Facebook Rolls Out Hashtag Functionality: Non-Profits Everywhere Should Rejoice

Jun

This week, Facebook announced that they would be integrating hashtags (#) – you know, that genius way of organizing the world’s collective thoughts that has already been put to good use on Twitter and Instagram? (P.S. – Facebook owns Instagram ). As the news spreads, the announcement is making waves across the internet, from NBC News to Wired magazine.

Until now, trade associations and non-profit organizations have had to fork over big money for Facebook ads in order for the social network to play a valuable component in their issue campaigns.

The addition of hashtag functionality to Facebook will give budget-minded non-profits more options – and frankly, a better chance at truly being effective through this channel.

So, how does Facebook’s hashtag functionality help the advocacy world?

Hashtags tie everything together. ICYMI: Hashtags are aggregate searches of content shared through a social network by all users under the banner of one topic, determined by that hashtag (#). Coalitions of supporters are a loose patchwork of voices until they coalesce around an idea or rally cry. The ability to use hashtags on Facebook means that grassroots supporters from around the country can post their thoughts, videos, photos and stories, all tagged with the same easy-to-search message, to unify their voices.

Finding other, like-minded supporters has never been so easy. Hashtags allow anyone to discuss a topic, categorize it for easy searching, and make themselves available to interact with other supporters across the globe they may not have even known existed.

Filtering campaigns from the same advocacy organization is gets simplified. Before the introduction of hashtags, groups would only be able to “tag” your organization’s name in their post, leaving you to sift through hundreds or thousands of posts in order to properly count engagement with each issue. Now, with the introduction of hashtags, simply asking users to use a hashtag in the appropriate place in their post, and clicking, for example, “#cleanwater”, will filter all posts with that tag and leave out everything else – no sorting needed.

Let’s try an example here: If your environmental advocacy organization is running multiple campaigns at the same time, they can now segment their audiences and asks. Maybe the enviro group wants to ask some supporters and Facebook users to spread the word about clean air (or #cleanair), while asking a separate audience to spread the word about clean water (or #cleanwater). Facebook’s new hashtag functionality makes this type of segmenting a cinch.

We believe that the introduction of hashtags to Facebook is revolutionary. With the ability to bring like-minded advocates from around the country together under a single unified word or phrase, advocacy organizations will be able to harness the power of filtering and searching to breathe new life into their Facebook campaigns.

What’s next? Hashtags for Google Search or perhaps Google+?

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Tags: Facebook, hashtag, instagram, Social Media, Twitter

Digital Tactics | Social Media

How Advocacy Groups Can Use Vine

May

After just a few months on the market, Vine, is currently ranked fourth under ‘Free Apps’ in the iTunes Store. So what exactly is Vine?

Vine is a mobile app that allows users to share six-second videos within the app and on Twitter and Facebook.

Click to see the hive!

The app’s description encourages its users to “share life in motion” by using Vine to create “short, beautiful, looping videos.” Originally created by Dom Hofmann and Rus Yusupov in June of 2012, Vine was bought out by Twitter in October of 2012 and released as a free application in January 2013.

Now, both people and brands are finding creative ways to use the app in order to share their work or personal lives. Mashable reported that musicians are using Vine to share their work and world with users, and a woman posted a video resume that helped her land a job.

Vine for Advocacy? Why not?

With a more diversified user base and demonstrated demand for the app, advocacy organizations have a unique opportunity to leverage the power of video and Twitter to promote their issues. After all, for every 1,000 email subscribers non-profits have 53 Twitter followers; a percentage that grew 264 percent over the prior year.

It only seems natural that advocates will look for new ways to engage their existing followers on the networks with short videos or GIF-like content – and who doesn’t like a good video?

Advocacy organizations and their advocates can use Vine to:

Promote organizational events such as fly-ins and annual meetings
Promote new initiatives and issue-based campaigns
Share inspirational quotes from organizational leaders
Capture activist testimonials about the organization and its work
Personalize the organization by introducing staff

Our own Mike Panetta likes to use Vine to encourage people to come meet us at events.

Let us know how you’ve been using Vine in the comments section below or on our Facebook and Twitter pages!

