Social Media as an Advocacy Tool
To help more advocates take advantage of social media tools to boost advocacy efforts, we teamed up with the League of American Bicyclists for a webinar on social media as an advocacy tool. Expert panelists Mathilde Piard, a social media professional with the Cox Media Group by day and super volunteer with Alliance member organization Atlanta Bicycle Coalition by night, and Austen Levihn-Coon, senior strategist with Fission Strategy, gave advocates a primer on the most impactful social networks and provided bundles of tips for effectively incorporating social media into campaigns.
Content
1
2
3
There
are
plenty
of
ways
for
biking
and
walking
advocacy
organiza;ons
to
use
social
media
—
both
to
support
everyday
organiza;onal
opera;ons
and
to
support
community
around
your
group.
4
Here’s
an
example
of
using
social
media
to
support
an
advocacy
campaign.
During
their
campaign
to
support
TSPLOT
—
a
transporta;on
ballot
ini;a;ve
in
the
greater
Atlanta
area
that
would
have
raised
tax
revenue
for
transporta;on
repairs
—
the
Atlanta
Bicycle
Coali;on
posted
photos
of
streets
that
would
have
received
influxes
of
repair
funds
if
the
measure
had
passed.
These
photos
and
their
accompanying
stories
helped
spread
the
word
about
the
campaign
and
sparked
online
discussion.
5
Facebook
can
also
be
a
great
way
to
raise
awareness
about
a
public
mee;ng
or
other
in-‐person
advocacy
event.
6
Facebook
is
a
great
tool
for
promo;ng
events.
You
can
create
an
event
hosted
by
your
organiza;on’s
Facebook
page
and
enable
your
supporters
to
spread
the
event
to
their
contacts.
7
Facebook
is
also
a
good
way
to
provide
visibility
for
partners
and
offer
promo;ons.
8
Facebook
can
be
used
for
customer
support-‐type
needs,
too.
9
On
a
Facebook
page,
supporters
can
offer
feedback
and
spark
discussions.
Facebook
groups
—
like
the
Bike
Commuters
of
Atlanta
group
at
right
—
are
a
good
way
to
build
community
around
a
shared
issue.
10
Journalists
and
reporters
use
social
media
—
especially
TwiYer
—
as
part
of
their
repor;ng
process.
Use
TwiYer
to
reach
out
to
journalists.
News
organiza;ons
also
use
social
media
to
collect
crowdsourced
comments
or
feedback
on
an
issue.
When
a
media
organiza;on’s
query
is
appropriate
to
your
mission,
hop
on
the
bandwagon!
Crea;ng
a
s;r
on
social
media
can
be
a
good
way
to
gain
visibility
for
your
issue
or
campaign.
If
many
people
generate
buzz
around
a
certain
issue
or
meme,
reporters
can
take
no;ce.
You
can
also
empower
your
members
and
volunteers
to
use
social
media
for
grassroots
advocacy
in
support
of
your
cause.
11
Here’s
an
example
of
a
crowdsourced,
social
media-‐driven
campaign
by
Atlanta’s
local
alterna;ve
weekly
paper.
This
is
a
great
opportunity
to
chime
in
and
encourage
supporters
to
do
the
same.
12
News
organiza;ons
regularly
use
social
media
to
spark
engagement
and
allow
for
reader
feedback.
13
This
grid
can
help
you
determine
whether
to
use
a
Facebook
profile,
page,
or
group
for
your
advocacy
organiza;on
or
effort.
Best
prac;ce
is
to
maintain
a
personal
Facebook
profile
and
be
registered
as
an
administrator
for
your
group’s
Facebook
page.
Organiza;ons
with
over
100
par;cipants
should
have
a
page.
Facebook
pages
offer
built-‐in
analy;cs,
enable
organiza;ons
to
purchase
adver;sements,
display
a
;meline,
and
allow
for
geographic
and
language
targe;ng.
Facebook
groups
may
be
appropriate
for
smaller
efforts.
In
a
Facebook
group,
people
can
only
post
as
individuals,
not
as
a
brand.
A
Facebook
group
is
useful
for
smaller
efforts
or
for
groups
that
need
to
manually
approve
par;cipants
or
maintain
certain
privacy
sebngs.
For
example,
Women
Bike
Atlanta
has
a
group
so
that
the
administrator
can
authorize
each
group
member
individually.
hYp://www.newsu.org/course_files/VadimLavrusikPagesTimelineGrid.pdf
14
You
can
also
tag
groups
or
individuals
in
a
Facebook
post.
Simple
type
“@”
followed
by
the
person
or
organiza;on’s
name
in
order
to
tag.
How
oken
you
post
will
depend
on
what
works
best
for
your
and
your
own
audience
—
both
base
upon
your
organiza;onal
capacity
and
your
analy;cs.
For
advanced
users,
analy;c
tools
can
help
you
determine
when
and
how
oken
to
post
as
your
page.
15
For
those
monitoring
Facebook
analy;cs
already,
a
bug
may
have
caused
the
“page
reach”
metric
to
be
ar;ficially
inflated
in
February.
16
Hashtags,
used
with
the
#
symbol,
are
used
to
mark
keywords
or
topics
within
a
tweet.
For
example,
if
a
person
includes
#BikeSM
in
their
tweet,
other
users
will
be
able
to
click
the
#BikeSM
and
see
others
who
have
tweeted
about
the
same
topic.
In
addi;on,
the
tweet
will
show
up
to
people
who
are
keeping
track
of
that
topic.
