Tips for building a successful digital advocacy campaign for gender-based violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Introduction to Digital Advocacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT<\/strong> – Digital advocacy is the use of digital technology to contact, inform, and mobilize a group of concerned people around an issue or cause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n WHY<\/strong> – The purpose of digital advocacy is to create enthusiasm amongst your supporters to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHEN<\/strong> – Digital tools have become a central component of almost any movement. Some of the most-used digital advocacy tools include websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, email, and WhatsApp. Literally hundreds of social media applications exist that could be used for digital advocacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n HOW <\/strong>– Most importantly, your overall strategy, based upon your knowledge and expertise of your cause and your followers, will determine how you use which digital tools and what follow-up steps you will take to spur on your community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n The first step in building a winning social media campaign for your niche audience is knowing exactly who your audience is and what is important to them. Many organisations make the mistake of slapping together a social media campaign that focuses solely on the benefits of their own products and services. Your followers don\u2019t only follow your cause, they follow numerous causes and one of them, being the centre of attention at the moment is GBV. So by you advocating for GBV, makes you more attractive to them \u2013 find out more about what ELSE they engage with other than your cause. The same for people you want to reach that aren\u2019t necessarily following your movements on Social Media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What language do they speak? Not only English, Afrikaan, isiXhosa, Zulu \u2013 do you need to simplify your content or up your game? Are you targeting lawyers or accountants as they will want figures & stats. If they are psychologists and you need to add content that shows them you\u2019re interested in the why\u2019s and wherefore\u2019s and behaviour patterns or do they run shelters, support shelters or give money to certain causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonprofits with limited budgets can take advantage of free resources to learn about online audiences. For instance, Google Analytics & Facebook insights can tell you a lot about your community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SUMMARY<\/strong>: Once you know who your audience is and what they care about, you\u2019ll be able to reach them more effectively through a social media campaign. Not only will this target market research inform the types of content that you use in your campaign but also your approaches to reaching and engaging these consumers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you know a little bit more about what your ideal customers care about most, it\u2019s time to learn where they hang out online. There are so many social media channels available to us who want to connect with our audiences. However, because we are trying to make this task simple for you, taking into account the lack of time etc, your organisation doesn\u2019t have the time or resources to effectively be present and engaging on all of these channels, we\u2019re going to focus on a few that hopefully you\u2019re already familiar with. It\u2019s essential to strategically choose the channels that make most sense for your target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organisations also fail to take into account the audience\u2019s challenges and needs. And this can result in wasted time, resources, and budget. If some of your followers and supporters don\u2019t have access to social media platforms like facebook and Instagram, but have access to emails and whatsapps \u2013 that\u2019s the way to go \u2013 don\u2019t forget about them! From past experiences, do the people you\u2019re trying to reach respond to your email, bulk SMS\u2019s, whatsapp, through your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or do they contact you or support you via your website? <\/p>\n\n\n\n SUMMARY<\/strong>: It\u2019s like a radio station \u2013 different DJ\u2019s and music attract different people<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly, do what is right for each SM Channel. Each social media channel has different best practices that you\u2019ll need to consider when using them as part of your social media campaign. It\u2019s best to follow the social media rules for Facebook and Instagram as well as any other channels you want to utilize in your campaign. That way, you are able to maximize your results by using each channel to your advantage and stay out of trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After you\u2019ve decided on which channels to use, you\u2019ll have a better understanding of how you can promote your campaign content on each channel. Some social media channels have unique features that will allow you to publish different types of content that work to engage your audience. For example, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube all have live video streaming options that allow you to connect with your audience in the moment. In the past when you\u2019ve posted videos, how many people viewed and like your post? 1? Then maybe you need to work on content or research your audience!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t forget that you can also take advantage of paid advertising opportunities as part of your niche social media campaign. (Sam chip in here). Though organic content and engagement can go a long way in helping you build relationships with consumers, paid advertising on platforms like Facebook and Instagram can help you expand your reach even further to connect with consumers who are right for your brand but may not yet be following or engaging with your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what are the Campaign Tools available to us? Let\u2019s talk about a few and chip in and tell us how you find each:<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what new social media\nplatforms hit the market, Facebook remains one of the most popular networks\nacross the board. With over 2 billion monthly active users, 61% of which are\nbetween the ages of 25 and 54, Facebook is typically a great social media\nchannel for any campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When used correctly, Facebook is a great platform for showing the more human side of your organisation while building relationships with your contacts. In terms of user demographics, Facebook provides a nice even spread across the board. Which is another reason why we recommend that every organisation or cause have a Facebook page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you are targeting men or women, teens or seniors, high income or low income, you will find your audience on Facebook. When it comes to Facebook, many different types of content are appropriate. You can post images and videos, quick text updates, share your content, post links back to your site, and even start a conversation in the comments section. