1. State asset Coalition Learning Projectreaching policymakers through new media Mott FoundationMarch 31, 2010 |Chicago

2. Reaching policymakers With new media Use the righttool for the right audience Clear, compelling message Humor never hurts Know your state Track results and be willing to change your strategy www.thehatchergroup.com

3. Talk directly to your target audiences Inexpensive Easy Limited only by your imagination Fast Find supporters Power of connections Why Social Media? www.thehatchergroup.com

4. Twitter Demographics www.thehatchergroup.com

5. Facebook Demographics www.thehatchergroup.com

6. The rePublic of Facebook www.thehatchergroup.com

7. Consider… Twitter 48 governors have a personalized Twitter presence At least 10% of state legislators have a personalized Twitter presence. At least 80 state legislative caucuses have a Twitter presence. The top five Twittering state legislatures: Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania, California, and Illinois Where is your state on Twitter? SOURCE: http://www.dcigroupdigital.com/digital-america/ www.thehatchergroup.com

8. Also Consider… Facebook Every governor has a personalized Facebook presence More than one third of state legislators have a personalized Facebook presence Every state has a legislator using Facebook The top five Facebooking state legislatures, by total numbers Illinois, New York, Minnesota, Michigan, and Texas Do you know where your legislators are? Digital Nation: http://www.dcigroupdigital.com/digital-america/ www.thehatchergroup.com

9. Social Media Reaches Journalists Over 75% of reporters see blogs as helpful in giving them story ideas, story angles and insight into the tone of an issue. 70% of reporters check a blog list on a regular basis. 21% of reporters spend over an hour per day reading blogs. 57% of reporters read blogs at least two to three times a week. What about your state’s reporters? www.thehatchergroup.com

10. Social media in congress Congressional Management Foundation Study :“Perceptions of Citizen Advocacy on Capitol Hill” Surveyed 260 congressional staff in October of 2010 about their opinions on constituent communications including email and social media. www.thehatchergroup.com

12. 42% say Twitter is

13. What are policymakers in your state listening to?www.thehatchergroup.com

15. YouTube helpful communicating Members’ views www.thehatchergroup.com

16. Answers You need Do your elected officials read constituent emails? Are staffers and the press corps tracking Tweets? Do you know which legislators are Tweeting? Which blogs are legislators reading? Which reporters are on Facebook? Who’s reading your blog? Who’s blogging where? Who’s visiting your website? www.thehatchergroup.com

17. Sometimes… Real value often comes without big numbers Who you reach is often more important than how many Advocacy blogs are read by legislators, staff, journalists Speed can help shape outcomes more than sheer numbers You have to be ready! How quickly can you react? www.thehatchergroup.com

18. www.thehatchergroup.com

19. What new media can get you • Being contacted by a local newspaper interested in turning a blog post into an op-ed • Real-time conversations with journalists and policymakers Having a blog post reprinted word-for-word in a state legislator’s newsletter Legislation introduced www.thehatchergroup.com

20. Facebook: What is it good for? P = YES! P Talking to stakeholders P Preaching to the choir P Getting fans to take action P Bite-sized bits of accessible info P UGC: Photos/ Videos /Wall P Connecting with supporters P Increasing name recognition P RSVP for events P Keeping advocates on same page P Sharing talking points www.thehatchergroup.com

21. Facebook: what it’s not good for www.thehatchergroup.com O = not so much O Detailed policy explanations OMedia relations

22. Facebook Case study Michigan: Save the EITC Goals: Drive traffic to EITC Website Inform allies, stakeholders Tactics: Partner with existing efforts: Senate Dems page Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/EITCWORKS www.thehatchergroup.com

23. Eitc works for michigan www.thehatchergroup.com

24. Twitter: What is it good for? P = yes! P Communicating with key audiences P Rapid response P Tends to be insider-y P Quick info P Driving traffic P Elevating your visibility P Being part of the conversation www.thehatchergroup.com

26. Blogging: What is it good for? More intensive than Facebook, Twitter Serious time commitment, needs frequent fresh content Consider multiple authors Know your audience: Could be other bloggers If post gets picked up in the blogosphere, can gain traction (We’ll see this in the Vermont example) Great for when you can’t do a full-fledged analysis of an issue, but need to get into the news cycle If you can’t sustain a blog, consider intermittent press statements and outreach (KY not frequent blogger but consistent) www.thehatchergroup.com

27. Kentucky Youth Advocates President of Kentucky Senate proposes new tax and budget commission. Included in proposal is language about what commission’s findings will be. Before the commission is established! KYA reacts in blog. Points out that it was a bad idea to create a commission of experts and then tell them what they were supposed to find! Press picked up it, and the president of the Senate immediately backtracked, removed that provision from the proposed legislation. www.thehatchergroup.com

28. Kentucky Youth Advocates Did it matter how many people read the statement? Not particularly. Because the right people read it. Fluid situation. Fast response. www.thehatchergroup.com

