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| Path: Main Street > Resources/Library > Research Articles > Feature Article |
Social media is not the new panacea
By Pattie LaCroix
July 30, 2007For the past three months I have been working with the team at Make Poverty History Canada on their national public engagement campaign. Make Poverty History (MPH) is part of a global campaign in over 110 countries to eradicate poverty and inequality. Today, about 250,000 Canadians have signed on to make poverty history, over 40 local MPH groups across the country have been formed, and a better aid Bill is now before the senate.
How is, what some would term, the largest Canadian public engagement campaign meeting with such success?
While the campaign pivots on the strategic use of the web, what we are learning is that online social media tools are not the cornerstone of the campaign. At best, they are serving to enhance the campaign and build upon existing relationships and connections based in the real world. Most importantly, Make Poverty History has masterfully integrated celebrity, government relations, media relations, local group organizing and partnerships with other constituencies such as faith based groups, labour groups and so on to broaden the reach of the campaign. It has, in other words, created fertile ground for social media tools and for strategic networking.
So many times I am asked to talk about podcasts, blogging, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. The question goes something like this: “How can we use MySpace and YouTube as part of our campaign?” Great question. What concerns me is that so many eggs are being put in the online social media basket, and far fewer into the strategy and partnership basket. Creating an effective public engagement strategy - goals, defining success, key messages, identifying policy outcomes and strategic national and local partnerships - often does not get the attention it deserves. But taking the time to do this really provides your public engagement campaign with the compass it needs to stay on course, and clearly provide others with direction to take action and to navigate as a participant in your campaign.
Make Poverty History is meeting with success because it is crystal clear about what it wants to achieve, its key messages, who it is speaking to, what success looks like, supporting local groups, and masterfully casting its net broadly by extending its campaign reach through strategic partnerships. In fact, the campaign started about two years ago and only this year are we integrating social media tools into our campaign strategy and implementation plan.
As Annette Simmons notes in her newly published Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins, “In this ocean of choice, a meaningful story can feel like a life preserver that tethers us to something safe, important or at the very least more solid than the disembodied voices begging for attention.”
Make Poverty History is acting as a life preserver in the sea of the global complexities of inequality and poverty. The campaign is based on well researched and thoughtful policy positions that provide the foundation for a meaningful and well shaped story that is “tethering” us together as Canadians who want to take action to end poverty.
Absolutely, integrate social media tools, as well as content management and e-advocacy systems that make your campaign more relevant, easy to manage and effective overall. These are all tools that will play a pivotal role in meeting your campaign goals. Social media tools work best within the culture of a well told story that can be shaped by the ongoing participation of campaign bloggers, podcasts, YouTube videos and the like.
But it all really needs to start with that well told, engaging story.
Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.
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