This Sunday is Mother’s Day, which provides an excellent opportunity to offer a rant of sorts about Moms, women and social media. I’m always shocked by the number of people who are surprised when I tell them if they want to access the real power base in social media, they should look to the ladies. The response is always the same: “Really?” Yes, really.

The uninitiated, it seems, think the social web is just one global version of Google Plus – a nerd-driven sausagefest. This could be based on the outdated idea that IT (and by extension) web-based tech is dominated by men. And that could very well be the case. In fact, there are a number movements trying to solve the problem of getting more females into the tech industry.

But if you’re talking about who is driving the train amongst users of social media, hands down the ladies are the clear winners. Don’t believe me? Let’s go to the stats:

• Women control more than 60% of all personal wealth in the U.S.;
• 37% of online Canadian women say that they visit a social media site at least once a day, compared to only 24% of online Canadian men;
• Women make up approximately 80% of the users on the hottest social network right now, Pinterest;
• Ladies spend 30% more time on social sites than men;

And that’s just women. When it comes to mothers, things really start to get interesting:

• There are 3.9 million “mommy bloggers” on the Internet;
• Moms mention brands an average of 73 times per week compared with just 57 times per week among males;
• 90% of moms are online vs. just 76% of women in general;
• By 2014, 63% (nearly 21 million) of all online moms will read blogs;
• 50% own a smartphone, versus only 31% of women;

Countless sources of data confirm the same thing: women (especially Moms) are more likely to connect on social media, comment, share, like and engage. They are the real power behind the widespread social media activity we see right now online. And the trend will likely only move upwards as their income, buying power and positions of authority increase.

So as we celebrate our mothers this year, you should pause and reflect on how your social campaigns are approaching this important and influential demographic. If you’re not, then you’re probably missing out on a huge opportunity.

We thought we’d post a quick tutorial on posting links in your Facebook status updates. Many pages and profiles include the URL in the status update itself, which is not necessary. The video above video runs through how to delete the URL from the status update while keeping the link you want to post on your Page or profile.

Do you have a suggestion for a tutorial or a video blog post? Let us know in the comments and we’ll include it in a future video.

With multiple news agencies reporting that Republican nominee candidate Newt Gingrich will be ending his bid for the White House in the next few days, I thought it timely to mention one particular aspect of his campaign I thought really succeeded: his Facebook Page. Regardless of what you think about his policies or positions, this is one area that Newt’s team really excelled.

Particularly, the use of custom imagery on the Page’s timeline is something many campaigns – on both sides of the isle – would be well advised to emulate. Rather than merely posting photos and links as many campaigns are doing, Newt’s team went about creating custom imagery (see above) that often included a specific campaign message and a call to action. They were very well done and served a few key purposes:

• Communicated in a much more emotive, visceral way to his Facebook community;
• Provided an excellent campaign messaging piece that can be readily shared;
• Created a direct link to the wider visual themes used on other properties, specifically his website;
• Benefits from better Edgerank score for posting photos/images rather than links;

Facebook Timeline was specifically designed to encourage visual imagery over text. Newt’s digital team on Facebook worked that to their advantage to create smart, shareable images to better communicate key messages and to drive action. Even his cover photo is better (or more original) than most.

If the Romney team is looking for talented refugees from other campaigns, I would suggest they pick up web designers from Gingrich’s crew. They understand the Facebook platform and how to communicate within it. If you couple that with a popular message, the positive will be that much greater.

As someone who is in the online advocacy space, I can tell you I (very) often hear grousing from seasoned campaigners about social media. “Not an efficient way to get your message out”, says one. “It will never replace traditional door knocking or face-to-face voter contact” says another.

My response: “Of course. Who said otherwise?”

There almost seems to be a defensive stance taken by my learned colleagues when the discussion of social media as a campaign/mobilization tool gets under way. Often – as I did last week – I find myself in an inevitable ‘either/or’ position. My friends talk of campaigns (canvassing, phone bank, ad spends) and then they turn to me and say: “No offense. I know you’re the digital guy.”