The
@
sign
is
used
to
call
out
usernames
in
Tweets,
like
this:
Hello
@TwiYer!
When
a
username
is
preceded
by
the
@
sign,
it
becomes
a
link
to
a
TwiYer
profile.
A
reply
to
another
user’s
message
includes
@theirname
at
the
beginning.
Direct
messages
can
be
sent
between
two
users
who
follow
each
other.
Direct
messages
are
not
publicly
visible.
RT
means
retweet
—
a
tweet
by
another
user
that
has
been
forwarded
by
someone
who
found
the
tweet
interes;ng.
Retwee;ng
is
like
forwarding
an
interes;ng
email
along
to
your
own
audience.
You
can
retweet
another
tweet
either
by
pressing
TwiYer’s
retweet
buYon
or
by
including
the
“RT
@theirname”
before
their
tweet.
MT
means
“modified
tweet”
and
is
used
when
someone
wants
to
shorten
or
simplify
the
original
message.
17
Here
are
some
examples
of
tweets
from
the
Atlanta
Bike
Coali;on.
18
Pinterest
is
a
visual
image
board
where
individuals
or
brands
can
post
and
share
images.
According
to
ComScore,
68%
of
the
site's
11.7
million
unique
visitors
in
January
were
women,
accoun;ng
for
85%
of
page
views.
The
Pinterest
audience
tends
to
be
upper-‐ income,
between
18
and
34
and
Midwestern.
Nearly
one-‐fikh
of
online
women
(19%)
use
Pinterest.
80%
of
Pinterest
users
are
college
educated
women
between
ages
25-‐34.
19
Appealing
images
are
“repinned”
by
other
users
to
their
own
pin
boards.
20
Specialized
Women
is
one
bike
company
with
a
Pinterest.
Other
bike
companies
and
groups
on
Pinterest
include:
Georgia
Bikes!
hYps://pinterest.com/gabikes/
Women
on
Bikes
SoCal
hYp://pinterest.com/womenonbikes/
Bike
Calgary:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikecalgary/
Planet
Bike:
hYp://pinterest.com/planetbike/
Bike
PreYy:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikepreYy/
Bike
Magazine:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikemag/
Bike
Belle:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikebelle/
21
Instagram
allows
users
to
take
photos
on
their
phone
and
apply
filters
to
make
the
photos
look
interes;ng
or
retro.
Bike
organiza;ons
on
Instagram
include:
Bicycle
Colorado
-‐
hYp://instagram.com/bicyclecolo/
California
Walks
-‐
hYp://instagram.com/californiawalks/
22
LinkedIn
is
useful
for
professional
networking
and
interest
groups.
23
Foursquare
is
used
to
check
in
to
events
and
places.
24
25
Google
Plus
is
a
rela;vely
new
social
network.
The
jury
is
s;ll
out
on
how
successful
the
social
network
really
is.
26
Reddit
draws
a
young,
educated,
nerdy
crowd.
While
the
network
is
not
useful
for
brand
promo;on,
it
can
be
useful
for
keeping
track
of
a
topic.
This
screenshot
shows
current
discussions
on
bicycling
in
Atlanta.
27
There
are
plenty
of
other
social
networks
—
Tumblr
for
short-‐form
social
blogging,
Flickr
for
images,
Vine
for
6-‐second
looping
videos
—
and
there’s
no
way
you
can
do
it
all.
Social
media
can
help
with
your
mission,
but
you’ll
need
to
decide
how
to
focus
your
efforts
and
where
you
will
get
the
greatest
returns.
28
And
one
last
;p:
if
you’re
hesitant
about
pos;ng
something,
ask
yourself
whether
you
would
be
OK
with
your
grandma,
God,
and
Google
knowing
about
it.
It’s
best
to
err
on
the
side
of
cau;on.
29
Austen
lives
in
Washington,
DC,
and
is
an
avid
biker
and
regular
bike
commuter.
He
also
helped
to
start
a
local
community
bike
shop,
The
Bike
House.
His
background
is
in
grassroots
campaigns,
studied
Social
Movement
Theory
and
Organiza;onal
Systems
Theory.
Austen
pulls
on
behavioral
and
social
psychology
to
develop
campaigns
that
will
work.
He
believes
that
technology
should
support
your
campaign
goals,
and
do
so
in
a
way
supports
builds
a
stronger
community
of
supporters.
He
specializes
in
seeing
how
exis;ng
platorms
and
technologies
can
be
used
for
growing
and
augmen;ng
communi;es,
suppor;ng
campaigns,
and
influencing
decision
makers.
He
also
provides
strategic
and
hands-‐on
support
for
online-‐to-‐offline
campaigns.
He
is
not
a
designer
and
a
developer,
but
an
everyday
user
who
has
experience
with
the
tools
available.
In
the
last
few
years,
Fission
strategy
has
worked
with
some
of
the
largest
campaigns
with
the
most
impact.
The
company
specializes
in
finding
crea;ve
ways
to
enter
a
conversa;on
around
an
issue,
then
focus
on
empowering
a
base
of
supporters
to
take
ac;on.
Ul;mately,
they
aim
to
build
movements,
create
communi;es
through
social
media,
and
lower
the
barrier
to
entry
through
crea;ve
integra;ons.
31
M+R’s
annual
benchmarking
study
shows
big
drops
in
the
past
year
in
response
rates.
A
lot
of
this
boils
down
to
common
“email
overload”
—
people
have
too
much
in
their
inboxes.
They
would
rather
interact
on
social
media,
where
they
control
the
pace.