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Tags: advocacy, applications, non-profit, Social Media, Vine

Social Media

10 #SXSW Advocacy Sessions You Should Check Out

Mar

It’s that time of year again – when techsperts and social mediaphiles converge on Austin, Texas for South by Southwest® (a.k.a. #SXSW13). Most of us here at Beekeeper Group fall into one of these categories. That’s why we’ve sifted through the hundreds of events and put together this handy list of 10 advocacy-centric sessions you should check out at SXSW.

The list is in chronological order. It’s a free-for-all, so get to the sessions you want to attend early. Download the mobile apps for SXSW and for the Austin Food Trucks – they’re both lifesavers. #ProTip: When in doubt, hang out on the rooftop at Iron Cactus.

10 Advocacy Sessions You Should Check Out at SXSW®

David over Goliath: The Power of the Sharing Economy – Saturday, March 9, 12:30PM
Tim O’Reilly, Nate Blecharcyzk (CTO of Airbnb), Juliet Gorman (Comm Dir Etsy), Shelby Clark (Founder RelayRides)

Al Gore on the Future – Saturday, March 9, 3:30PM
“[A] frank and clear-eyed assessment of the emerging forces that are reshaping our world and will continue to do so in the decades to come.”

Who Run the (Internet) World: Women – Sunday, March 10, 11:00AM
“How do you talk to an audience that primarily wants to talk to each other? Why is the greater Internet dismissive of the power of girls and women?”

The Real Responsive Process? – Sunday, March 10, 12:30PM
“Four industry leaders will delve into how they handle the responsive process or how they don’t.”

Big Data Democracy: The Rise of Analytics – Sunday, March 10, 3:30PM
“[T]op political and technological minds will discuss how mining and analyzing “big data” helps predict – extremely accurately – the behaviors of constituents and the electorate.”

The New Serendipity? – Sunday, March 10, 5:00PM
As we live lives that are more accelerated and connected, with access to tools that help us rapidly express and investigate our ideas are we creating greater conditions for serendipity?

Seven Ways to Fail Magnificently – Monday, March 11, 3:45PM
Ted Murphy, Founder & CEO of IZEA, Ted will share 6 ideas that fell flat (while wasting money and time) and one that paid off.

We Want Turtles! Giving Communities What They Want – Tuesday, March 12, 12:30PM
This case study will kick off a far-reaching conversation about how the web is best used to instill and sustain community activism and involvement.

Activists, Rockstars & Startups: Building Movements – Tuesday, March 12, 3:30PM
“Explore the recent successes of innovative new models of movement-building that aim to transform behavior and the economy.”

Measuring Social Change & Media: Beyond BS – Monday, March 11 11:00AM
“This workshop will dramatically demonstrate how the practice of measurement, social media, social change, and networks has evolved over the past 5 years.”

Tweet us your highlights or post them in the comments if you happen to attend any of these. We’d love to hear from you while you’re there!

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Tags: Austin, South by Southwest, SXSW

Events | Mobile | Social Media

Shares, Trolls and Change: 3 Ways to Define Social Media Success

Mar

Social Media Week is always a great time for industry professionals to get inspired and gain insight, but sometimes we can get a little too far in the weeds on these topics and lose sight of what matters most.

The recently held #SalsaLive Social Media Week event, From Like to LOVE: Get More Action from Social Media, provided an opportunity for social media professionals to take a step back to look at the big picture.

The event primarily focused on asking the panel’s expertise around one simple question: how can you effectively use social media for advocacy?

While the conversation touched on a few key points like “why armchair activism isn’t so bad” or “how to integrate online and boots-on-the-ground activism”, the most fascinating insight for me was: how is success defined in a social media advocacy campaign?

We always try to discuss and pinpoint the answer to this question when starting a new engagement or campaign with our clients. We search for answers to questions like: What does success look like to you?

The #SalsaLive event’s seasoned panel of experts helped us further explore this question. Here are 3 ways to define social media success:

Success is when you aren’t the only one sharing your material. Left Action’s John Hlinko described online activism as a good starting point for encouraging people to become a vocal advocate – the next step in being and advocate is sharing material on your own.

Bottom line: you know you’ve made it when your organization’s voice isn’t the only one spreading the message.

Success is when you’ve got trolls. Trolls are unwanted online detractors who can annoy and antagonize. This seems counterintuitive, but according to Amy Sample Ward, they’re a great indicator that what you’re doing is working. If people are fired up enough to attack your idea online and your community comes to defend it, it shows a high level of engagement.

