Effective Social Media for Grassroots Organizing Brooke Havlik | WE ACT for Environmental Justice |
1.Discuss workshop goals (15 min) 2.Tutorial of social media platform and tools (30 min) 3.Overview of social media strategies (15 min) 4.Breakout Session: Discuss CPP Twitter Campaign (30 min) Workshop outline
What social media tools are you currently using to build awareness and mobilize your community?
a space to tell your story + history a quick mobilization tool it records your work you can connect with other movements, government agencies, journalists, funders, etc. broad exposure compared to website, new audience free! the good news.
a tool, not the cure the digital divide “slacktivism” is real algorithms + paid advertisements staff capacity no perfect formula the bad news.
Who is your audience?
Which platform is best for your work?
platforms
dedicating one staff/volunteer to social media, but keeping multiple admins scheduling posts ahead of time (use Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, etc.) organizational capacity
Where do you find content?
your own or an ally’s campaign work news from sources community knows + trusts (twitter feed, feedly) and stay on the local “beat” community member quotes your organization or neighborhood’s history content
your organization’s events as Facebook events blogs resist the urge to only promote yourself don’t “spam” your followers with the same content content
keeping posts succinct finding an authentic voice that fits your mission investing in graphics that work on social media be provactive + grab attention avoiding long links (ex: use bitly) using high-quality photos and videos, versus links style + voice
design apps Splice Hyperlapse Boomerang Over
link to online petitions or support for legislation polling (twitter has this feature) urge people to attend events mentioning ally groups or political leaders so they know you are part of the conversation use social media to increase member signups install donate button or pin a tweet hold kickstarter campaigns mobilize…
mobilizing tools Facebook Live
experiment with the best times to post standardize staff/volunteer signatures with social media links to drive traffic put social media information on all print materials, presentations, etc. do consistent and frequent posts pick a #hashtag for campaigns be persistent, growth takes time! audience growth
measuring growth
What would a unified EJ Forum campaign look like?
Campaign Notes: Campaign goals Platforms Timeline Graphics
Brooke Havlik WE ACT for Environmental