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    • How *NOT* To Win An Online Campaign : PT II

    Posted on | January 25, 2010 | 1 Comment

    In How *NOT* To Win An Online Campaign : Part I, I cautioned any political candidate (or business or nonprofit organization) who wants to wage a successful online/social media campaign to heed the following advice:

    1. Do NOT Start Late.
    2. Do NOT Confuse a Presence with a Strategy.
    3. Do NOT Play Dr. Frankenstein.

    I was going to write about specific tools for “Part II,” but decided that this next point is so critical and essential to a winning online campaign that it deserved a post devoted entirely to it:

    4.   Get Your Team to “Get It.”

    Not long ago, I wrote an article for AYN Brand on How to Get Your Group on Board with Social Media. It was a direct response to feedback from attendees of my social media and online marketing workshops. While the attendees themselves were enthusiastic about “joining the conversation” online, one of the biggest challenges many faced was a fear of new media among their organizations’ board members and senior executives. The people who ultimately decided when and where financial and human resources should be allocated did not understand the reach and use of online tools, so they decided to ignore developing anything beyond a basic website. Rather than learn how online networking could help their organization, those stakeholders chose to remain out-of-touch and dismissed social media as “just for kids.”

    It’s NOT. As I wrote, successful campaigns like President Obama’s prove:

    Social media is not an “age thing” nor a “nerd thing” – it’s a cultural thing. Your group must learn to see beyond the technology and tools, and view communications through a new lens.

    Moving from the controlled messaging of advertising and press releases to the openness and transparency of Web 2.0 communication is daunting for people who have done things “the old fashioned way” for years. As a social media advocate, fully consider the adjustments you’re asking peers and colleagues to make as individuals and in their particular roles within your organization.

    In the 2009 Houston mayoral election, Annise Parker’s team of staffers and volunteers “got it” – they were all as passionate and vocal online as they were offline. Their voices trickled up through social networks like Facebook and Twitter as well as through blogs, and eventually resounded strongly enough to influence traditional media. (This linked article is actually written by blogger David Ortez, who was hired by the Houston Press during the election to report on local politics, despite having no formal journalism credentials nor training. Suffice it to say: New media voices are supplanting traditional media reportage for “news.”)

    To wage a successful online campaign, your entire team must be on board. Everyone from the campaign manager to the communications director to the volunteer coordinator to the fundraisers to the driver to the people who answer the phones … EVERYONE must understand both how to use online tools and why. They need to understand that these tools can help you share your message, promote your candidate and cause, fundraise, manage your team and increase productivity, so that they can determine how to best integrate online outreach into their own activities. Then, after they “get it,” make sure they get the proper training for the tools best suited to achieve their goals. Finally, allocate time for them to use these tools, just as you would allow them time to write press releases, make phone calls or knock on neighbors’ doors. Only after they receive all these things will your team be able to implement and use online tools effectively.

    The bottom line: Social media is changing how we connect. If your entire team is NOT on board, you miss out on integrating and leveraging one of the most powerful tools for communicating, fundraising and managing team productivity that a modern online campaign can offer.

    Read more: http://blog.aynbrand.com/2009/03/13/how-to-get-your-group-on-board-with-social-media/

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    One Response to “How *NOT* To Win An Online Campaign : PT II”

    1. Tweets that mention How *NOT* To Win An Online Campaign : PT II : grace -- Topsy.com
      January 25th, 2010 @ 10:59 pm

      [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Grace Rodriguez and Grace Rodriguez, Abby Whitmire. Abby Whitmire said: RT @gracerodriguez New blog post: How *NOT* To Win An Online Campaign: Part II http://bit.ly/55ZZjg [...]

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