These days digital strategies form the backbone of most advocacy campaigns. They are more cost and time effective than print outs and snail mail, allow you to be more responsive and give you better insights into how your stakeholders are engaging with your organisation and messages.
If you’re looking for simple ways to boost your current approach, consider the below tips for your next campaign (they may be even more effective than the latest TikTok dance challenge!)
- Consolidate political and government data feeds. The spread of important information across social and traditional media, government announcements and parliamentary debates makes it difficult for even the most well intentioned of us to stay on top of it all. Having everything in the one place and by topics or policy areas of interest, will make the task of keeping your finger on the pulse much easier.
- Tune into ‘hot button’ issues. You know those issues that seem to generate conversations not only among government circles but in the media? Keeping an eye on these, and using them as a prompt to reach out, is a great way to enter the policy debate and get your position heard by policy makers.
- Target, target, target. “Email overload” is a common complaint for many individuals today, so if you are putting your energy into an advocacy campaign, focus on concisely communicating your key messages and getting the attention of the right decision makers. Being intentional about who you reach out to based on their influence and/or interest in an issue is key, and much more impactful than a ‘spray and pray’ approach to engagement. Simple strategies like sending a “congratulations/commiserations” email following an election can be an immediate and cost-effective way to establish (or sustain) a relationship.
- Visuals. Even with a targeted outreach plan, the rule of thumb is that you have about five seconds to engage with your audience. Keep messaging simple and visuals powerful – remember visuals are what will increase engagement and memorability. Snappy infographics, popping visuals, and electorate maps (especially to newly elected MPs) are more likely to ensure your collateral is retained.
Want to develop a best practice advocacy campaign for your organisation? Contact us to book a demo.