Social
media
is
more
interac;ve
and
they
can
talk
about
what
they’re
interested
in,
rather
than
having
content
“pushed”
to
them.
In
case
you
aren’t
sure
that
this
is
a
long-‐term
trend,
56%
of
people
aged
15
to
35
think
that
email
is
being
replaced
by
text
messaging
and
social
media.
32
In
most
cases,
your
goal
will
be
to
leverage
visibility
on
social
media.
A
social
“ac;on”
is
asking
people
to
do
something
where
the
“ac;on”
in
on
TwiYer
or
Facebook
or
Pinterest
or
YouTube
or
Vine
or
LinkedIn
or
whatever
social
network
you’re
leveraging.
As
with
any
other
ac;on,
the
key
is
to
find
the
medium
where
the
message
can
be
moved
and
where
supporters
have
leverage.
TwiYer
is
par;cularly
good
for
this;
Facebook
is
a
close
second.
Part
of
the
shik
here
is
moving
from
thinking
of
your
list
as
one
mass,
to
individuals
with
different
talents
and
powers
to
bring
to
the
table.
For
the
mass
of
people
on
your
list,
signing
a
pe;;on
and
sharing
it
with
a
few
friends
makes
sense.
But
a
handful
of
people
have
the
power
to
reach
millions.
Most
lists
of
more
than
a
few
thousand
have
a
handful
of
these
influencers.
Influen;al
people
have
a
Klout
score
of
over
50.
Datasik
and
Bitly
recently
did
an
experiment
with
a
microsite
where
they
shared
some
content
to
see
how
far
it
would
travel
when
different
people
shared
it.
This
is
an
extreme
case,
but
it
makes
a
point.
On
some
of
our
customer
lists,
we’ve
discovered
that
Ann
Curry,
TMZ
guy,
Douce
(blogger),
and
Al
Franken
all
have
a
big
impact.
33
It’s
best
prac;ce
to
set
up
widgets,
such
as
TwiYer
&
Facebook
widgets,
on
your
side.
It’s
easy
to
set
up
and
embed
these
widgets.
Snapwidget
also
does
this
for
instagram,
and
can
pull
in
hashtags.
A
tool
called
CrowdTangle
aggregates
Facebook
content
from
across
the
web.
If
you
add
pages,
the
tool
pulls
posts
from
those
pages.
If
you
add
users,
it
aggregates
posts
from
those
users.
CrowdTangle
is
also
able
to
run
algorithms
to
show
the
top
posts
for
the
day.
The
top
posts
on
Facebook
are
almost
always
images
—
like
these
two
top
posts
for
April
24.
Tiny
Post
is
a
mobile
phone
app
that
lets
you
easily
take
a
picture,
put
text
on
it,
and
share
it.
Digital
companies
can
also
build
custom
apps
for
campaigns
or
organiza;ons.
When
ONE
asked
its
members
to
send
their
vaccines
message
to
the
White
House
on
TwiYer
via
a
custom
app,
more
than
2,300
ONE
members
and
advocates
posted
their
TwiYer
message
on
our
na;onal
map.
Overall,
more
than
3,200
messages
were
tweeted.
These
were
tweets
from
everyday
ac;vists
like
you
who
wanted
@whitehouse
(The
White
House’s
official
TwiYer
handle)
to
get
the
message
that
we’re
serious
about
their
pledge
to
fund
vaccines
that
could
save
up
to
four
million
children.
The
best
part?
It
worked.
The
White
House
listened
and
pledged
$450M
for
vaccines
at
GAVI.
Fission
also
worked
with
NRDC
to
create
an
app
that
would
post
right
on
Congress
Members’
FB
Pages
with
one
click.
We
found
the
people
on
NRDC’s
list
who
were
talking
about
the
topic
and
targeted
them
with
FB
messages
and
Tweets.
These
supporters
in
turn
promoted
the
message
to
their
networks
on
FB.
This
campaign
had
one
of
their
best
response
rates
out
of
the
gate
for
ac;ons
on
FB,
because
it
built
in
viral
components.
This
campaign
was
a
liYle
less
public
and
a
liYle
less
effec;ve
than
TwiYer
–
but
more
public
than
email
pe;;ons.
38
AYen;ve.ly
is
a
tool
to
match
your
email
list
with
social
media.
It
allows
you
to
engage
your
ac;vists
and
donors
on
social
media.
The
tool
literally
finds
the
people
on
your
list
–
exis;ng
donors,
ac;vists,
and
volunteers
–
on
TwiYer,
Facebook,
Linkedin,
and
other
social
networks,
then
aggregate
all
the
content
they’re
pos;ng
so
you
can
see
trends
and
find
the
people
who
are
talking
about
your
issues
or
your
ini;a;ve
on
their
own
;me.
AYen;ve.ly
can
provide
some
ac;onable
insights
and
ideas,
specifically
for
engaging
your
exis;ng
supporters
and
donors
on
social
media.
39
AYen;ve.ly
allows
organiza;ons
to
target
messages
based
on:
•
interest
–
who
is
talking
about
a
par;cular
topic;
•
influence
–
Klout
score
or
TwiYer
reach;
•
network
–
where
they
are
pos;ng;
•
demographics;
•
loca;on
and
more.
It
leverages
the
huge
amount
of
social
data
available
on
your
supporters
to
maximize
your
response
rates
on
email.
It
analyzes
supporter
content,
including
trending
topics,
popular
websites;
searches
user
content
across
networks;
and
iden;fies
influencers,
evangelists,
and
customers
talking
about
your
area
of
advocacy.