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to successful Facebook campaigning is to post content that shows a different side\nof your business. Though Facebook does enable you to reach a large number of\nconsumers, it also comes with a lot of competition, so you need to be on your\nA-game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past few years, Instagram\nhas truly become a force to be reckoned with in the social media world.\nInstagram\u2019s audience numbers have steadily increased over the past 5 years,\nbringing current audience estimates to over a 1 billion users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And what\u2019s even more important is that these users are active on a daily basis. Making the potential for engagement higher than many other social platforms. The nature of Instagram makes it ideal for organisations that have a visual product. For this reason, businesses in more artistic niches tend to excel on Instagram. But really any business that has a visual story to tell can attract and engage their audience here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram\u2019s platform relies on images and videos. But it also offers a variety of fun and engaging tools like Instagram Live and Instagram Stories that help brands offer a behind-the-scenes, more human look at their business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To excel at Instagram for business, you will need to post quality images. It helps if you have someone on your team with photography skills or at least a creative eye for detail. These shouldn\u2019t just be images of your products. But also images that help tell the story of your products and highlight different aspects of the lifestyle your products promote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since Instagram is a high\nengagement platform, you\u2019ll need to make sure that whoever is posting for your campaign\nfinds new ways to engage your fans and followers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Using relevant and popular hashtags on your posts is a great way\nto expand your reach on the platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why must I use a hashtag?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have added the hashtag to your post, other users in the challenge will be able to find your post and engage with it. This is done by clicking on the hashtag while logged into Instagram. When doing so, a separate feed will show, featuring all the challenge photo\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why does this work?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When people engage with your posts\non Instagram (comments or likes), your account becomes more visible to new\npeople on Instagram. Overall, by\nincreasing your activity on Instagram you will be rewarded with new engagements\nand visibility, allowing you to share your cause with a new audience!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter remains a popular\nplatform for those who want to deliver messages and communicate with their\nleads and customers in real-time. This platform is all about the here and now!\nGiving you the opportunity to put out news, announcements, and other important\ninformation in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of the users on this platform are under the age of 50, making it ideal for brands with a younger target audience. Pieces like how-to articles and listicles tend to perform well on Twitter. Other simple content like quotations, facts and statistics, and images also perform well on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most unique things about Twitter is it\u2019s real-time messaging. This makes it a great social media platform for engagement. Some followers prefer to reach out on social media rather than email or phone. Twitter gives them a perfect opportunity to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Twitter can be great for short-form content, it isn\u2019t the best platform for every cause. If your content is highly visual, you may want to spend time elsewhere. If you regularly update your brand blog and enjoy sharing relevant third-party content with your fans and followers, then you will most likely find success on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, Twitter is one of the best platforms for quickly spreading the word about your campaign. Relevant hashtags can help you boost visibility. And when other users re-tweet your content, you can reach even more users. But if you use this platform, it\u2019s important that you find a balance between branded content, third-party shares, and re-tweeting content from other users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SUMMARY<\/strong>: Now that you know all about the different social media channels that you can use for your marketing, it\u2019s time to answer the question \u2013 which social media should I use? In short, the answer to this will depend on which channels your target audience use most often and which social media platforms offer the greatest benefits to your brand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now it\u2019s time to focus on your campaign \u2026\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you can get started launching your digital campaign, you need to decide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n What are my goals and\nobjectives for the campaign? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider not only what you hope to get out of this specific\ncampaign but also how these goals align with your marketing goals and\nobjectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example: Not just creating an awareness around the issue, but bringing in resources for sustainability. There are two broad types of campaigns to end GBV with different goals and you need to decide which one you fit into:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awareness-\nraising campaigns fit under both types as their aim can be to influence\npeople\u2019s behaviour, and\/or be a means of attracting attention and generating\npublic support \u2013 public awareness is always an important element whether\nseeking individual behaviour or policy change (or both). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ndifference is in their call to action. (eg signing of petitions, marches, etc\nand the other donations, awareness events, fundraisers, etc)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In simple terms: What do you want your audience to know?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the benefit of #16DaysOfActivism advocacy campaign, we need to define our core message and goal. What and how you present your message is going to determine how far it spreads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before beginning to use social media, carefully consider your goals. For example are you hoping to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n recruit volunteers to come and help abused women; brand your organization as experts in the field of GBV; give out information about GBV; promote an event to raise money to help a shelter; get people to take particular action and attend a support group you\u2019re trying to set up; tell stories about your work in line with GBV or real stories of hope<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A campaign for a precise action to be taken by a well-specified group of people has better chances of reaping success than a vague call for an end to violence. Such goals may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n prompting survivors of violence to seek support; securing funding for women\u2019s centres that support GBV survivors; convincing legislators to translate international law on GBV into national legislation; persuading perpetrators of violence to seek treatment; It\u2019s important to make sure that your goals are clearly outlined. