<img src="https://ws.zoominfo.com/pixel/Gp2oBIDg9xlCLu0ZPKB4" width="1" height="1" style="display: none;">

The Power of Digital Advocacy: Why it Matters and How to Use it to Elevate Grassroots Campaigns

Grassroots advocacy is a powerful means of creating meaningful change by identifying policies, regulations, or issues, organizing those affected by them, and mobilizing these advocates to contact elected officials and decision-makers. However, the success of grassroots advocacy depends on the dedication of individuals willing to take action and make their voices heard. These advocates are eager to call elected officials, send videos, and text messages, attend in-person events, and increasingly, take action online.

Digital advocacy software is making grassroots campaigns more accessible and impactful for organizations, companies, and associations seeking to impact policy. In addition, it is an important tool for those seeking to engage and mobilize supporters by leveraging online advocacy solutions, platforms, social media, email campaigns, and online petitions.

By using digital tools, grassroots organizers can engage a wider audience and build momentum around critical issues, making it possible to achieve a more significant impact with less time and resources. In short, digital advocacy is a powerful complement to traditional grassroots efforts, providing a new way to drive change and create more engaged supporters.

 

What is Digital Advocacy?

Digital advocacy involves leveraging digital technologies, such as social media, email, online communities, and advocacy software, to support or oppose a particular policy or issue. It encompasses using digital tools to create and distribute content, engage with supporters, mobilize people to take important actions, and influence a target audience or influence the legislative process.

Digital advocacy is used by companies, associations, nonprofit organizations, and movements to mobilize a broader array of their supporters. Digital advocacy allows these groups to raise awareness, build support, help people connect, and drive change on the issues at a scale far greater than traditional advocacy.

The importance of digital advocacy

Digital advocacy is essential for several reasons. First and foremost, it allows individuals and organizations to reach a wider audience and mobilize support more quickly and effectively than traditional advocacy methods. With social media platforms and other digital tools, advocates can rapidly create and share content, connect with supporters, and reach out to policymakers, amplifying their message and building momentum for their cause.

Additionally, digital advocacy can be a more accessible and cost-effective way to engage with supporters and achieve measurable goals, particularly for those with limited resources or who face barriers to traditional advocacy methods. Finally, digital advocacy enables supporters to collect data and insights on their audience, track the impact of their campaigns, and refine their strategies for greater effectiveness. Overall, digital advocacy offers a powerful and versatile set of tools for anyone seeking to make a difference.

 

Different Types of Digital Advocacy Campaigns

Digital advocacy encompasses a range of strategies and tactics, each with unique benefits and challenges. Some of the most effective types of digital advocacy include online petitions, email lawmaker campaigns, video storytelling campaigns, and social media campaigns.

Online petitions or pledges

Online petitions are a simple but effective way for supporters to demonstrate public support for a particular cause or issue. By creating a petition and sharing it on social media or using the right digital advocacy software, supporters can quickly and easily collect signatures and demonstrate the size and scope of their movement.

Email advocacy campaigns

Email lawmaker campaigns involve supporters sending personalized messages to their elected representatives, urging them to take action on a particular issue. These campaigns can be highly effective, as lawmakers are more likely to respond to personalized messages from their constituents than to form letters or mass emails.

Video storytelling advocacy campaigns

Video storytelling campaigns can be highly effective at building empathy and generating support. They allow advocates to bring their message to life and create an emotional connection. In addition, video will enable constituents to share their stories with elected officials, legislators, or community. Video is an impactful grassroots action that can impact the right audience.

Social Media advocacy campaigns

A social media campaign is one of the most versatile and powerful types of digital advocacy. By leveraging social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, advocates can reach a vast audience and engage with supporters in real time. Social media campaigns can take many forms, from hashtag campaigns and online rallies to targeted advertising and influencer partnerships. Additionally, social media campaigns have the ability to go viral and take advantage of your advocates networks.

 

The Advantages of Digital Advocacy

Reaching your target audience.

Digital advocacy offers many advantages over traditional advocacy methods. One of the key benefits is its accessibility and reach. With digital advocacy tools and social media, organizers can reach a specific audience with just a few clicks, connect with people who share their values and concerns regardless of location or background. Digital advocacy can be a powerful way to build support for a cause or issue, mainly when traditional advocacy methods are not practical or accessible.