Only caveat: make sure your organization has a plan for how to address trolls ahead of time; you’ve got to remain one step ahead of the conversation.

Success is when you achieve real change. How you define change can vary – but many online advocacy campaigns are looking to translate this to offline actions as well. Allyson Kapin gave a great example of how she used her @WomenWhoTech Twitter following to make some changes to the demographics of Tim O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 panels.

The point is: social media is a great public forum with a lot of great social influencers – when you get the right combination, real change can happen.

Sometimes it pays to take that step back and think about success at the macro level. It’s easy to get stuck in the weeds of specific goals and the activities required in reaching them.

Got ideas for how to define social media-based advocacy success? Let’s talk them through together in the comments!

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Tags: SMWWDC, social media week, success, trolls

Digital Tactics | Social Media

Beekeeper Group Wins Grassroots Innovation Award from Public Affairs Council for Mobile Application

Feb

The Public Affairs Council awarded its top honor for innovation in grassroots innovation to the International Franchise Association (IFA) for their IFA Franchising Votes mobile application developed by Beekeeper Group in support of IFA’s 2012 Public Affairs Conference.

“We are honored to receive this award that recognizes the power of grassroots within the franchising community,” said Matt Haller, IFA vice president of Public Affairs and Chief of Staff to IFA President & CEO, Steve Caldeira. “Working with Beekeeper Group we were able to develop and deploy powerful tools that our members could use to communicate IFA’s message to lawmakers. The app’s integration with social media amplified our ability to promote the economic impact of the franchising industry in every state and congressional district.”

“We are very proud of our client and thankful for the opportunity to work with them on this award-winning grassroots innovation,” said Mike Panetta, Partner at Beekeeper Group. “We are all increasingly living in a world where there is no ‘offline’ any more. The ubiquity of mobile devices and the increasing speed of wireless connections enable organizations to develop and distribute robust tools that create powerful opportunities for associations and issue groups to advance their causes.”

The IFA Franchising Votes application empowered the IFA franchisee membership by providing all the tools needed for effective grassroots lobbying within a single mobile platform. Using this application, IFA members were able to:

Review organizational talking points to ensure IFA presented a unified message on key issues in meetings with legislators
View conference and congressional meeting schedules
Watch videos from organizational leadership related to IFA’s issues
Consult congressional directories and Wikipedia entries to gain additional intelligence on Members of Congress before meetings
Submit feedback from meetings with legislators
Monitor social media posts that were using the event’s hashtag, #franchisingvotes

The application increased the “public echo” of the franchisee’s efforts on Capitol Hill. By using Franchising Votes, IFA members were able to generate social media content related to the conference that would be automatically appended with the appropriate hashtag and posted on the member’s Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare profiles. Through IFA Franchising Votes their members could:

Provide status updates on to Twitter and Facebook related to congressional meetings
Post Videos or photos from the events to Twitter and Facebook
Check-in at Foursquare locations that were curated by IFA, such as House and Senate office buildings, the U.S. Capitol, or the IFA Public Affairs Conference

The application was available as a free download via the iTunes and Google Play stores, for iPhones and Android devices respectively.

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Tags: advocacy, apps, Beekeeper Group, Beekeeper Group client, IFA, IFA Franchising Votes, International Franchise Association, Lobby Day, Lobbying, Social Media

Come Hell or High Water…Bottles?

Feb

As some of us may want to forget, one of the most memorable (and tweeted about) moments from Tuesday’s State of the Union Address came not from President Obama’s speech, but from the Republican response. In case you missed it: partially through his address, Florida Senator Marco Rubio took an awkward swig from his water bottle, throwing off an otherwise respectable response.

While watching this begging-to-be-giffed moment transpire, Republicans like me were understandably mortified. What kinds of “Rubio has a drinking problem” jokes would I be hearing the next day from my Democrat coworkers? And no matter how thirsty Rubio may have been, why would he reach for such an inconveniently-placed water bottle? Especially while creepily keeping eyes on the camera? It was just like watching the 2009 Jindal response all over again, as another of the young, up-and-coming members of the GOP flubbed during this premium air time.

