Supercharging Your Digital Grassroots Advocacy Program

By: Sharon Copeland, Vice President

I had the pleasure of leading a session on digital grassroots advocacy at this year’s Women in Government Relations annual Leadership and Advocacy Conference. Over more than a decade, I’ve designed and executed countless digital grassroots campaigns—and I’ve learned what elements make a campaign stand out from the crowd and resonate with policymakers. For those who couldn’t make the conference, I packaged up three keys to supercharge your digital advocacy program.

Key One: Invest in Great Content

If you’re still reading, you’re at the far end of the bell curve – the average attention span is 8.25 seconds and shrinking. And content is being produced at an all-time high – roughly 1 million comments, statuses, and photos are posted every minute on Facebook alone.

With such intense competition for people’s attention, exceptional creative is essential. It's not enough to present facts or show a waving flag – you need compelling visuals, stories, and content that resonate emotionally with your audience. Storytelling, particularly through the lens of real people affected by your issue, can make an abstract policy feel personal. Once you have their attention, don’t waste their time. Convert quickly, emphasizing immediacy, empowering them with the impact that their action will make, and making that action as simple as possible.  Finally, think through whether the same message and creative that resonates best with advocates is the same message that will move the legislators, policy experts, reporters, and influencers, hold sway over decision-making processes and segment so that the right message is conveyed to the respective audiences.

After writing your content and developing your creative, step back. If you didn’t work in the industry, would you care about the issue? If the answer isn’t a resounding yes, go back to the drawing board.

Key Two: Test, Optimize, and Amplify

Performance is the true test of your content. Any larger engagement should start out with examining the intelligence extracted owned channels and online listening. Then it’s critical to test messaging and creative, and pay close attention to your analytics throughout campaigns. Your goal for grassroots is to drive conversions – sign-ups to your community – and action – sharing content, signing petitions, and calling and emailing legislators.

Continuously optimize your content, amplifying what’s performing and pulling back what’s not earning strong responses. Keep in mind that the context surrounding your issue may change over time, and your content may need to change as well. Don’t overcorrect too early, but be ready to double down on what’s working.

Key Three: Remember that Grassroots is Part of a Larger Strategy

Your grassroots program will have a more significant impact on legislators when it’s integrated into a larger public affairs strategy. Mobilizing constituents, while essential, cannot be your sole tactic.

Instead, grassroots must be part of a “surround sound” advocacy campaign, where your message seems to come from every direction – and from many types of messengers. Constituent voices, combined with grasstops, coalition partners, think tanks, policy influencers, media coverage, and more will create a sense of urgency and importance that legislators cannot ignore. Highly targeted, paid promotions can play a critical role in echoing these voices as well. Legislators – as well as regulators in some cases –are more likely to respond when they see an entire community rallying around an issue.

Let’s Talk

Ultimately, supercharging your grassroots advocacy program is about more than just mobilizing people around a single legislative challenge – it’s about crafting a strategy and delivering content that connects with people and makes them allies for the long term. The ultimate goal of the best grassroots programs is not only to influence public policy but also to build a long-lasting, engaged movement that can pivot and grow with every congressional session.

If you’d like to explore ideas for enhancing your grassroots program, developing stronger digital content, or building a new public affairs program from scratch, please reach out to me or one of my colleagues at The Herald Group.