Some 91% of Political Advocacy
groups utilize Facebook, Twitter and YouTube simultaneously in order to connect
with their supporters, according to a study
released by the global public relations firm Burson Marsteller. This study looked at 34 divergent Political Advocacy groups -
including AARP, Focus on the Family and the NAACP - and investigated which
social media platforms each group uses and how they are using them.
Unsurprisingly, the lion's
share of the groups examined in the study are already using social media, and
there are some patterns that emerged based on groups' particular political
slant.
Right leaning groups
-
Are about three times as
likely to use Twitter to voice opinions on legislation as left-leaning groups;
nonetheless both groups use Facebook almost equally for this purpose.
-
Have 20% more videos on
average on their YouTube channels.
-
Follow more than double
the number of accounts than left-leaning groups do (3354 vs. 1585
respectively), but have scantly fewer followers (by the narrow margin of 5348
to 5681).
-
Are more likely to ask
for donations directly via social media than left-leaning groups, though
neither side makes heavy use of social media for fundraising. Just 29% of
right-leaning groups asked for donations via Twitter or Facebook, more than
twice the number of left-leaning groups doing so.
Left leaning groups
-
Have 25% more Facebook
fans than right-leaning groups (42,699 vs. 32,418)
-
Are 20% more active in
encouraging followers to reach out to Congress or politicians on both Facebook
and Twitter.
-
Despite the fact that
right leaning groups follow more Twitter users, left-leaning groups actually
engage those users more effectively by re-tweeting more often (86% vs. 64%),
and mentioning/responding more often (93% vs. 50%).
-
Are more likely to allow
posts on their Facebook pages than right-leaning groups (93% vs. 79%)
Both groups
-
Provide phone numbers,
instructions or forms to fill out to contact politicians on their direct
outreach posts.
-
Use Twitter as a way to
interact with influencers as well as stakeholders, suggesting their goals are
more than to simply communicate with the masses.
-
Are able to quickly
communicate and mobilize through social media in a way that would otherwise be
impossible.
Further examination
The study highlights a trend - something that a person
familiar with social media might expect - between the different applied usages
of the different mediums:
-
Facebook - Build community and connect supporters
-
Twitter - Broadcast
messages and communicate with individual users
-
YouTube - Strictly
broadcast
These differing applications
explain why, of the 97% of groups in the study who use at least one platform,
the vast majority of them (91%) are using all three. What a group can expect to
achieve with Facebook is very different than what they can expect from Twitter
or YouTube. The best approach for a Political Advocacy group, and indeed anyone
trying to attract and engage online supporters, is to include as many top
platforms as possible into your overall social media strategy.
