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Michael Silberman: Creating an Online Strategy

Michael Silberman (original image: NetSquared)

Today I “attended” a webinar on online strategy hosted by the New Organizing Institute.  The presenter was Michael Silberman, a partner and co-founder of EchoDitto, a communications firm founded by the techies of the Howard Dean campaign.  Below are Michael’s steps to building an online strategy.  I’ve presented his ideas, which are aimed at American non-profits, and then given commentary on how the steps relate to grassroots activists in other countries.  I’ve also added examples from international digital activism.

1)  Choose your moment:  It’s best to link the launch of a campaign to the news cycle so it is relevant.  This can be particularly challenging for activists that work on longterm issues, like the environment, public health, and or women’s rights.  It is common for these kinds of campaigns to link their actions to planned holidays like Earth Day or International Women’s Day, but smart organizations will also be attuned to the news for unforeseen opportunities and be ready to push their environmental campaign when there is news of a toxic clean-up or their women’s rights campaign when a female celebrity is the victim of domestic violence.

An excellent example of connecting an advocacy goal to the news cycle is Syria LinkedIn fail.  Social network LinkedIn had blocked its users in Syria because of a broad interpretatation of US sanctions against that country.  In order to make the block relevant, activist Jillian York created a Twitter tag #linkedinfail, which simulated the incredibly embarrassing #amazonfail story only a few days ago.  Eager not to follow in Amazon’s path, a PR representative responded to Jillian quickly (and on Twitter) and Syrians regained most of their access to the site.

2) Create an “ask”:  An “ask” is a jargon term that campaigners use to refer to the request you will make to your supporters.  While it is tempting to post a list of several actions, in Michael’s experience the most successful asks make only one request. For example, the project Postcards for Iran makes one simple ask:  send a postcard (snail mail or digital) to an Iranian political prisoner. Read more »

A few notes on Permission Marketing

Permission marketing definition: eMarketers ask permission of their audience to send them advertisements, usually through a method of opting into a platform chosen by the marketers to disseminate information.

This concept can be directly applied to digital activism: as activists, we are trying to market our causes in a and persuade people to believe in them. While we’re not selling anything, we still want something from our listeners, and it’s our job to convince them that they want it.

Permission marketing is achieved in many ways, most prominently through platforms such as Facebook, Digg, or cause-specific social networks. Blogs aren’t generally considered permission marketing because people don’t have to read them if they choose not to.

In digital activism, as in marketing, there are few Dos and Don’ts to consider when using tools that are meant to reach a vast number of people who’ve allowed you to contact them and who you hope to persuade.

Do make it personal: People want to feel as if your message is tailored specifically to them that they’re as close to the source of information as they can be, and that the source (you) is genuine in wanting to influence them personally.

Do succintly state your reason for taking their attention: Since people have opted in, they expect you to respect that fact. They can easily opt-out should you not appeal to them in any way. Tell them immediately and clearly how you expect to fill their time, and make your points of contact valuable to them.

Don’t overdo your message: Closely linked to being clear of your intent is being cautious of crossing the line with your messaging. The audience receives your messages whether they want to or not. Excessive messaging with little value will more likely be detrimental to the overall goal.

Don’t make it difficult for people to opt-out: You can’t win everyone over. Let them leave, un-questioned, if they want to. This becomes easy in many programs, but if people can’t leave with a click of a button or a simple request, irritation could result. And while we all know and believe in the power of spreading good messages online, negative messages can also spread.

The concepts of permission marketing can be very valuable to digital activism, but it they need to be used wisely to be effective.