And in our era of instantaneous snark, this incident was red meat for the Twitterverse. As Republican strategist Mike Murphy put it:

But what the Rubio team has done with this turn of events is brilliant. Instead of hoping the water bottle incident would simply go away, they are leveraging the moment for their own benefit. Here are a series of tweets from Rubio’s account showing how the Reclaim America PAC is using #waterbottlegate to inspire fundraising:

Team Rubio wasn’t the only group getting in on the fun. Poland Springs, the name-brand of the bottle Rubio drank from, also used the moment to drive engagement on Facebook:

All of this just goes to show that well-timed humor and social engagement can go a long way to making the best of an unfavorable media moment on the web. This is undoubtedly a great lesson for politicians, brands, and advocacy groups alike who participate in the social web, especially when they get into some unexpected “hot water.”

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Digital Tactics | Friday Funnies | Social Media

What Do Queen Bees Buzz About?

Jan

You probably know that those of us at Beekeeper Group believe in the power of a strong, personalized voice online. But what you may not know is that several ladies of Beekeeper (or “Queen Bees,” as we like to say!) put this belief into practice through our own personal blogs. I recently interviewed three of these practiced bloggers about their experiences to see what tips they have for others in the blogging community:

Blogger: Shana Glickfield

Blog: DC Concierge (2007-2010)

What’s the story behind your blog? I put DC Concierge to sleep back in 2010, but it had a good run and I still tweet a lot about DC. My concept was a Q&A style guide to DC where people asked for advice and I shared my recommendations. When Yelp came out, people had a crowd sourced version essentially. But now that Yelp is so cluttered, I feel like there is a new demand and desire for a more “trusted opinion” from a single source.

You can still find Shana on Tumblr at District Love (“Tumblr makes it very easy to post photos on the go!”)

Blogger: Alex Dickinson

Blog: Honest Abe Blog

Why did you start your blog: Obviously I started the blog because Lincoln is the best President! But more seriously – I started it because I noticed that all of the other Lincoln bloggers and Civil War history forums out there did not look at the way we bring Lincoln into our day to day life today. I figured that I couldn’t be the only person fascinated in this strange pop culture hagiography – so I might as well work to be a prime resource for others interested in the topic.

How you integrate the blog with other social media efforts: 2013 has recently seen the big launch of my Lincoln Twitter handle (@honestabeblog)!

Any interesting metrics or data you have: I really only get traffic from Civil War buffs, who usually comment on how it’s funny that I am a young woman, it’s a funny niche to fill – but it’s a necessary one. Stay tuned for some good spikes in traffic once I implement my upcoming content calendar.

Anecdotes of interesting things that happened on your blog or because of it: The Smithsonian once RT’d me because, as I wrote about in a blog post – the entire Gettysburg address could be tweeted in 11 tweets.

Blogger: Melanie Batenchuk

Blog: Be Car Chic

When and why you started the blog: I launched Be Car Chic in 2009 as a way to provide advice on buying a new or used car. As a long-time car gal, I’ve been the go-to person for many friends and family over the years. I still provide that type of guidance today, but the blog has grown to cover the auto industry at large and the topic of distracted driving.

How you integrate the blog with other social media efforts: I have two Twitter accounts, one for personal/professional and the other just for the blog. I try to cross-promote my own material often enough, but without inundating my followers with a constant stream of ME, ME, ME! It’s all about balance.

Any best practices or tools you recommend: I use the free version of Hootsuite to help me manage my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. And in terms of best practices? Be reciprocal. Focus on the great work others you admire and look up to personally and professionally are doing – and share it far and wide!

Any interesting metrics or data you have: My post on the Top 20 Automotive People to Follow on Twitter and Why took less than 48 hours to edge out all of my other prior posts for the top-spot in traffic. That goes to show how careful planning and executing can take your blog to the next level.

Anecdotes of interesting things that happened on your blog or because of it: Because of the blog I have been branded as a respected lady in the automotive industry. I attend the major auto shows, using them both as a coverage opportunity and for high-level networking. Don’t be fooled though. Just starting a blog doesn’t mean you’ll have immediate success in your industry. It takes careful planning, goal-setting and massaging on a regular basis to keep a blog going, and more importantly, to keep yourself motivated.

(As for me, I’m blogging at Tayler Made and Spatial Awareness. You can read more about my blogging here!)

And what about you? Do you have any advice for those who are new to blogging?

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