Red White and Food Social Media Case Study

Grassroots Advocacy Through Social

Networking

Brannan Atkinson, APR,And Nikki Klemmer

Today’s Agenda

• Where we are with the Red White and Food campaign

• How we arrived at this point• How we engaged people through

social media• What worked. What didn’t. • How to decide whether you should

use social media

Where the campaign

is today

RW&F Members

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

Series1 2,566 2,775 2,925 2,988 3,050 3,112 3,212 3,277 3,384 3,468 3,708 4,571 12,225 18,425 18,925 19,425 20,025 20,125 20,325 20,525

feb 08 mar 08 apr 08 may 08 jun 08 jul 08 aug 08 sep 08 oct 08 nov 08 dec 08 jan 09 feb 09 mar 09 apr 09 may 09 jun 09 jul 09 aug 09 sep 09

RW&F Facebook GroupRed White and Food Facebook Group Membership

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

Members 184 269 322 364 428 500 584 905 2,453 4,711 5,043 5,143 5,243 5,393 5,543 5,668

6/08 7/08 8/08 9/08 10/08 11/08 12/08 1/09 2/09 3/09 4/09 5/09 6/09 7/09 8/09 9/09

RW&F Media Coverage vs. Our Opponents

Positive v. Negative Coverage Trends 2008-Present

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Jan2008

Feb2008

Mar2008

Apr2008

May2008

Jun2008

Jul2008

Aug2008

Sep2008

Oct2008

Nov2008

Dec2008

Jan2009

Feb2009

Mar2009

Med

ia H

its

Pos Total

Neg total

RW&F Media Breakdown2009 Tone by Media Type

1

9

1

4

4

6

18

2

6

1

21

10

14

10

50

2

5

10

14

16

31

37

82

43

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115

Message Board

Radio

Industry Trade

Wire

Editorial

Letter to Editor

TV

Online Publication

Blog - Media

Blog

Print

Media Hits

Negative

Neutral

Positive

How we got here

2007 2007 SurveySurvey

2%difference

Campaign Goals

• Demonstrate consumer support for the change

• Give a voice to people who don’t have one

• Inspire calls to action

MessagingMessaging

Everyone on target

Consistency within all communications

Calls To Action

• Become a RW&F member• Contact your legislators• Refer your friends• Donate to our the Voters PAC

RW&F Message Map

200

8 W

eb

200

8 W

eb

S

ite

Sit

e

200

9 W

eb

200

9 W

eb

S

ite

Sit

e

Engaging audiences

through social media

Media = Media = YouYou

Facebook DayFacebook Day

Facebook DayFacebook Day

Blogger OutreachBlogger Outreach

RW&F Blog DayRW&F Blog Day

What worked. What didn’t.

RW&F Social Media Poll

1)2)3) 4)5)

RW&F Social Media Poll

1)2)3) 4)5) YouTube – Necessary alternative to

print

RW&F Social Media Poll

1)2) 3)4) Contests – Reward your most active5) YouTube – Necessary alternative to

print

RW&F Social Media Poll

1)2)3) Blog – Explore the issue4) Contests – Reward your most active5) YouTube – Necessary alternative to

print

RW&F Social Media Poll

1)2) Twitter – Converse and share

timely info3) Blog – Explore the issue4) Contests – Reward your most active5) YouTube – Necessary alternative to

print

RW&F Social Media Poll

1) Facebook – Leverage other people’s networks

2) Twitter – Converse and share timely info

3) Blog – Explore the issue4) Contests – Reward your most active5) YouTube – Necessary alternative to

print

Criteria for Evaluating Social

Media

Audience

• Who are you trying to reach?• Do you know what message will

influence them?• Are they already networked?

Commitment

• Do you have resources to update your website?

• Can you commit the time the tool requires?

Grassroots Advocacy Through Social

Networking

Brannan Atkinson, APR,And Nikki Klemmer