Digital advocacy efforts are cost-effective.

Another advantage of digital advocacy is its cost-effectiveness. Compared to traditional advocacy methods, such as printing flyers, hosting events, or buying advertisements, digital advocacy can be a much more affordable and scalable way to engage with supporters and drive change. In addition, by leveraging social media and other digital platforms, organizers can reach large audiences with minimal investment, making digital advocacy an accessible and effective option for those with limited resources.

A digital advocacy campaign is fast and efficient.

Digital advocacy also allows organizations and others making political advocacy efforts to engage and mobilize supporters quickly and efficiently. With features like social media sharing, online petitions, and email campaigns, advocates can quickly and easily reach out to supporters and encourage them to take action in support of a cause or issue. This means digital advocacy can be a powerful way to build momentum and drive change on short timelines, such as during election cycles or in response to breaking news.

Personalized messaging to influence key decision-makers.

In addition to its reach, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency, digital advocacy offers the ability to personalize and target messages to specific audiences. By leveraging data and analytics, public affairs professionals and other organizers can tailor their messaging and outreach strategies to particular groups of people, making their campaigns more impactful and effective. This means that digital advocacy can be a powerful way to build support for a cause or issue, particularly when traditional advocacy methods are not reaching the right people.

Measure your campaign activities.

Finally, digital advocacy has the potential to leverage data and analytics for more effective advocacy. By tracking engagement metrics, website traffic, and social media analytics, advocates can gain insights into their audience to refine their strategies and optimize performance for a more significant impact. This means that digital advocacy can be a powerful way to optimize campaigns, track progress, and drive winning results.

 

The Challenges of Running a Digital Advocacy Campaign

While digital advocacy offers many benefits, it presents several challenges that organizers must navigate.

Information Overload

One of the key challenges any advocacy organization faces is information overload and standing out in a crowded digital landscape. With so much online content, it can be difficult for advocacy groups to capture the attention of their target audience and convey their message meaningfully, which inspires them to take action. This means digital advocacy campaigns must be well-planned, engaging, and strategically targeted to ensure they are noticed and effective.

Misinformation & Disinformation

Another challenge of digital advocacy is battling misinformation and disinformation surrounding your issue. While the internet and social media offer a powerful platform for advocates to share their messages, it is also a space where false information can be shared quickly and easily. Therefore, organizers must be diligent about fact-checking and verifying information before sharing it and must work to educate supporters to counteract false information circulating online.

Digital Technology Know-How

Organizations might also need specialized skills and resources to conduct effective digital advocacy. This may include knowledge of social media platforms, digital marketing, and data analysis, as well as access to tools and resources that enable them to create engaging content and measure the impact of their campaigns. This means that digital advocacy may require significant investment in time, money, and expertise and should be considered part of the upfront cost of digital campaigns. However, compared to traditional advocacy methods, digital advocacy is often dramatically more efficient.

Advocate education

To overcome these challenges, public affairs practitioners may need to educate their supporters about the issues they are asking them to advocate. Creating educational materials, hosting online events and webinars, or partnering with experts to help spread awareness and understanding of complex issues.

Making your advocacy campaign authentic

Another challenge of digital advocacy is the need to keep advocacy efforts authentic. Advocates must work to ensure that their messaging remains true to the core values of their organization or movement and that they do not compromise their integrity in pursuing their goals. Therefore, digital advocacy campaigns must be carefully planned and executed to avoid compromising authenticity and eroding trust with supporters.

Privacy & data-security is a crucial component

Finally, digital advocacy also raises issues of privacy and data security. Organizers must diligently protect their supporters' personal information and ensure their advocacy efforts do not inadvertently put individuals at risk. Plan to make your campaign transparent about their data practices, take steps to safeguard personal information, and build trust with supporters around data security and privacy issues.

Successful Campaigns:

Uber's digital advocacy campaign

Uber has faced its fair share of challenges but has always found innovative ways to overcome them. When California's assembly attempted to classify all drivers as full-time employees, Uber knew it had to act fast. Not only would this have cost the company millions, but it would have also stripped drivers of their independence and flexibility.

To overcome this challenge, Uber partnered with Countable to launch a digital grassroots advocacy campaign to collect personal stories from its top drivers.