40
AYen;ve.ly
also
lets
users
sort
and
target
messages
based
on
supporters’
Klout
scores.
41
Here’s
an
example
of
a
campaign
that
made
the
right
asks
of
the
right
people.
MomsRising
used
AYen;ve.ly
to
find
which
members
of
their
group
were
talking
about
the
issue
their
were
organizing
around,
Toxic
Chemical
Safety
for
Kids.
Then,
the
organiza;on
asked
these
people
to
tweet
3
;mes
per
day
and
post
1
facebook
post
per
day
-‐
a
fairly
high
bar
ask.
And
they
all
did
it!
While
your
email
blast
to
20,000
supporters
might
have
a
20%
open
rate
(if
you’re
lucky),
a
text
message
essen;ally
has
a
100%
open
rate.
Using
the
Mobile
Commons
“pingback,”
we
asked
new
callers
to
register
to
join
the
mobile
list.
25%did
so.
Text
message
campaign
need
to
send
regular
updates
in
order
to
stay
relevant.
Text
campaign
experience
the
greatest
growth
through
live
events.
Text
to
call
is
a
powerful
tool,
too.
Reform
Immigra;on
for
FOR
America
generated
350,000
calls
to
elected
officials
through
a
text
messaging
campaign.
43
One
pe;;ons
are
powerful
tools
to
build
lists
of
supporters.
44
These
sites
oken
allow
for
social
sharing,
empowering
supporters
to
reach
out
via
Facebook
and
providing
op;ons
for
emailing,
Facebook,
and
TwiYer.
These
are
great
op;ons
if
your
organiza;on
does
not
have
an
advocacy
toolset.
45
Google
for
Nonprofits
is
a
great
resource.
To
learn
more,
visit
google.com/nonprofits.
47
Q:
Do
you
have
any
sugges;ons
on
how
to
convert
social
media
followers
to
members
of
our
org?
A:
Social
media
is
a
great
way
to
rope
people
in
to
in-‐person
events.
Use
social
media
to
work
supporters
up
a
ladder
of
engagement
—
from
twee;ng
about
your
cause
to
aYending
an
event
in-‐person
to
filling
out
a
dona;on
card.
Q:
How
do
you
engage
the
non-‐connected
community?
Do
we
just
give
up
on
them
in
this
day
and
age?
A:
Text
messaging
is
an
increasingly
promising
medium
for
maximum
satura;on.
To
get
a
sense
of
what
demographics
are
or
are
not
on
social
networks,
see
the
Pew
Founda;on’s
study
at
hYp://bit.ly/17UnB6e
Q:
Is
it
beYer
to
create
an
event
through
my
organiza;on's
page
or
to
start
a
separate
page
for
my
event?
A:
Recurring
events
that
happen
regularly
may
benefit
from
their
own
Facebook
page.
In
most
cases,
though,
it’s
best
to
create
an
event
through
your
organiza;on’s
page.
49
Q:
Is
it
beYer
to
create
an
event
through
my
organiza;on's
page
or
to
start
a
separate
page
for
my
event?
A:
Recurring
events
that
happen
regularly
may
benefit
from
their
own
Facebook
page.
In
most
cases,
though,
it’s
best
to
create
an
event
through
your
organiza;on’s
page.
Q:
Whenever
I
try
to
share
as
myself
and
I'm
an
admin
of
a
page,
the
post
shows
as
my
organiza;on.
Is
there
a
way
to
be
iden;fied
as
myself
and
not
my
organiza;on?
A:
You
can
toggle
back
and
forth
between
page
iden;ty
and
individual
profile
iden;ty
using
the
gear
icon
at
the
top
right-‐hand
corner
of
the
Facebook
screen.
This
controls
how
your
posts,
likes,
and
shares
appear
around
Facebook.
Q:
What
is
the
best
way
to
incorporate
a
link
into
a
tweet?
A:
It’s
best
to
use
a
link
shortening
service
like
bit.ly
or
;ny.url.
Applica;ons
like
Hootsuite
and
Tweetdeck
include
automa;c
link
shortening,
too.
50
Q:
Is
there
a
disadvantage
to
having
both
a
Facebook
page
AND
a
group?
A:
Not
necessarily,
although
it
may
be
confusing
for
some.
Q:
Have
you
discovered
difficul;es
in
pos;ng
on
the
run
from
Smartphones?
What
have
been
the
advantages
and
drawbacks
of
pos;ng
from
smartphones
and
how
have
you
been
able
to
exploit
pos;ng
on
the
fly?
A:
Taking
advantage
of
the
full
capabili;es
of
Facebook
pages
can
be
difficult,
although
an
app
called
Pages
is
designed
for
this
purpose.
Twee;ng
on
the
go
is
somewhat
easier,
although
small
keyboards
always
make
things
a
liYle
trickier!
There
are
a
number
of
apps
available
for
social
media
pos;ng
—
play
around
to
find
out
what
works
best
for
you.
On
the
other
hand,
some
social
networks
(like
Instagram
and
Vine)
are
only
accessible
through
a
smartphone.
Q:
Is
it
advisable
to
create
two
social
media
accounts,
eg,
one
for
business/career,
another
for
hobbies?
A:
It
is
best
prac;ce
to
only
share
items
related
to
an
organiza;on’s
mission
and
ac;vi;es
on
an
organiza;onal
social
media
account.
To
share
informa;on
about
other
interests,
it
is
best
to
also
maintain
a
personal
account.
51
Q:
I'm
been
pubng
a
lot
of
love
into
our
social
media,
and
while
I've
gebng
more
followers
and
likes,
I'm
s;ll
having
trouble
gebng
people
to
talk
back.