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also important to note that your specific campaign goals\nwill play a vital role in your social strategy & your core business. If you\u2019re NOT in the business of counselling,\ndon\u2019t offer counselling, but have counsellors in your network aware that you\nare sending people their way and make sure they can cope!<\/p>\n\n\n\n An\nessential element in GBV prevention is to eliminate misconceptions about GBV.\nAll elements of society, including public decision-makers, and key influential\nfigures need to understand that GBV is a violation of human rights, regardless\nof when and where it occurs, and that not only should there be zero tolerance\nfor it, but that swift and effective action must be taken to end it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Promoting multi-sector, multi-level approaches:<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Virtually\nall sectors of society can contribute to addressing GBV \u2013 e.g. health services,\neducation systems, courts of justice, police, armed forces, religious and other\ntraditional authorities. An effective campaign needs to reach all sectors\nrelevant to its themes and goals, and intervene at multiple levels so as to\nmobilize a wide range of individuals, local groups, government institutions and\nother decision-makers for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Be gender-sensitive:<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although\nevidence shows that, no matter the form and context of GBV, perpetrators are\noverwhelmingly men, GBV deeply affects all segments of society. It can destroy\nsocial networks and tear apart families and communities. Effective campaigns,\ntherefore, must include and target not only women and girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Men and boys must be engaged as key\nallies in preventing violence\u2014when provided with information and sensitization\non the issue, many men can serve as important role models and spokespeople to\npromote gender equality in family relationships, and condemn the use of\nviolence to resolve conflict at home and in the community. Men and boys can\nhelp to make clear that it is possible to prevent violence, in their own lives,\nand by exerting influence on their peers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The evidence-base is growing on the\npositive changes associated with working with men and boys. In many countries,\nmen have joined the struggle to end GBV, organizing all-male campaigns or\nparticipating in \u201cmixed\u201d (male and female) campaigns. An example is the White\nRibbon Campaign, widely considered the first men\u2019s campaign to end GBV. It was\nfirst launched by a group of men in Canada in 1991 to encourage men and boys to\nspeak out against, and prevent violence from happening to women and girls.\nToday, the campaign runs in at least 60 countries in November and December of\neach year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Convincing\nsomeone to \u201clike\u201d your organization\u2019s page on Facebook is easy; same to a degree with sharing your content as\nit\u2019s easier than them creating their own (which is a good thing!) convincing\nhim or her to host an event at home to raise funds for your organization is\nhard. These are examples of the bottom and top rungs of what media strategists\ncall the ladder of engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By gradually\nasking more of your audience as it engages with you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n you can convert an online bystander into an\nenthusiastic activist for your cause. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to try different approaches and learn from the results. For example to test your audience, try the same message: <\/p>\n\n\n\n first day of posting start off with a question: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you thought about where your food comes from?<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n and then post again the following day with a compelling fact about the previous post:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fact! \u2026<\/em> Processed foods make up 70 percent of our\nlocal community\u2019s diet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever has better traction in terms of share, engagement and reach, is the approach to use. But you must always try new things, because digital behaviours move very rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Know what it\nis you want your audience to do, and make sure the audience knows it too. Perhaps\nit is as simple as sharing your post on Facebook, Sign a petition or Attend a\nmeeting. But tell them! <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re asking for donations, think what it would take for you to actually take money out of your pocket and give it to someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All you need to do to get started with your first social media\ncampaign is to follow the steps above. The more research you do on your niche\naudience up-front, the more successful your strategy will be \u2013 which means\nyou\u2019ll have the opportunity to see the results you really want from your\ncampaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, social media is not just something you can set and\nforget. In fact, if you want your social media campaign to be effective, then\nyou\u2019ll need to engage with your fans, followers, and leads along the way.\nMonitor the different campaign elements throughout the course of the campaign\nto ensure that everything is going along smoothly. Once you can conduct a final\nanalysis, you\u2019ll have plenty of information to help you do even better on your\nnext campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tips for building a successful digital advocacy campaign for gender-based violence. Introduction to Digital Advocacy WHAT – Digital advocacy is the use of digital technology to contact, inform, and mobilize a group of concerned people around an issue or cause. WHY – The purpose of digital advocacy is to create enthusiasm amongst your supporters to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[191,146],"class_list":["post-7758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-esafetysouthernafrica","tag-2019-16daysofactivism","tag-advocacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phambano.org.za\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nTip One: Know your existing audience <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTip Two: Know where your audience hangs out<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTip Three: Use the right tool to engage<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Facebook<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Instagram <\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Hashtags<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Twitter<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTip Four: Hatch a goal and stay focused!<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTip Five: The Message & Approach<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTip Six: Move people towards engagement <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTip Seven: Spur your audience to act (call to action)<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n