Social media isn’t the answer anymore

We need to get creative about digital campaigning tools—here’s how.

I despair each time a campaign tells me their core strategy is social media, and that’s what’s going to win them an election or campaign. As we’ll see in today’s post, the world of social online campaigning is changing dramatically right now. Assuming that social media followers will always be accessible is a strategy that has never been less likely to produce results. Let’s find out what’s no longer working, and think creatively about what does work.

The new, old power structures

Once upon a time, traditional print and broadcasting media had the authority and power to be kingmakers. They decided which opinions deserved a platform, and there was little to do about it if they decided your cause was not worth any airtime. The internet and social media gave normal people the opportunity to talk about the issues they care about. However, with social media and search engine giants and the power of algorithmic content strategies have come a different set of challenges and debates. 

Political content on social media is an increasingly controversial topic. In October 2019, Twitter announced that they were banning all political advertisements. At about the same time, Mark Zuckerberg said, “I don't think it's right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy.” However, after the U.S. elections in November last year, Facebook changed its tune and Google also banned political advertisement. These bans have been extended repeatedly since then, with Google finally announcing last week that they are back in the game. It's unclear what Facebook’s intentions are. These changes show that smart campaigns need to focus on long-term movement building that isn’t just sustained by paid advertisement.

So you might think, that’s fine! I’m going to focus organic reach on social media in my campaign. And I get it—I love the impact relational organising (as mentioned in my last blog) can have. However, this still doesn't futureproof you completely. There’s a real danger that digital platforms overcorrect, and as a result, it could get harder to reach people through peer-to-peer content sharing. Facebook just announced on February 10th that they are now also changing their algorithm to decrease the amount of organic political content in users’ feeds, starting with Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and the U.S. 

Campaigners need to work within European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the regulation of paid political advertisement on social media and search platforms like Google, and now Facebook’s experimentation with changing algorithms to show less political content. The message is clear: if you want any control over the message you push out and its timing, then digital marketing and organic social media campaigning are no longer the sole solutions. 

Social media has become impersonal

You can’t tell your supporters engagement and commitment apart on social, and that makes each message hard to customise. I’m a huge believer in respecting people’s time and engaging them specifically on topics they care about, rather than each and every policy idea you may want to take forward. With organic social media engagement you can’t tell what matters to each follower, so blasting out messages about everything under the sun isn’t going to work. Throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks is a waste of your time, and of theirs. More to come about this in my next blog.

Social media channels do have their uses. Twitter is still a great way to reach thought leaders, journalists, and other politicians. Facebook is a great platform for people to have conversations with one another. It’s a place to start your engagement strategy. But the real goal is to drive supporters to your owned media platforms, such as your website. Once there, you want to convert them into named supporters so you can build the more personalised engagement that is so effective. 

In the world of campaigning, one size does not fit all. People don’t care about all the facets of politics to the same extent as you and I. Ronald Reagan famously summed up the core question for most people at election time: “are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Different people have different ideas about what 'better' looks like; they have their own priorities and experiences, and respond to different elements of your messaging. Getting that messaging right is the battle you have to win.

Is peer to peer the solution?

Convert people into real supporters that you can communicate with on your, and their, terms. In order to do that, you must ensure that you own the data and have the necessary permission. If you’re reading this post, then you probably know that you don’t own the data you collect on Facebook, Twitter and most established crowdfunding and petition pages. If you decide you want to use a different platform, or if the platform decides that they don’t want you, then you get nothing. 

All campaign efforts on social media should therefore focus on conversion. We want to convert people who might be quite passively following us on social media into active supporters who have consented to receive direct email and texting communications from campaigns. Social media posts and advertisements should all be driving towards this goal. The same goes for your peer-to-peer engagement. Continuously encourage your supporters to be your advocates in their own communities, let them know about your campaign priorities and messaging, empower them to create shareable content. And don’t forget to make it easy for those who just want to forward set pieces of content. 

When you convert someone into an active supporter who’s opted into receiving your messages directly, you have the opportunity to communicate with them on the issues that matter to them. You control the timing and the content of your messaging. You can personalise and engage. With recent events showing that campaigns can’t rely on social media to communicate with voters, supporters, and volunteers, the smart campaigners will start futureproofing now. 

Campaigns who want shortcuts are running out of options, and anyone telling them otherwise isn’t being truthful. Start working on a strong conversion strategy, and think about how to engage your supporters actively and on a personal level.