How
do
I
turn
public
ques;ons
into
conversa;ons?
A:
Consider
being
explicit
about
asking
your
supporters
ques;ons.
Also
consider
becoming
a
hub
for
informa;on
on
your
issue
area.
Post
related
content
even
if
it’s
not
produced
by
your
organiza;on,
so
that
you
become
a
trusted
source
for
news
and
informa;on.
This
will
help
generate
reac;ons
and
conversa;ons.
52
53
2
3
There
are
plenty
of
ways
for
biking
and
walking
advocacy
organiza;ons
to
use
social
media
—
both
to
support
everyday
organiza;onal
opera;ons
and
to
support
community
around
your
group.
4
Here’s
an
example
of
using
social
media
to
support
an
advocacy
campaign.
During
their
campaign
to
support
TSPLOT
—
a
transporta;on
ballot
ini;a;ve
in
the
greater
Atlanta
area
that
would
have
raised
tax
revenue
for
transporta;on
repairs
—
the
Atlanta
Bicycle
Coali;on
posted
photos
of
streets
that
would
have
received
influxes
of
repair
funds
if
the
measure
had
passed.
These
photos
and
their
accompanying
stories
helped
spread
the
word
about
the
campaign
and
sparked
online
discussion.
5
can
also
be
a
great
way
to
raise
awareness
about
a
public
mee;ng
or
other
in-‐person
advocacy
event.
6
is
a
great
tool
for
promo;ng
events.
You
can
create
an
event
hosted
by
your
organiza;on’s
page
and
enable
your
supporters
to
spread
the
event
to
their
contacts.
7
is
also
a
good
way
to
provide
visibility
for
partners
and
offer
promo;ons.
8
can
be
used
for
customer
support-‐type
needs,
too.
9
On
a
page,
supporters
can
offer
feedback
and
spark
discussions.
groups
—
like
the
Bike
Commuters
of
Atlanta
group
at
right
—
are
a
good
way
to
build
community
around
a
shared
issue.
10
Journalists
and
reporters
use
social
media
—
especially
TwiYer
—
as
part
of
their
repor;ng
process.
Use
TwiYer
to
reach
out
to
journalists.
News
organiza;ons
also
use
social
media
to
collect
crowdsourced
comments
or
feedback
on
an
issue.
When
a
media
organiza;on’s
query
is
appropriate
to
your
mission,
hop
on
the
bandwagon!
Crea;ng
a
s;r
on
social
media
can
be
a
good
way
to
gain
visibility
for
your
issue
or
campaign.
If
many
people
generate
buzz
around
a
certain
issue
or
meme,
reporters
can
take
no;ce.
You
can
also
empower
your
members
and
volunteers
to
use
social
media
for
grassroots
advocacy
in
support
of
your
cause.
11
Here’s
an
example
of
a
crowdsourced,
social
media-‐driven
campaign
by
Atlanta’s
local
alterna;ve
weekly
paper.
This
is
a
great
opportunity
to
chime
in
and
encourage
supporters
to
do
the
same.
12
News
organiza;ons
regularly
use
social
media
to
spark
engagement
and
allow
for
reader
feedback.
13
This
grid
can
help
you
determine
whether
to
use
a
profile,
page,
or
group
for
your
advocacy
organiza;on
or
effort.
Best
prac;ce
is
to
maintain
a
personal
profile
and
be
registered
as
an
administrator
for
your
group’s
page.
Organiza;ons
with
over
100
par;cipants
should
have
a
page.
pages
offer
built-‐in
analy;cs,
enable
organiza;ons
to
purchase
adver;sements,
display
a
;meline,
and
allow
for
geographic
and
language
targe;ng.
groups
may
be
appropriate
for
smaller
efforts.
In
a
group,
people
can
only
post
as
individuals,
not
as
a
brand.
A
group
is
useful
for
smaller
efforts
or
for
groups
that
need
to
manually
approve
par;cipants
or
maintain
certain
privacy
sebngs.
For
example,
Women
Bike
Atlanta
has
a
group
so
that
the
administrator
can
authorize
each
group
member
individually.
hYp://www.newsu.org/course_files/VadimLavrusikPagesTimelineGrid.pdf
14
You
can
also
tag
groups
or
individuals
in
a
post.
Simple
type
“@”
followed
by
the
person
or
organiza;on’s
name
in
order
to
tag.
How
oken
you
post
will
depend
on
what
works
best
for
your
and
your
own
audience
—
both
base
upon
your
organiza;onal
capacity
and
your
analy;cs.
For
advanced
users,
analy;c
tools
can
help
you
determine
when
and
how
oken
to
post
as
your
page.
15
For
those
monitoring
analy;cs
already,
a
bug
may
have
caused
the
“page
reach”
metric
to
be
ar;ficially
inflated
in
February.
16
Hashtags,
used
with
the
#
symbol,
are
used
to
mark
keywords
or
topics
within
a
tweet.
For
example,
if
a
person
includes
#BikeSM
in
their
tweet,
other
users
will
be
able
to
click
the
#BikeSM
and
see
others
who
have
tweeted
about
the
same
topic.
In
addi;on,
the
tweet
will
show
up
to
people
who
are
keeping
track
of
that
topic.
The
@
sign
is
used
to
call
out
usernames
in
Tweets,
like
this:
Hello
@TwiYer!
When
a
username
is
preceded
by
the
@
sign,
it
becomes
a
link
to
a
TwiYer
profile.
