Effective communication is critical for advocacy groups to successfully raise awareness, influence public opinion and drive change. Naturally, digital advocacy tools have become an essential part of an advocacy group's toolkit. 

In our recent webinar, “Advocacy in Action: How to Build an Effective Communication Plan,” Johnny Craig from Prompt.io and Alex Dickinson from Beekeeper Group discussed how advocacy groups should be looking at their toolkit and communication plans. Here is a recap of their conversation around investing in the right tools and planning effectively. 
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Where to Start

The three biggest pitfalls for communication plans are:

• An organization hasn't aligned their audience. 
• Tools and tactics aren’t connected to one another.
• There aren’t enough opportunities for supporters to advocate for impact. 

Building and utilizing effective digital campaigns require more than just a focus on the action that advocacy groups want people to take. There is an investment in who writes the content, approves it, where it is posted, and how it is connected.
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INVESTMENT IN DIGITAL ADVOCACY TOOLS. Investing in digital advocacy tools requires a deep investment that goes beyond just a financial stake. Effective planning requires advocacy groups to identify the different tools used to connect content and audiences. Investing in digital advocacy tools also requires a deep alignment with your audience. This involves understanding the different trends and generations of people online. Build personas, experiment, then fine tune your process based on engagement. 
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RAPID APPROVAL PROCESS. Advocacy groups need to have a rapid approval process in place to enable them to incorporate trending topics and current conversations into their campaigns. A quick but thorough approval process ensures that advocacy groups can post their content with confidence. One thing that helps this process is by having consistent messaging and goals established before any content is created.

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Using Channels Effectively

STORYTELLING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA. Initially, social media platforms were viewed as another broadcast tool that allowed advocacy groups to get their messages out to the masses. However, social media has evolved into a social experience that enables advocacy groups to build deep connections with their audiences by telling stories that are relevant to their cause. The stories should be relatable and be told by the right storytellers.
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BUILDING TRUST WITH MICRO-COMMUNITIES. Micro communities are an essential aspect of digital advocacy campaigns. Advocacy groups can build deep relationships and affinities with other people who have some similarity or affinity to them. Micro communities can be found on platforms like Facebook Groups, Discord, and Reddit with deeper communication platforms. 
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ENGAGING WITH TEXTING. Meaningful two-way conversations move the needle of advocacy efforts and solidify support. One of the best ways to facilitate these conversations is with texting. Organizations that use texting are able to get through to supporter through a channel that they prefer to engage with the most – their phones. 

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“Folks are moving towards these curated communities for a specific style of experiences. Text messaging is becoming a very dependable and expected channel for audiences to engage.” -Johnny Craig

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INFORMING WITH EMAIL. It’s no surprise that email remains one of the top channels for advocacy groups. Email campaigns can be used to deliver specific messages directly to the target audience, whether it is to call for action or to provide updates on ongoing campaigns.
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CONNECTING WITH OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS. Connection creators are platforms that create deeper connections between people. Platforms like LinkedIn and Tumblr enable advocacy groups to create and share in-depth experiences and conversations. Connection creators can be used to create subcultures of people who share common interests and goals.

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Effective digital advocacy campaigns require a deep investment in digital advocacy tools.

Check out the full webinar recording for “Advocacy in Action: How to Build an Effective Communication Plan,” to hear more about strategies, best practices, and more.

Are you looking for ways to use communication tools to their fullest potential? Reach out to one of the experts here at Prompt.io. We can help you choose the best solutions for your organization with a platform that supports meaningful two-way conversations to move the needle of advocacy efforts and solidify support.

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