Kaili LambeDeputy PAC Director

Democracy for America@Kaili09

Online Organizing, Digital Engagement and Kick-Ass Action Emails

What we’ll talk about today:

•Three Principles of email campaigns

•Five Goals of effective online organizing

•Planning and implementing successful online campaigns

•Eight Keys to online engagement

•From Subject Line to Signature: Building an effective email action

•Building a list to engage

Three Core Principles of Online Campaigns

•Empower your supporters: Every email action is part of a larger ongoing dialogue with members that communicates a ‚Theory of Change‛ and moves them up the Engagement Ladder

•Build a narrative: Tell a story (a ‚story of us‛) in each email and from email-to-email in a campaign.

•Monitor the metrics: Results-driven email actions foster member-driven organizational decisions.

Five Goals of Effective Online Organizing

•Amplify your message: Build a narrative that insulates from attack and generates viral growth

•Recruitment: More supporters = more resources to win

•Engage and Activate: Every action a member takes draws them deeper into the campaign

•Convert: Build segments of your list that will respond to specific asks – volunteering or contributing at very high rates

•Retention: Develop a community that binds members to the success of your campaign

Digital Outreach Best Practices

•Goals and metrics: What will you measure, how and why?

•Build your list(s): your facebook followers could be very different from your email supporters

•Choose your tools and vendor

•Plan mini-online campaigns

•Create engaging content

•Test and track your metrics

•Double-check and deploy

•Evaluate

Online Fundraising• test and analyze

• Be realistic

• Always think of fundraising opportunities

• Be detailed – what does the money go toward?

•Set goals for your donors

• Grassroots fundraising – ask your super supporters to take ownership.

•Build your narrative and segment your list

•Bumper-stickers, yardsigns, and other give-aways

•Sustainers or re-occuring donors

•Report-back and integrate different message delivery methods

Key One:Communicate a “Theory of Change”

•What is a Theory of Change?

• Some questions about your ask:

• Clear?

• Engaging?

• Emotional?

• Empowering?

• Urgent?

Key Two: effective subject linesdrive your open-rate

•Is your subject line...

• Vague or specific

• Provocative?

• Concise?

• Urgent?

•“A/B test” your subject line

Key Three:Keep it short, but interesting

People skim• Don’t write a long essay; emails are not Op-Eds• Short paragraphs; no more than 2-3 sentences

Tell a story• Build a narrative

• Think of each email in a campaign as the “next chapter in a really good book”• But each email should stand on its own

Key Four: Keep it conversational

• Create a dialogue – don’t just yak away

•It’s not about you or your campaign

•It’s about the person reading your email

•Will the reader feel empowered to participate?

•Think ‚You‛ and ‚We‛ vs. ‚I‛

•Exception: A personal plea/ask from a guest author

•Write a personal letter, NOT a newsletter

•Write to one person, not a group of people

• Don’t be too formal; casual language is OK

• Don’t be stale; Have voices/personalities

•Never send an email without an action

No action? Only link option for member is ‚unsubscribe‛

•Potential action options:

• Sign a letter, petition, statement or thank you• Watch a video• Give feedback• Make a donation• Tell a friend (Facebook, email, ect.)•Write a letter to the editor• Sign up to volunteer• Attend/Host an event

Key Five: Empower your Audience

Key Six: Keep it simple

• One action link per email

• All links lead to the same landing page

• Multiple actions lower your response rate

Exceptions:

• Overwhelms the reader

• Splits the return on each action

• The P.S.: if you don’t care about conversion rate

• One ask, but you give the reader multiple choices

Exception: Two asks—same link

Can you Call Out The Vote from home this

Saturday for Jack Conway? Click here to

sign up for a shift.

Can't make it this Saturday, but still want to

help? Click here to sign up for future shifts.

Key Seven: Brand your Action

Create a campaign brand name to build narrative from email to email

• Good: Memorable, short, and clear

•Best: Also a call to action

• Use brand in exposed URL

•Compelling images can increase click rates (sometimes)

Key Eight: Timing is everything

• Never send an email without a strong reason

• Weekday vs. weekend? Day vs night?

•If you’re waiting 3 days for a policy expert to fact-check your brilliant email, you’re too late.

• Take advantage of bold moments and massive gaffes

• If news breaks, don’t wait to take action. For example<

Time for a refresher:

What are…

The Three Principles of email campaigns?

Five Goals of Online Organizing?

A few best practices for digital outreach ?

Your favorite tip for online fundraising?

Most important tip for effective emails?

Building an Effective Email Action

(1) Strong, provocative opening

• Short, compelling sentence that grabs the reader, sets up the action, and makes them want to read the rest of the message.

• Example: Ted Kennedy email for Ned Lamont

‚There are 146,587 terrorist supports living in the state of Connecticut, according to Vice President Dick Cheney--the number of Ned Lamont voters.‛

• Example: Lt. Dan Choi email to Courage members

‚In March, I went on Rachel Maddow’s show and spoke three truthful words: ‚I am gay.‛

Building an Effective Email Action

(2) Explain the problem that needs action

• Second (and third) paragraph(s) : What’s wrong?

•Break down the problem as quickly as possible. Only include background that is absolutely necessary.

• Example: Lt. Dan Choi

‚As a result, the Army sent a letter discharging me on April 23. The letter is a slap in the face and the soldiers I have commanded.

For the last decade, I have served under ‚Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell‛-- an immoral policy that forces American soldiers to lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception. As I learned at West Point, deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force.‛

Building an effective email action

(3) The solution is the ask • Next paragraph: The “ask”

•The solution shouldn’t take more than one paragraph to explain. If it does, then reevaluate your Theory of Change.

• Example: Lt. Dan Choi

‚ I need your support now. Please ask President Obama not to fire me. Click here to watch my recent interview on Rachel Maddow’s show and sign the Courage Campaign’s petition asking the President to end the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell‛ policy:‛

http://www.couragecampaign.org/DontFireDan

Building an Effective Email Action

(4) The rest of the message

• Additional paragraphs and links (if necessary)

• If additional information would help readers decide to act, include more paragraphs leading to an additional link for the same ask.

• Same pitch, more background: more about the opposition, more about success/press/momentum.

• Quote from a ‚legitimizer‛?

• Signoff and signature

• P.S.? Keep it short and to the point

Building an Effective Email Action

Final Tips

• Write drunk, edit sober

• Read out loud for clarity and cadence

• Minimal bolding helps skimming/scanning

• Message success (relentlessly)

• Mix it up to keep from getting stale or cookie cutter

• “Superfriends strategy”: Team up with partners/allies

•Test before and after. Analyze metrics. Rinse, repeat.

Beyond Email: Online Platforms

Campaign WebsiteFacebookTwitterBlogs

YouTubeSearch Engine Advertising

Useful tools:Bit.ly

Google Forms

Kaili Lambe, Deputy PAC DirectorDemocracy for America

klambe@democracyforamerica.com802-651-3209