None taken. In fact, if you weren’t offering these traditional (and effective) campaign techniques, I would be smacking you over the head. But in case there is any lingering doubt, I’d like to throw some binding statements on the table for future discussions:

Social media will never replace personal voter contact.

Ever. No matter how sophisticated we get, chatting to a real live campaign volunteer or the candidate is the most effective engagement tool there is. We’re human. Humans like talking to other humans. In person. Let’s move on, shall we?

A real-life army of volunteers trumps a digital one.

Again, who’s arguing? Only the most ardent social media fanboy/hipster would disagree with such a statement. The fact of the matter is that if you are flush with volunteers who can make that personal contact (see Point #1), then you’re well ahead of the game. But….

The reality is that resources are scarce.

The army of volunteers is a rarity. More often than not, you are dealing with supporters who are already overworked and over-committed with family, charity work and other community responsibilities. The fact of the matter is that you will need to find avenues and tools for supporters to engage with the campaign – in a meaningful way – that respects their limited availability.

Social media is an excellent recruitment tool.

Rather than be viewed as a replacement for a traditional campaign (which is will never be), social media should be viewed as an excellent option to identify supporters and donors through specific issues, demographics or geographical area. Used correctly, this microtargeting can prove extremely effective at recruiting people to get more involved in the (traditional) campaign apparatus.

Broadcast advertising + earned media = message delivery

TV is still important. Offline advertising is still important. We admitted that fact a number of weeks ago. But that doesn’t mean social media isn’t more effective at targeting voters. Can it get your message out to the same sized audience at the same rate as a big ad buy? Of course not. Say it with me: who said otherwise?

As we all know, politics is the management of scarcity. So I suppose some of this “conflict” is due to the fact that those on the traditional voter contact side of things see this as a zero-sum game: the more money/effort that goes towards digital, the less there is for offline activities.

But there is such a thing as economies of scale. The more areas that are rowing in the same direction, the faster the entire boat moves.

So, to my colleagues on the traditional side of the ledger I ask: can’t we all just work together?

If there is anything that accurately illustrates the ongoing trend of emphasizing visual elements online and in social media efforts, it is the recent purchase of Instagram by social media networking behemoth Facebook. While the buzz is largely around the purchase price of $1 Billion, it clearly demonstrates that Facebook is interested in your photos.

As we mentioned in our post on the curation trend a few weeks ago, there is a growing emphasis on publishing and promoting visual content. From Pinterest to Tumblr and (of course) Instagram, everywhere you look, design and content continues to favour visuals over text.

Facebook is a key part of that trend. If you read the March 29th edition of our newsletter (your are subscribed, aren’t you? If not you can rectify that here), you know that the new Timeline format for Profiles and Pages are a big step in the direction of putting photos at the core of Facebook activity. And with all of the new features and capabilities they will inherit from Instagram, photo integration goes deeper.

So, what does that mean for your social media efforts? A few things.

Count Your Inventory

First, you need to build capacity, if you haven’t already done so. In practical terms, you should be conducting an inventory of what you are able to produce. Do you have a quality camera? Someone who knows how to use it? What about a video camera? Are you able to edit the images when they are taken, using Photoshop or other editing software? Where will they be hosted? These are important questions to ask.

Communicate Visually

Second, you need to insure you can communicate your message visually, not just through the written word. That takes some preparation. When planning events, stunts, posts or other activities, it is important to determine the visual message you want to communicate to your audience. Sometimes, the visual representation of your core message is not apparent. It is critical when mapping out your strategy that you think in these terms.

Getting Social

Once you have your image library, make sure you are optimizing them for various social media channels. It may seem obvious, but certain images work better on Facebook than on Twitter (or Instagram for that matter). How will they relate to the rest of your content? When your community shares them, does the image speak for itself? Will it (or can it) prompt further action? Again, planning this out in advance is important.

Visual elements hold a great advantage as they can communicate emotion, ideas, concepts quickly and effectively. There is a reason why pictures are worth 1,000 words. As social becomes more visual, make sure your efforts are maximizing the potential of powerful imagery.

If two of the most current political campaigns to take place in Canada are any indication, social media efforts in a political context still aren’t reaching their full potential in this country.

