Colleen Keegan was insistent. We were surprised. And relieved. To a room full of artist entrepreneurs whose careers depended on the support of donors and patrons, Colleen’s advice was liberating:

“Never Forget How Much They Are Not Thinking About You.”

2016 changed who I want to be in this world, as a woman, as an entrepreneur and, as a media professional. It led to our launch of Collective Agency, a grassroots digital agency for the Progressive movement, and ultimately, the opportunity for our team to create media campaigns for progressive and social good orgs. Large or small, I see each social good org make the same mistake — we let our audience forget about us. Again and again and again.

Large or small, I see each social good org make the same mistake — we let our audience forget about us. Again and again and again.

The average American spends 5.9 hours A DAY on digital media. That’s a full school day. 5.9 hours a day means each of your followers is seeing hundreds of posts and newsletters and stories, every day. Posts from other social good organizations, politicians, multi-million dollar brands…friends. Even with the best of intentions, our causes end up out of sight, out of mind.

But if we take our cues from the best of brand marketers (they are targeting the same audience we are and have invested a bajillion dollars in marketing R&D) we can strategically expand our media strategies so that the playing field is far more level- and build a field that can support a mass movement with the depth to drive lasting change.

If we take our cues from the best of brand marketers we can build a field that can support a mass movement with the depth to drive lasting change.

How do we do we make sure they are thinking about us?

By making sure we are in front of our audiences in the most productive way possible, as often possible. Our audience is online for hours a day — so we must be there too. Not with a post a day, a graphic a week, a video a month, but in fluid social-first conversation with every American across every vertical who cares about every one of our issues.

And while all content matters, graphics, memes, posts all add up to a robust social content campaign, start with video. Why? Because social-first video results in 12 times more shares than both text and image posts combined, turning our viewers into our advocates and cementing our message with each additional share.

So how should you use video?

  • For CTA’s
  • for reports
  • for explainers
  • for fundraising.

And where should you use video?

Everywhere…

Newsletters may still be one of the most effective ways to drive action with your users. But 5 seconds after skimming the text, your readers? They’ve forgotten you.

Social Media Platforms — your posting every day, but one click later, your user? They’ve forgotten you. BUT…

Fundraising — you’ve spent hours making sure your appeal is just right. But your donor? A moment later they’ve forgotten you.

Video is not the only answer, and to be sure, it is a bigger lift than a post or a graphic but if we are going to grow our user base, reach different verticals, continue to grow our movement rather than sustain our current user base, we have to use all the tools at our disposal. There are multi-million dollar brand campaigns vying for your activist attention.

If we are going to grow our user base, reach different verticals, continue to grow our movement rather than sustain our current user base, we have to use all the tools at our disposal.

Where to start?

  • Commit to posting a video at least once a week. Ideally across multiple verticals.
  • Don’t send a newsletter out without a link to a video.
  • Augment your video with social graphics, memes, and pictures.

Clearly not every post is created equal, and having vital content is key. With that in mind, we’ll follow up this post with some of our best practices for content creation and distribution.