A
reply
to
another
user’s
message
includes
@theirname
at
the
beginning.
Direct
messages
can
be
sent
between
two
users
who
follow
each
other.
Direct
messages
are
not
publicly
visible.
RT
means
retweet
—
a
tweet
by
another
user
that
has
been
forwarded
by
someone
who
found
the
tweet
interes;ng.
Retwee;ng
is
like
forwarding
an
interes;ng
along
to
your
own
audience.
You
can
retweet
another
tweet
either
by
pressing
TwiYer’s
retweet
buYon
or
by
including
the
“RT
@theirname”
before
their
tweet.
MT
means
“modified
tweet”
and
is
used
when
someone
wants
to
shorten
or
simplify
the
original
message.
17
Here
are
some
examples
of
tweets
from
the
Atlanta
Bike
Coali;on.
18
is
a
visual
image
board
where
individuals
or
brands
can
post
and
share
images.
According
to
ComScore,
68%
of
the
site's
11.7
million
unique
visitors
in
January
were
women,
accoun;ng
for
85%
of
page
views.
The
audience
tends
to
be
upper-‐ income,
between
18
and
34
and
Midwestern.
Nearly
one-‐fikh
of
online
women
(19%)
use
Pinterest.
80%
of
users
are
college
educated
women
between
ages
25-‐34.
19
Appealing
images
are
“repinned”
by
other
users
to
their
own
pin
boards.
20
Specialized
Women
is
one
bike
company
with
a
Pinterest.
Other
bike
companies
and
groups
on
include:
Georgia
Bikes!
hYps://pinterest.com/gabikes/
Women
on
Bikes
SoCal
hYp://pinterest.com/womenonbikes/
Bike
Calgary:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikecalgary/
Planet
Bike:
hYp://pinterest.com/planetbike/
Bike
PreYy:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikepreYy/
Bike
Magazine:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikemag/
Bike
Belle:
hYp://pinterest.com/bikebelle/
21
allows
users
to
take
photos
on
their
phone
and
apply
filters
to
make
the
photos
look
interes;ng
or
retro.
Bike
organiza;ons
on
include:
Bicycle
Colorado
-‐
hYp://instagram.com/bicyclecolo/
California
Walks
-‐
hYp://instagram.com/californiawalks/
22
is
useful
for
professional
networking
and
interest
groups.
23
Foursquare
is
used
to
check
in
to
events
and
places.
24
25
Plus
is
a
rela;vely
new
social
network.
The
jury
is
s;ll
out
on
how
successful
the
social
network
really
is.
26
draws
a
young,
educated,
nerdy
crowd.
While
the
network
is
not
useful
for
brand
promo;on,
it
can
be
useful
for
keeping
track
of
a
topic.
This
screenshot
shows
current
discussions
on
bicycling
in
Atlanta.
27
There
are
plenty
of
other
social
networks
—
Tumblr
for
short-‐form
social
blogging,
Flickr
for
images,
Vine
for
6-‐second
looping
videos
—
and
there’s
no
way
you
can
do
it
all.
Social
media
can
help
with
your
mission,
but
you’ll
need
to
decide
how
to
focus
your
efforts
and
where
you
will
get
the
greatest
returns.
28
And
one
last
;p:
if
you’re
hesitant
about
pos;ng
something,
ask
yourself
whether
you
would
be
OK
with
your
grandma,
God,
and
knowing
about
it.
It’s
best
to
err
on
the
side
of
cau;on.
29
Austen
lives
in
Washington,
DC,
and
is
an
avid
biker
and
regular
bike
commuter.
He
also
helped
to
start
a
local
community
bike
shop,
The
Bike
House.
His
background
is
in
grassroots
campaigns,
studied
Social
Movement
Theory
and
Organiza;onal
Systems
Theory.
Austen
pulls
on
behavioral
and
social
psychology
to
develop
campaigns
that
will
work.
He
believes
that
technology
should
support
your
campaign
goals,
and
do
so
in
a
way
supports
builds
a
stronger
community
of
supporters.
He
specializes
in
seeing
how
exis;ng
platorms
and
technologies
can
be
used
for
growing
and
augmen;ng
communi;es,
suppor;ng
campaigns,
and
influencing
decision
makers.
He
also
provides
strategic
and
hands-‐on
support
for
online-‐to-‐offline
campaigns.
He
is
not
a
designer
and
a
developer,
but
an
everyday
user
who
has
experience
with
the
tools
available.
In
the
last
few
years,
Fission
strategy
has
worked
with
some
of
the
largest
campaigns
with
the
most
impact.
The
company
specializes
in
finding
crea;ve
ways
to
enter
a
conversa;on
around
an
issue,
then
focus
on
empowering
a
base
of
supporters
to
take
ac;on.
Ul;mately,
they
aim
to
build
movements,
create
communi;es
through
social
media,
and
lower
the
barrier
to
entry
through
crea;ve
integra;ons.
31
M+R’s
annual
benchmarking
study
shows
big
drops
in
the
past
year
in
response
rates.
A
lot
of
this
boils
down
to
common
overload”
—
people
have
too
much
in
their
inboxes.
They
would
rather
interact
on
social
media,
where
they
control
the
pace.
Social
media
is
more
interac;ve
and
they
can
talk
about
what
they’re
interested
in,
rather
than
having
content
“pushed”
to
them.
In
case
you
aren’t
sure
that
this
is
a
long-‐term
trend,
56%
of
people
aged
15
to
35
think
that
is
being
replaced
by
text
messaging
and
social
media.