Both the recently concluded NDP leadership race and the Alberta provincial election that got underway this week  illustrate that while social media continues to enjoy a prominent role in campaigning, there isn't a lot of innovation. 

Leadership races are always interesting, as there are multiple competing teams and very scarce resources.   Sounds like a hackathon.  Unfortunately, rather than bring out creativity, each of the campaigns stuck to safe and pedestrian approaches to social media: Website? Check.  Facebook page?  Check.  Twitter account?  Check.  Flickr feed?  Check. Yawn.  

While the #ndpldr Twitter hashtag saw a lot of activity leading up to and during last weekend's convention which saw Thomas Mulcair elected Leader of the Opposition, there was very little to indicate that campaigns went beyond broadcast mode: pushing messages into multiple social channels.

Meanwhile in Alberta, the two leading parties – the incumbent Progressive Conservatives and the upstart Wildrose Alliance – are following a similarly safe path.  The online presence of both parties indicate there were very little resources invested in social media or mobilizing support online.  Like the NDP candidates, the provincial parties are focused on a wide broadcast message, rather than engagement and activating supporters/visitors.  

If I were to offer advice to any of the parties, I would tell them to focus on: capturing data wherever possible; using all channels to funnel potential supporters to make donations and connect with local campaigns; offering real ways for supporters at home to become involved in the campaign, even incrementally. 

Hopefully, these campaigns will evolve and deeply integrate social media to maximize its potential in the future.  

Curation is a strong trend on the Internet right now. Rather than producing original content, individuals are curating and sharing content from a variety of sources. Evidence of this trend can be found within the explosive referral stats of social networks like Facebook and Twitter and new sites designed with curation in mind like Tumblr, Storify and, of course, Pinterest.

Here’s a quick video on curation, developed by a Percolate, a new curation-focused start up:

Ultimately, individuals are gathering information from a variety of sources and using a particular tool or platform to create a full portrait of the subject matter at hand, whether that is photos, places, events, particular subjects, hobbies or issues.

If your campaign is looking to find ways to take advantage of this trend in user behaviour, there are a few techniques you may want to consider to ensure your content is optimized for curation:

Provide The Necessary Tools

If anything you publish is going to be collected and shared, it is important to first make it easy for your visitors to do so. That means that all relevant pages, articles, posts, infographics, video and images include a host of sharing options and tools. From the Facebook share button to Pinterest’s “Pin It” add-on, it is important that users can easily post and share your content.

Some applications such as Add This are excellent one-stop sharing shops, but make sure any tool you use is reflective of your audience and what they use to curate content.

Develop Content To Be Curated

While an emphasis on impactful visual imagery is not a new best practice, current curation practices certainly place more importance on formatting your content with less reliance on text. Many of the most popular curation platforms present and highlight visual elements, so it makes sense to give them something to work with.

That also means you may want to divide up your content to give your visitors more options to share. Rather than place an infographic and introductory video in the same post, you may want to present the data in a compartmentalized format, so each element can be shared individually if so desired.

Curate Relevant Content Yourself

The curation trend provides the opportunity for your organization or campaign to provide supporting material in an interesting and consumer-friendly manner by displaying all relevant material in one place. This approach offers a number of advantages to anyone trying to sway opinion: rather than talking only about yourself, curating content gives you an excellent chance to communicate what others are saying.

At the same time, you can become a valuable resource for those who are naturally interested in the subject matter at hand, which builds your credibility and trust level with your target audience. If people know your site or social profile is a consistent source of credible, shareable content, then the value to them will increase.

Taking advantage of the trend towards curation requires a pivot in approach; not necessarily a complete change in how you produce and publish content. It is simply a matter of recognizing that the way in which your audience consumes information has evolved.

The way of presenting you own information should reflect that fact.

The latest Internet sensation hit the general public last week when a video about Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony produced by a not-for-profit outfit named Invisible Children caught the attention of the Internet in a big way – becoming the most viral video in history.

I’m sure sure your Facebook, Twitter or RSS feed was peppered with stories about the Stop Kony campaign, the celebrity endorsements and the power of social media to affect global change. Unfortunately, what Kony2012 expertly demonstrated was how buzz without proper infrastructure in place results in wasted opportunity.

