What is Digital Advocacy?

Digital advocacy is the use of tech tools such as social media platforms and blogs to inform people of a cause. The main aim of a digital advocacy campaign is to influence the public’s notion towards policies or products, while educating them on how to get involved with change-making.

Why, as a nonprofit organisation, do you need a digital advocacy strategy?

Most nonprofit organisations have a common goal: to make the lives of many communities better. Nonprofits are advocates for change and equal opportunities for all. A good digital strategy will assist the advocates in sharing their message on a global level whilst encouraging members of the public to get involved.

A digital advocacy strategy starts with the following 5 steps:

  1. Identifying goals (long and short) – both offline and online goals
  2. Understanding and researching the desired target market – who do you want to reach and why?
  3. Choosing the relevant social or web channel for the campaign – which platform will help you best deliver the campaign?
  4. Creating content that is relevant and easy to understand – be mindful of using language and resources that your target audience understands
  5. Measurement – tools such as Google Analytics will help you better understand the impact of your digital advocacy campaign.

It is also important to consider the availability of resources required before launching a digital advocacy campaign: staff capabilities, organisation strengths, community advancement materials and more.

Having a strategy in place before launching a campaign will assist your organisation in reaching the right audience, so that they will become your supporter and help maximize your social impact.