29. Vermont Public Asset Institute Problem: Budget shortfall Goals: Balanced approach to balancing the budget Correct misperception that tax cuts lead to jobs. Correct myth that Vermont has the highest property taxes in the country. Show the real effectof tax cuts. Lay groundwork for lengthier analysis showing that the rich were saving so much in federal taxes they could afford to pay a higher state tax. Strategy: Blog post www.thehatchergroup.com

30. Vermont Public Assets Institute www.thehatchergroup.com

31. Public Assets Institute www.thehatchergroup.com

32. Results Flurry of media activity. Radio, print, other peoples blogs, comments to online articles, editorials. As result of blog post, myth about high tax state was widely discussed during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign Post helped to cement reputation as a reliable source of tax and budget analysis and facts. “When we recently found our new Governor spreading another tax myth, we requested a meeting and presented the evidence. We again asked for a tax debate based in fact, and so far he has obliged. His public statements on why we can’t raise taxes have been softened since our meeting.” www.thehatchergroup.com

33. results Can we change the world? Sometimes! Introduction of Vt. House Bill 401 which proposes to temporarily raise the personal income tax rates for the highest two income brackets. www.thehatchergroup.com

34. Lessons Learned in VT Blogging is good for Complicated issues Controversial issues Get information directly to your audience Not about numbers Short, pithy analysis, easy to read More timely than news story www.thehatchergroup.com

35. Growing Together New York Don’t have their own blog. Can they still play in the blogosphere? Yes! 5-6 influential blogs in New York Growing Together developed relationships with them Fed them information that bloggers live for—videos, photos, fake news--on a regular basis http://badcapcitynews.org/ Blogging is competitive, much more time sensitive than print Bloggers want to write the story while at the press conference www.thehatchergroup.com

36. Youtube: what is it good for? P Putting real faces on a story P Bringing high visibility P Poking fun P Easy to share P Makes an easy post for bloggers P Something catchy (fake stories, animation videos, celebrity video) that will "go viral“ P Doesn’t have to be expensive www.thehatchergroup.com

37. Growing together new york youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewNw1SOicvM www.thehatchergroup.com

38. results CNBC picked it up Went viral Has embed code so easy to repost Got calls from a bunch of legislators who wanted to meet with GTNY Got picked up by the Huff post, more easily readily reblogged. www.thehatchergroup.com

39. Growing Together New YorkLessons learned First: Recruit major celebrity Don’t wait until you need them to get to know the new media players Feed the beast Reach out individually with customized emails (small universe) www.thehatchergroup.com

40. Together North Carolina Goal: Get governor & legislature to adopt balanced approach to fixing budget shortfall Approach: Video www.thehatchergroup.com

41. Together North Carolina www.thehatchergroup.com

42. results Result: 6,000+ downloads Governor mentioned the video in meetings with business leaders and legislators Got business leaders involved: appealed to their interest in a trained workforce, voices policymakers listen to that don’t usually call for new taxes Led to blog posts, op-eds, letters to the ed Increased website traffic Helped mobilize broad-based support that was visible at rallies & other events Cost: ~$2,000 www.thehatchergroup.com

43. Together north carolina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEWLV21jg-0 www.thehatchergroup.com

44. Lessons Learned in NC Don’t need to spend a lot of $$ Simple message: “Smart investment, not short-sighted cuts” Use of humor: Plays up rivalry with South Carolina Impact: Governor’s, legislators’, business attention Wider impact than just 6,000 views Used other channels to get the message out www.thehatchergroup.com

45. Rules for Success #1. Don’t make me think. www.thehatchergroup.com

46. Rules for Success #2. Have a Clear Goal www.thehatchergroup.com

47. Action #3. Clear Call to Action www.thehatchergroup.com

48. Motivate Your Supporters #4. Successful campaigns ask supporters to do something—but something easy, manageable, quick. -Join -Share -Embed -Donate -Call -Write -Like -Retweet -Answer www.thehatchergroup.com

49. Target Your Audience #5. Know Your Audience Who’s where in your state? www.thehatchergroup.com

50. Target Your Tool #6. Know the strengths and weaknesses of each platform. -What is Twitter best for? Facebook? Blog posts? E- mail updates? Ads? www.thehatchergroup.com

51. Timing #7. Run campaigns for the time needed—not a day longer. -Too long and you risk message fatigue. See: PBS. www.thehatchergroup.com

52. Follow Up #8. Don’t take supporters for granted. -Tell people what happened. -Don’t use that opportunity to hit them up again. -Ask for feedback. What did we do wrong? Right? -Learn from your supporters. -Why would I keep responding to your alerts if you never seem to win??! www.thehatchergroup.com

53. Resources Resources For a state-by-state listing of all state legislators on Facebook and Twitter: http://www.dcigroupdigital.com/digital-america/?id=999 For an aggregate of all federal legislators on Twitter:http://tweetcongress.org/ Congressional Management Foundation Study: Communicating With Congress:Perceptions of Citizen Advocacy on Capitol Hillhttp://www.frogloop.com/storage/CWC-Perceptions-of-Citizen-Advocacy-1.pdf www.thehatchergroup.com

54. Questions? Jeanne McCannDirector of New Media, The Hatcher Group www.thehatchergroup.comjeanne@thehatchergroup.com www.thehatchergroup.com