The results speak for themselves: thousands of user-generated stories and a powerful tool in Uber's ongoing battle to protect workers' freedoms. By harnessing the power of community, Uber was able to showcase compelling stories from the most important stakeholders to influence public perception and win a critical policy battle.

Children's Hospital Association's digital advocacy campaign

When COVID-19 forced the cancellation of in-person events, the Children's Hospital Association knew they had to find a way to keep their members and supporters engaged. They needed a platform for a virtual advocacy week where they could bring together families and individuals to advocate for children's healthcare coverage and support each other through the healthcare system's unique challenges.

Countable's Advocacy Impact Hub empowered CHA to mobilize families to participate in a virtual fly-in during their advocacy week. The platform enabled supporters to share their stories effortlessly through video submissions. In addition, the content management system simplified the curating and sharing of these advocacy stories with the constituents' representatives in Congress.

The impact was incredible. In the first week of the launch, hundreds of VIP families shared their stories and participated in the virtual advocacy week. Their powerful and moving stories inspired lawmakers to take action.

With Countable, the Children's Hospital Association leveraged advocacy tools that empowered families and individuals to advocate for children's healthcare coverage and support each other during a challenging time. The impact of their work was felt far beyond the virtual advocacy week, creating empathy and driving action that will continue to benefit children and families for years to come.

Planning Your Digital Advocacy Strategy?

Keys to planning your digital advocacy strategy:

  • Define your stance on an issue or policy
  • Identify affected groups
  • Craft your message
  • Find organizations to partner with
  • Select an Advocacy Software

Looking to chat with a strategist? We're here to help! Countable's team is built around advocacy excellence. Our team are former Capitol Hill staffers, campaign strategists, leaders at advocacy organizations, and digital civic engagement experts. Here are three keys every advocacy organization must consider before launching a campaign in 2023

Digital Advocacy Software to Maximize Grassroots Campaigns

Match your advocates with your digital advocacy campaign

Acquiring supporters is often one of the biggest challenges in launching a digital advocacy campaign. However, honing in on the right audience and mobilizing people at the grassroots level can be vital to influencing decision-makers.

Key questions to consider when finding your audience:

  1. Who is directly affected by the potential regulation? Or who is focused on my issue?
  2. Which communication channel(s) resonates with this audience?

Identifying who is affected by regulation is vital to a digital campaign. These groups of potential supporters might already be gathered and can represent potential partners for an organized effort.

Professional Advocacy Organizations / Partnerships

Advocacy organizations like nonprofit organizations and associations represent well-established groups mobilizing folks for political engagement. Partnering with other organizations can give you a jumpstart, help you understand the landscape of your issue, and give your specific campaign exposure.

A fantastic place to start researching potential partners is ProPublica's nonprofit explorer. Keep in mind, it is best to provide them value before asking for something in return!

Acquiring Advocates

Advocates can also be employees, customers, investors, volunteers, and donors and gather in Facebook groups, Twitter, forums, Linkedin, etc. Leveraging an existing group to coalesce around an issue is a fantastic starting point to nail down the acquisition piece of your advocacy strategy.

Not every communication channel is necessary.

It is essential to identify which mediums resonate with your supporters. After you place your advocacy groups, please take note of where they are gathering and build your communication strategy accordingly.

Channels to reach advocates/places they may gather:

  • Social media posts
  • Newsletters & Emails
  • Online communities
  • Membership organizations
  • Employee Resource Groups
  • Forums

The power of the digital space is that it allows you, as an organizer, to research your best supporters' online activities ahead of time, select the right tools and promote advocacy activities before your next campaign starts. Aligning this enables you to

Assess the timing of your advocacy campaign.

When it comes to advocacy campaigns, timing is everything. it is essential to understand the importance of timing when it comes to launching a grassroots advocacy campaign. Timing can make or break a campaign's success, which is why it is crucial to carefully consider whether to opt for a rapid-response campaign or a long-term one.

Rapid Response Advocacy Campaign

A rapid response campaign is ideal when an urgent issue arises that requires immediate action. This type of campaign is designed to create a sense of urgency and mobilize grassroots supporters quickly. For example, if a bill that could harm a specific community or industry is introduced, a rapid response campaign could be launched to generate widespread opposition and pressure lawmakers to reconsider their stance.

