social marketing with social media by brent blackaby

IMPORTANT NOTICEThe enclosed material is proprietary to Trilogy Interactive LLC. This material is presented for the purpose of evaluating services and may not be disclosed in any manner to anyone other than the addressee and employees or authorized representatives of client named here within.

Online Organizing through Social Media

Brent BlackabyTrilogy Interactive

January 18, 2012

Who is Trilogy?• A leading full-service digital agency for non-profits, political campaigns,

and public affairs with strategy, design & development, and technology capabilities

• Client portfolio includes five past presidential races, dozens of advocacy organizations, and more than 20 Democratic Senators – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, Patrick Leahy, Patty Murray, Chuck

Schumer, Sheldon Whitehouse, and others– CA Democratic Party, CA Sec. of State Debra Bowen, Rep. Jay Inslee (WA), Rep.

Mazie Hirono (HI), and Elizabeth Warren (MA)– Cancer Research Foundation, Community Catalyst, PICO National Network, Cal

Alumni Association

• We have raised hundreds of millions of dollars and mobilized millions of activists for our clients via email, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other new media channels

Trilogy Interactive — Proprietary & Confidential

Why Online Organizing through Social Media?

• Scalable– 800+ million people on Facebook– 300+ million people on Twitter

• Shareable– Most Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube users are

primed to share content with friends & relatives – so easy to tap into that ethos for activism

• Speedy– Can respond quickly to breaking news and, with “first

mover” advantage, get significant attention very quickly… but can’t always predict what will “go viral”

Clear call-to-action

People don’t often have a lot of time… so presenting them with a clear, simple, easy ask is preferable to bombarding them with many complex asks

Is the goal building your base? Raising money? Building awareness?

• Sign my petition!• Share with your friends on Facebook• “Re-tweet this”• Contribute• Upload photos/video

End Big Oil Subsidies – McCaskill, Schumer,

Whitehouse


End Big Oil Subsidies – McCaskill, Schumer,

Whitehouse


•49k+ total signatures on “End Big Oil Subsidies” petition

@

Step 1: Launch Email


Step 2: Petition Page


• Facebook

• Twitter

• YouTube

• Niche sites

Sharing on Social Networks


Posting to Blogs• Political blogs

• News blogs

• Niche sites


Earned Media• Coordinate media appearances with press staff

EndBigOilSubsidies.comEndBigOilSubsidies.com


FriendOutTheVote.com


• Innovative Facebook application that encouraged CA Democratic Party activists to contact likely drop-off voters for GOTV in 2010 midterm election

• First, we matched the CDP’s target voter universe to Facebook IDs (24% match rate, ~250,000 IDs)

• Then, through the app, CDP activists could identify which of their own friends were in the target universe, and post personal GOTV messages on those specific voters’ Facebook walls

• “Friend Out The Vote” app received 22,000 visitors, who in turn sent thousands of GOTV messages to likely drop-off voters on their Facebook walls

• Whereas traditional GOTV efforts on Facebook are scattershot with little or no targeting, the CA Dem Party’s “Friend out the Vote” app targeted specific voters and seemed more important and “real” to activists

FriendOutTheVote.com


Q & A


Brent BlackabyTrilogy Interactive

[email protected]

APPENDIX

Three Online Myths to Bust1. Email is dead – FALSE!– It’s not sexy, but email is still by far the largest driver of online

activity – including fundraising, volunteering & advocacy

2. Mastering Facebook and Twitter will instantly vault you to online success – FALSE! – Social networks are increasingly valuable channels, but you

shouldn’t base your entire online campaign on them

3. Running online ads means you have an online program – FALSE!– Online ads are important to promoting your issue or candidate,

but successful online programs require much more ongoing engagement


An email success story: Barbara Boxer’s 2005-2010 Online Program


Case Study – Sen. Boxer’s email program


• Email list grew by more than 1 million members from 2004-2010 – to more than 1.1 million total

• The Boxer campaign raised $7.5 million online from grassroots donors for 2010 cycle (plus $2 million more in event/mail contributions processed online) out of $30 million total raised

• Boxer “money bomb” raised $600,000 online from 12,000 grassroots donors in a single day – on day of Boxer’s first debate with Carly Fiorina

• Boxer’s out-of-cycle organizing from 2005-2008 was critical:– Added 400,000 new members during that period (which fueled half of

the 2010 fundraising)– Raised more than $1 million for other candidates during that period– Doubled Boxer’s base of online donors heading into the 2010 cycle

• The online campaign never ends: Investing early and often generates further success over time!

Case Study – Sen. Boxer’s email program


Email: Aspirational Messaging


Case Study:Progressives United


Values

Issue & Obstacle

Goal

Bio

Campaign & Supporters

Contrast

Issue

Call to action

Message Box


corruptivefighting

no intention of giving upcome together

democratichide

unitedpledge

average Americans

Values

The name of the group communicates that we are about a tight community of people who share a specific range

of values. Those values include honor, fairness, purity, and

community itself.

Values

The name of the group communicates that we are about a tight community of people who share a specific range

of values. Those values include honor, fairness, purity, and

community itself.

Issue & Obstacle

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United was just the symptom of a larger problem: corporate money

and corporate influence coming to dominate our politics and, as a result,

our public life. This big business money is tainting the egalitarian

democracy America was founded to be. Conservatives are already bought and sold, so it's up to progressives to

come together and save the fundamentally American principles of

a citizen democracy.

