Beth Becker’s latest “Political Social Grab Bag” e-newsletter is out, and you should check out the whole April issue archived right here, an Epolitics.com online exclusive. The Grab Bag is monthly for now, and it’s a hit with social media advocacy and politics crowd. Sign up now to get the next Political Social Grab Bag delivered straight to your inbox.
Besides the intro excerpted below, the full version includes a look at new tools, some excellent reading suggestions, upcoming webinars, the ever-popular “don’t try this at home” section, and more. Take it away, Beth:
What’s New To Think About?
I attended a panel this week that was hosted by Ogivly Social here in DC on the topic of Social Media and Paid Influencers. There were two main takeaways for me.
First, the person who came to the panel with me pointed out that a lot of what they were saying felt like iistening to me “preach”…lots of talk about authenticity, engagement vs vanity metrics and community building. While the focus of the panel was on brands, it was striking to me that one of the Influencers-For-Hire flat-out said when asked about nonprofits, “If you aren’t will to pay my rate, I won’t help” while the other one said, “If your brand as a non profit is consistent with my brand we can usually find a way to work together”. Guess which influencer of the two is my new best friend?
Second, it reinforced for me what I’ve always thought is the main difference between corporate social meda and the work we do in the electoral/advocacy/non profit space: Our audiences are way more engaged and invested in us than the audience of a corporate brand. They are loyal to us because they care about what we are doing. They know we aren’t just trying to sell them things. It’s important to remember that as we head into a crazy electoral cycle…our online communities aren’t an ATM…engage with them genuinely and they’ll show you the love in the all the ways.
But wait, there’s more! Continue on to the full April edition.