K people in attendance per webinar. Speakers can add polls and a list of attendees and send notes through the platform to all of the participants.
- 1–1 Meeting: Send notes and request meetings with fellow attendees inside the system, and send/accept Zoom calendar invites.
- Breakout Group: approx. 20 people on video chat, everybody can share screen and have equal presenter access.
Community Building Tips
Reach New Audiences
Events can be used to stay connected with existing audiences, but they’re also an opportunity to reach new people. Paid ads, partner outreach, and even traditional organizing methods like phone and text banking can help ensure healthy turnout and expand your circle of influence. Posting live updates gives individuals who aren’t attending the event itself an opportunity to engage with your content.
Create Community with Groups
Facebook Groups are a relatively easy way to foster an online community, where people can discuss ideas or actions, find out about events, watch live-streamed videos and read important updates. Privacy settings can vary from invite-only, to publicly available, and posts from group members can be limited or screened. The Facebook newsfeed also prioritizes content from groups, so you’re more likely to break through the algorithm than you would with a post from a page.
Digital Advocacy Tips
Join the Right Active Conversations
Conversations are moving quicker than ever as people turn to Twitter for news and updates. Twitter’s Explore Page identifies trending conversations nationwide and within your own circle, while advanced tools like RivalIQ can provide more in-depth engagement metrics around more niche conversations. Selecting the right hashtags allows your organization to join active conversations that lead to discoverability and relevancy.
Have an Online Chat
Host a Twitter chat, with a designated time, topic, and purpose. Encourage folks to attend beforehand through social media and email, and share some of the questions you’ll be discussing during the chat. When the chat is “live,” be sure to engage with those who answer your questions and use this as a launching pad for conversation, rather than broadcasting one-sided messages.
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While much of the world shelters in place and distances themselves physically, we’ve increasingly turned to online spaces to connect, create, and come together. Luckily, the organizing skills we’ve been using for decades, coupled with digital tools and strategies, mean that connection is not a thing of the past. Digital organizing is a potent force that can fill some of the in-person meetings and organizing gaps that have arisen from the need for social distancing.
Thank you to our clients and partners who are on the frontlines supporting the communities most affected right now.
RALLY is an issue-driven communications firm | Certified force for good by B Corporation
Our team consists of experts in political, media, and digital strategy. Get inside our brain: click here to sign up for the official newsletter. Learn more at wearerally.com.