32
In
most
cases,
your
goal
will
be
to
leverage
visibility
on
social
media.
A
social
“ac;on”
is
asking
people
to
do
something
where
the
“ac;on”
in
on
TwiYer
or
or
or
YouTube
or
Vine
or
or
whatever
social
network
you’re
leveraging.
As
with
any
other
ac;on,
the
key
is
to
find
the
medium
where
the
message
can
be
moved
and
where
supporters
have
leverage.
TwiYer
is
par;cularly
good
for
this;
is
a
close
second.
Part
of
the
shik
here
is
moving
from
thinking
of
your
list
as
one
mass,
to
individuals
with
different
talents
and
powers
to
bring
to
the
table.
For
the
mass
of
people
on
your
list,
signing
a
pe;;on
and
sharing
it
with
a
few
friends
makes
sense.
But
a
handful
of
people
have
the
power
to
reach
millions.
Most
lists
of
more
than
a
few
thousand
have
a
handful
of
these
influencers.
Influen;al
people
have
a
Klout
score
of
over
50.
Datasik
and
Bitly
recently
did
an
experiment
with
a
microsite
where
they
shared
some
content
to
see
how
far
it
would
travel
when
different
people
shared
it.
This
is
an
extreme
case,
but
it
makes
a
point.
On
some
of
our
customer
lists,
we’ve
discovered
that
Ann
Curry,
TMZ
guy,
Douce
(blogger),
and
Al
Franken
all
have
a
big
impact.
33
It’s
best
prac;ce
to
set
up
widgets,
such
as
TwiYer
&
widgets,
on
your
side.
It’s
easy
to
set
up
and
embed
these
widgets.
Snapwidget
also
does
this
for
instagram,
and
can
pull
in
hashtags.
A
tool
called
CrowdTangle
aggregates
content
from
across
the
web.
If
you
add
pages,
the
tool
pulls
posts
from
those
pages.
If
you
add
users,
it
aggregates
posts
from
those
users.
CrowdTangle
is
also
able
to
run
algorithms
to
show
the
top
posts
for
the
day.
The
top
posts
on
are
almost
always
images
—
like
these
two
top
posts
for
April
24.
Tiny
Post
is
a
mobile
phone
app
that
lets
you
easily
take
a
picture,
put
text
on
it,
and
share
it.
Digital
companies
can
also
build
custom
apps
for
campaigns
or
organiza;ons.
When
ONE
asked
its
members
to
send
their
vaccines
message
to
the
White
House
on
TwiYer
via
a
custom
app,
more
than
2,300
ONE
members
and
advocates
posted
their
TwiYer
message
on
our
na;onal
map.
Overall,
more
than
3,200
messages
were
tweeted.
These
were
tweets
from
everyday
ac;vists
like
you
who
wanted
@whitehouse
(The
White
House’s
official
TwiYer
handle)
to
get
the
message
that
we’re
serious
about
their
pledge
to
fund
vaccines
that
could
save
up
to
four
million
children.
The
best
part?
It
worked.
The
White
House
listened
and
pledged
$450M
for
vaccines
at
GAVI.
Fission
also
worked
with
NRDC
to
create
an
app
that
would
post
right
on
Congress
Members’
FB
Pages
with
one
click.
We
found
the
people
on
NRDC’s
list
who
were
talking
about
the
topic
and
targeted
them
with
FB
messages
and
Tweets.
These
supporters
in
turn
promoted
the
message
to
their
networks
on
FB.
This
campaign
had
one
of
their
best
response
rates
out
of
the
gate
for
ac;ons
on
FB,
because
it
built
in
viral
components.
This
campaign
was
a
liYle
less
public
and
a
liYle
less
effec;ve
than
TwiYer
–
but
more
public
than
pe;;ons.
38
AYen;ve.ly
is
a
tool
to
match
your
list
with
social
media.
It
allows
you
to
engage
your
ac;vists
and
donors
on
social
media.
The
tool
literally
finds
the
people
on
your
list
–
exis;ng
donors,
ac;vists,
and
volunteers
–
on
TwiYer,
Facebook,
Linkedin,
and
other
social
networks,
then
aggregate
all
the
content
they’re
pos;ng
so
you
can
see
trends
and
find
the
people
who
are
talking
about
your
issues
or
your
ini;a;ve
on
their
own
;me.
AYen;ve.ly
can
provide
some
ac;onable
insights
and
ideas,
specifically
for
engaging
your
exis;ng
supporters
and
donors
on
social
media.
39
AYen;ve.ly
allows
organiza;ons
to
target
messages
based
on:
•
interest
–
who
is
talking
about
a
par;cular
topic;
•
influence
–
Klout
score
or
TwiYer
reach;
•
network
–
where
they
are
pos;ng;
•
demographics;
•
loca;on
and
more.
It
leverages
the
huge
amount
of
social
data
available
on
your
supporters
to
maximize
your
response
rates
on
email.
It
analyzes
supporter
content,
including
trending
topics,
popular
websites;
searches
user
content
across
networks;
and
iden;fies
influencers,
evangelists,
and
customers
talking
about
your
area
of
advocacy.
40
AYen;ve.ly
also
lets
users
sort
and
target
messages
based
on
supporters’
Klout
scores.
41
Here’s
an
example
of
a
campaign
that
made
the
right
asks
of
the
right
people.
MomsRising
used
AYen;ve.ly
to
find
which
members
of
their
group
were
talking
about
the
issue
their
were
organizing
around,
Toxic
Chemical
Safety
for
Kids.
