Mar 19
4 Things I Learned On Advanced Digital Organizing
posted by Taylor Dankmyer on March 19, 2013
A few weeks ago, I attended a training at the New Organizing Institute on advanced digital organizing. The training ranged from social media to search engine optimization.
Here are the four biggest takeaways from the two day training:
1. Pinterest: Web Traffic Referrals are SECOND to Facebook now, among social networks. In digital marketing, we all talk about how “we really need to get on Pinterest...” but we actually really need to. Pinterest is less than half the age of Twitter, but it’s already blowing Twitter out of the water… er, sky, in terms of referral traffic.
2. Lower Barriers to Action: Beth Becker talked about two products that sound pretty hot: Call2Action and ActionSprout. They both make it easy to embed actions right into Facebook pages or wherever else you would want it.
ActionSprout allows people to only like or comment on your Facebook content, but also “Join” the cause, sign, RSVP, register, etc. You can customize it to your heart’s content. It also works with Facebook’s open graph to show people signing a petition as a “recent activity.” Oh, one more thing: ActionSprout allows you to download your Facebook supporter’s names and email addresses (that’s a big one!).
Call2Action allows you to embed videos just about anywhere that include customized buttons embedded at the bottom of the video. You can have a link to your petition, more videos, a share tool (of course), a donate button, pretty much whatever you want. An example of what their tool can do is below:
And here’s the cherry on top: they can take all those actions from right inside the video. No more clicking a donate button and being taken away from Facebook, or the email message for that matter. These actions can take place all inside Facebook.
3. Text messages have 100% open rates. Sure, there are some people that may instantly delete your message, and there might be some inactive phone numbers on your list, but most smart phones with their pesky notifications are sure to get your supporter’s attention.
While your email blast to 20,000 supporters might have a 20% open rate (if you’re lucky), a text message essentially has a 100% open rate.
Fission is always looking to implement mobile campaigns whenever possible. Last year, we put out a report on how we helped a client recruit 150,000 subscribers and generate 350,000 calls through text messaging. It’s worth a read.
4. Pique their Curiosity: Do you know what The Curiosity Gap is? The folks at Upworthy do a great training on it. And while I can’t put it as well as the folks at Upworthy, the idea is this: don’t give everything away when writing headlines and teasers. That goes for Facebook, Twitter, email, just about any content you are putting out there.
If your post or video is about Oscar the Grouch stealing candy from the grocery store, don’t say that in your headline. Instead, say “You Won’t Believe What Oscar the Grouch is Going to Do to You,” or “This Guy Redefines What it Means to be Total Trash.” Whatever makes you curious and want to click on it.
Upworthy recommends writing 25 headlines for the content, asking a few others what their favorite is, and then ultimately deciding on the best candidate to use.
Sure, It might take some time, but it works pretty darn well. I’ve already watched three Upworthy videos today and it’s not even 10 AM. Ask your friends what they think of your 25 headlines if you like. They’re already sitting on Facebook chat anyways, so put them to work!
Also, there’s no need to be TOO clever, and don’t bum people out. You want to make them angry enough to take action – what you might call “activisty.” An organization doesn't want to make people so sad that they feel hopeless to do anything.
Thanks to Beth Becker, Upworthy, Daily Kos, SEIU, NOI, and many, many others! I thoroughly enjoyed the two-day training!
Here are the four biggest takeaways from the two day training:
1. Pinterest: Web Traffic Referrals are SECOND to Facebook now, among social networks. In digital marketing, we all talk about how “we really need to get on Pinterest...” but we actually really need to. Pinterest is less than half the age of Twitter, but it’s already blowing Twitter out of the water… er, sky, in terms of referral traffic.
2. Lower Barriers to Action: Beth Becker talked about two products that sound pretty hot: Call2Action and ActionSprout. They both make it easy to embed actions right into Facebook pages or wherever else you would want it.
ActionSprout allows people to only like or comment on your Facebook content, but also “Join” the cause, sign, RSVP, register, etc. You can customize it to your heart’s content. It also works with Facebook’s open graph to show people signing a petition as a “recent activity.” Oh, one more thing: ActionSprout allows you to download your Facebook supporter’s names and email addresses (that’s a big one!).
Call2Action allows you to embed videos just about anywhere that include customized buttons embedded at the bottom of the video. You can have a link to your petition, more videos, a share tool (of course), a donate button, pretty much whatever you want. An example of what their tool can do is below:
3. Text messages have 100% open rates. Sure, there are some people that may instantly delete your message, and there might be some inactive phone numbers on your list, but most smart phones with their pesky notifications are sure to get your supporter’s attention.
While your email blast to 20,000 supporters might have a 20% open rate (if you’re lucky), a text message essentially has a 100% open rate.
Fission is always looking to implement mobile campaigns whenever possible. Last year, we put out a report on how we helped a client recruit 150,000 subscribers and generate 350,000 calls through text messaging. It’s worth a read.
4. Pique their Curiosity: Do you know what The Curiosity Gap is? The folks at Upworthy do a great training on it. And while I can’t put it as well as the folks at Upworthy, the idea is this: don’t give everything away when writing headlines and teasers. That goes for Facebook, Twitter, email, just about any content you are putting out there.
If your post or video is about Oscar the Grouch stealing candy from the grocery store, don’t say that in your headline. Instead, say “You Won’t Believe What Oscar the Grouch is Going to Do to You,” or “This Guy Redefines What it Means to be Total Trash.” Whatever makes you curious and want to click on it.
Upworthy recommends writing 25 headlines for the content, asking a few others what their favorite is, and then ultimately deciding on the best candidate to use.
Sure, It might take some time, but it works pretty darn well. I’ve already watched three Upworthy videos today and it’s not even 10 AM. Ask your friends what they think of your 25 headlines if you like. They’re already sitting on Facebook chat anyways, so put them to work!
Also, there’s no need to be TOO clever, and don’t bum people out. You want to make them angry enough to take action – what you might call “activisty.” An organization doesn't want to make people so sad that they feel hopeless to do anything.
Thanks to Beth Becker, Upworthy, Daily Kos, SEIU, NOI, and many, many others! I thoroughly enjoyed the two-day training!