Ongoing / Long-term Advocacy Campaigns

On the other hand, a long-term grassroots advocacy campaign is designed to build momentum over time. This approach involves strategic planning, sustained messaging, and ongoing engagement with grassroots supporters. The goal is to create a strong and influential network of advocates who can effectively influence lawmakers and shape public policy. Long-term campaigns can be especially effective for issues that require sustained attention, such as climate change, healthcare, or education.

When it comes to grassroots advocacy to the United States Congress, timing is crucial. Advocacy campaigns must be carefully timed to coincide with key legislative milestones, such as committee hearings, markups, and floor votes. Effective advocacy also requires an in-depth understanding of the legislative process, as well as the political landscape and key players involved in the issue.

Leveraging National Moments

One effective way to time your advocacy campaign is to use a moment to start a movement. This involves capitalizing on a significant national political event in time that can serve as a catalyst for change. By strategically timing your advocacy campaign to coincide with this moment, you can leverage the increased public attention and support to push for change. However, it's important to be thoughtful and intentional in how you approach this strategy and ensure that your campaign is respectful and inclusive of all advocates and stakeholders. Additionally, it's important to maintain momentum and sustain your advocacy efforts beyond the initial moment to ensure lasting impact.

In summary, the timing of a grassroots advocacy campaign can significantly impact its success. Public affairs professionals must carefully consider whether a rapid response or long-term approach is appropriate for the issue at hand. With careful planning, strategic messaging, and sustained engagement with grassroots supporters, advocates can effectively influence lawmakers and drive meaningful change.

How Countable's Advocacy Software Can Elevate Your Digital Advocacy Campaign 

Countable's advocacy tools are built on years of experience powering grassroots advocacy campaigns for companies, associations, nonprofits, and agencies alike. In addition, our platform powers causes.com, the world's largest cause-driven community — boasting some 40m members.

20+ million messages to policymakers later, Countable has built advocacy tools for public affairs professionals and others to mobilize audiences to take various advocacy activities.

Whether your looking to make an impact at the local, state, federal levels, or even internationally, Countable's advocacy tools are a key component to many organizations' efforts.

  • Contact any policymaker: From the White House to state legislatures to the head of the SEC, we make it easy to contact any policymaker through emails, phone calls, video messages, social media, or petitions and pledges.
  • Manage the message: Provide supporters with a default message to send or let them write their own.
  • Grow advocate lists: Collect all lead information from your users and build your list of advocates ready to take action.
  • Geolocate Representatives: Eliminate uncertainty for your users by automatically connecting them with their elected representatives.
  • Analyze campaign effectiveness: Track progress, measure impact, and optimize future campaigns with detailed reports.
  • Maximize advocate conversion: Maximize the impact of your advocacy. Send messages through email, video, social, and phone calls.

Learn more here > 

Countable's tools for advocacy campaigns:

Advocacy Quickstart

Advocacy Quickstart is precisely what the name suggests — a rapid-response advocacy solution that enables you to mobilize advocates in minutes.

Check out a quick demo of Advocacy Quickstart.

Advocacy Impact Hub

A single campaign can create advocates, but ongoing engagement can change policy. Building awareness and driving action between hair-on-fire moments means your advocates will be ready to take action when it matters most.

The Advocacy Impact Hub is your advocacy command center to run one or dozens of digital advocacy campaigns at a time, drive diverse actions, gamify the experience, and keep advocates invested until it's time to take action.

Learn more about the Advocacy Impact Hub.

Final Thoughts on Digital Advocacy

In conclusion, advocacy is a powerful tool for creating positive change in our communities and beyond. Individuals can join together through traditional grassroots or digital advocacy to make their voices heard and influence decision-making processes.

By mobilizing individuals who are passionate about a particular issue or cause, grassroots advocates can make a significant impact on public policy. Digital advocacy can create awareness and mobilize supporters for a specific campaign or cause faster and more efficiently than ever.

The success of any advocacy campaign depends on the dedication of individuals willing to take action and make their voices heard. And while advocacy is an ongoing process that requires patience and persistence, it can ultimately lead to meaningful change. With powerful digital platforms, we can amplify those voices and allow more advocates than ever to participate in the process.