Then,
the
organiza;on
asked
these
people
to
tweet
3
;mes
per
day
and
post
1
post
per
day
-‐
a
fairly
high
bar
ask.
And
they
all
did
it!
While
your
blast
to
20,000
supporters
might
have
a
20%
open
rate
(if
you’re
lucky),
a
text
message
essen;ally
has
a
100%
open
rate.
Using
the
Mobile
Commons
“pingback,”
we
asked
new
callers
to
register
to
join
the
mobile
list.
25%did
so.
Text
message
campaign
need
to
send
regular
updates
in
order
to
stay
relevant.
Text
campaign
experience
the
greatest
growth
through
live
events.
Text
to
call
is
a
powerful
tool,
too.
Reform
Immigra;on
for
FOR
America
generated
350,000
calls
to
elected
officials
through
a
text
messaging
campaign.
43
One
pe;;ons
are
powerful
tools
to
build
lists
of
supporters.
44
These
sites
oken
allow
for
social
sharing,
empowering
supporters
to
reach
out
via
and
providing
op;ons
for
emailing,
Facebook,
and
TwiYer.
These
are
great
op;ons
if
your
organiza;on
does
not
have
an
advocacy
toolset.
45
for
Nonprofits
is
a
great
resource.
To
learn
more,
visit
google.com/nonprofits.
47
Q:
Do
you
have
any
sugges;ons
on
how
to
convert
social
media
followers
to
members
of
our
org?
A:
Social
media
is
a
great
way
to
rope
people
in
to
in-‐person
events.
Use
social
media
to
work
supporters
up
a
ladder
of
engagement
—
from
twee;ng
about
your
cause
to
aYending
an
event
in-‐person
to
filling
out
a
dona;on
card.
Q:
How
do
you
engage
the
non-‐connected
community?
Do
we
just
give
up
on
them
in
this
day
and
age?
A:
Text
messaging
is
an
increasingly
promising
medium
for
maximum
satura;on.
To
get
a
sense
of
what
demographics
are
or
are
not
on
social
networks,
see
the
Pew
Founda;on’s
study
at
hYp://bit.ly/17UnB6e
Q:
Is
it
beYer
to
create
an
event
through
my
organiza;on's
page
or
to
start
a
separate
page
for
my
event?
A:
Recurring
events
that
happen
regularly
may
benefit
from
their
own
page.
In
most
cases,
though,
it’s
best
to
create
an
event
through
your
organiza;on’s
page.
49
Q:
Is
it
beYer
to
create
an
event
through
my
organiza;on's
page
or
to
start
a
separate
page
for
my
event?
A:
Recurring
events
that
happen
regularly
may
benefit
from
their
own
page.
In
most
cases,
though,
it’s
best
to
create
an
event
through
your
organiza;on’s
page.
Q:
Whenever
I
try
to
share
as
myself
and
I'm
an
admin
of
a
page,
the
post
shows
as
my
organiza;on.
Is
there
a
way
to
be
iden;fied
as
myself
and
not
my
organiza;on?
A:
You
can
toggle
back
and
forth
between
page
iden;ty
and
individual
profile
iden;ty
using
the
gear
icon
at
the
top
right-‐hand
corner
of
the
screen.
This
controls
how
your
posts,
likes,
and
shares
appear
around
Facebook.
Q:
What
is
the
best
way
to
incorporate
a
link
into
a
tweet?
A:
It’s
best
to
use
a
link
shortening
service
like
bit.ly
or
;ny.url.
Applica;ons
like
Hootsuite
and
Tweetdeck
include
automa;c
link
shortening,
too.
50
Q:
Is
there
a
disadvantage
to
having
both
a
page
AND
a
group?
A:
Not
necessarily,
although
it
may
be
confusing
for
some.
Q:
Have
you
discovered
difficul;es
in
pos;ng
on
the
run
from
Smartphones?
What
have
been
the
advantages
and
drawbacks
of
pos;ng
from
smartphones
and
how
have
you
been
able
to
exploit
pos;ng
on
the
fly?
A:
Taking
advantage
of
the
full
capabili;es
of
pages
can
be
difficult,
although
an
app
called
Pages
is
designed
for
this
purpose.
Twee;ng
on
the
go
is
somewhat
easier,
although
small
keyboards
always
make
things
a
liYle
trickier!
There
are
a
number
of
apps
available
for
social
media
pos;ng
—
play
around
to
find
out
what
works
best
for
you.
On
the
other
hand,
some
social
networks
(like
and
Vine)
are
only
accessible
through
a
smartphone.
Q:
Is
it
advisable
to
create
two
social
media
accounts,
eg,
one
for
business/career,
another
for
hobbies?
A:
It
is
best
prac;ce
to
only
share
items
related
to
an
organiza;on’s
mission
and
ac;vi;es
on
an
organiza;onal
social
media
account.
To
share
informa;on
about
other
interests,
it
is
best
to
also
maintain
a
personal
account.
51
Q:
I'm
been
pubng
a
lot
of
love
into
our
social
media,
and
while
I've
gebng
more
followers
and
likes,
I'm
s;ll
having
trouble
gebng
people
to
talk
back.
How
do
I
turn
public
ques;ons
into
conversa;ons?
A:
Consider
being
explicit
about
asking
your
supporters
ques;ons.
Also
consider
becoming
a
hub
for
informa;on
on
your
issue
area.
Post
related
content
even
if
it’s
not
produced
by
your
organiza;on,
so
that
you
become
a
trusted
source
for
news
and
informa;on.
This
will
help
generate
reac;ons
and
conversa;ons.
52
53