Issue & Obstacle

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United was just the symptom of a larger problem: corporate money

and corporate influence coming to dominate our politics and, as a result,

our public life. This big business money is tainting the egalitarian

democracy America was founded to be. Conservatives are already bought and sold, so it's up to progressives to

come together and save the fundamentally American principles of

a citizen democracy.

Goal

The goal of Progressives United is to roll back corporate influence over our democracy and restore the power of

ordinary citizens.

Goal

The goal of Progressives United is to roll back corporate influence over our democracy and restore the power of

ordinary citizens.

Bio

Russ Feingold founded Progressives United after he lost his bid for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate in 2010. As a

legislator, he had championed civil liberties and clean elections and

opposed unjustified military actions like the invasion of Iraq.

Feingold founded Progressives United to provide a grassroots counter for the Astroturf corporate front groups like Citizens United that he identified as setting their sites on our attacking

our democracy.

Bio

Russ Feingold founded Progressives United after he lost his bid for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate in 2010. As a

legislator, he had championed civil liberties and clean elections and

opposed unjustified military actions like the invasion of Iraq.

Feingold founded Progressives United to provide a grassroots counter for the Astroturf corporate front groups like Citizens United that he identified as setting their sites on our attacking

our democracy.


Progressives United is building its base of supporters and its

organizational capacity through membership-driven challenges to the

corporate-political status quo, including GE's low tax bill, legislators

defending anti-transparency positions, and the anti-worker/pro-

corporate agenda of Wisconsin Republicans.


Progressives United is building its base of supporters and its

organizational capacity through membership-driven challenges to the

corporate-political status quo, including GE's low tax bill, legislators

defending anti-transparency positions, and the anti-worker/pro-

corporate agenda of Wisconsin Republicans.

Contrast

The name Progressives United is meant to draw a contrast with the

name Citizens United. Where CU is a corporate-funded Astroturf group, PU is a true grassroots group driven by

its membership.

Contrast

The name Progressives United is meant to draw a contrast with the

name Citizens United. Where CU is a corporate-funded Astroturf group, PU is a true grassroots group driven by

its membership.

Issue

Right now, corporations can sign contracts with the federal

government, and use the money from those contracts on behalf of

candidates for office, who can then legislate on contracts affecting those corporations when they win. Right

now, when you buy toothpaste from Target because you just want healthy teeth, Target can use that money to

elect a candidate who stands for everything you oppose. We have to rein in this corporate influence in our

politics.

Issue

Right now, corporations can sign contracts with the federal

government, and use the money from those contracts on behalf of

candidates for office, who can then legislate on contracts affecting those corporations when they win. Right

now, when you buy toothpaste from Target because you just want healthy teeth, Target can use that money to

elect a candidate who stands for everything you oppose. We have to rein in this corporate influence in our

politics.

Call to action

The protests this winter in Wisconsin brought more media attention to

workers rights issues than anything in decades. They showed how powerful progressives can be when they are

united, and the short-term motivational power of the threat of

losing something. Russ Feingold and Progressives United are looking to

build a long-term grassroots movement that will, by psychological

necessity, have to be more aspirational. We are calling

progressives to constant aspirational action, like passing legislation to

institute ethics codes for Supreme Court justices and electing candidates

who will represent our progressive and democratic values.

Call to action

The protests this winter in Wisconsin brought more media attention to

workers rights issues than anything in decades. They showed how powerful progressives can be when they are

united, and the short-term motivational power of the threat of

losing something. Russ Feingold and Progressives United are looking to

build a long-term grassroots movement that will, by psychological

necessity, have to be more aspirational. We are calling

progressives to constant aspirational action, like passing legislation to

institute ethics codes for Supreme Court justices and electing candidates

who will represent our progressive and democratic values.

Issue & ObstacleIssue & Obstacle

ContrastContrast

Call to actionCall to action

GoalGoal

Online ads and the Online ads and the engagement ladderengagement ladder

Voter

Supporter

Donor

Volunteer

Online ads, website, social networks

Email, direct mail, phone

Email, personal contact, social networks


Why Online Ads?


• Americans spend 13 hours a week watching television, and 13 online

• A majority of adults went online in 2008 to get involved or get news about politics

• One-third forwarded something political to a friend• Two-thirds of young people took political action on a

social network• More than half of Americans ages 18-to-64 are online

political users• More than half of the internet users in every major

age cohort took part in the political process in one way or another during the 2008 campaignSources: (1) Understanding The Changing Needs Of The US Online Consumer, 2010; (2-6) Pew: The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008

Three Types of Online Ads


• List Growth / Acquisitions– Judge results by return on investment (ROI)– End goal is to increase net revenue for your

campaign• Branding / Persuasion– Judge results by polling improvement and,

ultimately, votes gained– End goal is to increase support among targeted

groups (e.g. opinion makers) or the general public• Rapid Response– Mix of above two types; can be used for damage

control and/or to use news to gain new supporters

Online Ads 101


Three Things to Take Away1. Email is very much alive and well!

– It is still by far the largest driver of online activity – including fundraising

2. Facebook and Twitter are important online tools for communications and organizing, but they’re not the entire toolkit– Social networks are increasingly valuable channels, but you shouldn’t

base your entire online campaign on them

3. A successful online program involves much more than simply running online ads– Online ads are important to promoting your issue or candidate, but

successful online programs require much more ongoing engagement through email, social networks, and good old-fashioned personal contact


social marketing with social media by brent blackaby

Technology

increasingly

case study

entire online

online ads

progressives

largest driver

social networks

online organizing