Before I offer a critique, I will begin with a positive: the marketing campaign was clearly a success. If the goal of Invisible Children was to raise awareness around Joseph Kony and their organization, mission accomplished. In a very, very short timeframe, Invisible Children blasted into the public consciousness.

They also pulled off a textbook example of how to get people to watch and share video content. It had lofty emotional themes, pulling on Western society’s urge to do good across the globe. They tugged on all the right strings with their visual imagery: children, hope, innocence, justice, goodness – making a change. They also courted the high-minded Hollywood set to use Twitter to power the massive exposure the film got.

But if this sounds like a marketing campaign, it is. And it was treated like one. Rather than create and promote ways for motivated citizens to take action, Invisible Children instead promoted their online store. Their “action kit” is filled with swag where supporters (for only $30 dollars!) can become “an advocate of awesome”: t-shirts, posters, bracelets and stickers.

There was no evidence of a plan to provide real tools for motivated individuals to organize and advocate online for change. Maybe they were unprepared for the level of exposure their efforts received. Maybe they didn’t know how to build the right tools.

More likely, they didn’t think of harnessing the power of their global audience beyond driving them to like their Facebook Page or buy a bracelet from their store. This traditional approach to online marketing – build social media buzz for your brand to help further promote it – really only benefits those who run Invisible Children.

If Jason Russell and his team wanted to truly use the Internet to affect change, he would have created the proper systems to allow supporters to directly contact elected officials, organize themselves and empower them to keep up the campaign long after the video is forgotten (which has already begun to happen).

The lesson here is this: buzz is nothing without concrete action. If you fail to strike while the iron is hot – pulling people in, connecting with them, grabbing information about them, giving them the tools to power your campaign – you’ll run out of fuel pretty quickly.

And the metrics that matter – actual lasting change, rather than likes or views – will remain a minor footnote and a wasted opportunity.

Yesterday was International Women's Day.  To mark the occasion, the Toronto Star's Heather Malilck took to her regular column to decry the state of women's rights.  Specifically, she references the recent controversy involving bombastic conservative personality Rush Limbaugh:  

"American women are fighting a rearguard action for something as basic as birth control to be included in health-care plans. They are called “sluts” for doing so." 

Mallick went on to state that women's rights across the globe are eroding, not expanding.  But the latest controversy from Limbaugh is not the best example to prove her point.  In fact, the online reaction to Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke derogatory names has been swift, intense and entirely negative: 

"At latest count, [twelve] advertisers have pulled the plug on Limbaugh. Each was effectively targeted on Facebook and Twitter by an angry and vocal storm of thousands of people calling for direct action. The campaign was almost instantaneous, coordinated by no individual or organization, and entirely free of cost"

This is the second large-scale reaction driven by social media regarding an issue of women's rights.  There was a wide, negative protest online to the decision (later reversed) by the Susan G Komen foundation to remove funding for Planned Parenthood.   

Of course, there is still work to be done to further women's rights in the world.  But these two examples highlight the simple fact that women of all backgrounds are engaged, organized and willing to speak out via their social networks on issues they disagree with.

You can’t go anywhere online without hearing about Pinterest. On buzz alone, the new hit on the block is red hot. It hit over 10 million visitors faster than any other social network or website) before it. Yours truly is around as well. And some users are finding that referral traffic to blogs and websites is significant.

I won’t go into exactly what Pinterest is. Instead, the uninitiated can check out this handy guide. But in the world of online advocacy, you almost have an obligation to examine any kind of social network with this much activity. How can it be used in a political context?

Before we get into that, it is important to recognize the parameters of Pinterest. Like any other social media channel, Pinterest has its own characteristics. Before engaging within that community, it is vital to recognize these basic realities:

1. The vast majority of Pinterest users (some say as high as 95%) are female;
2. Pinterest is an inherently visual medium. Photos and images rule;
3. Sharing is the primary method of communicating, not broadcasting;

In some cases, those factors alone may decrease or eliminate the inherent usefulness Pinterest has within your organization’s social media activity. But sometimes, it is a case of finding creative ways to reach out to Pinterest users.

To get your thoughts moving, here are a few concepts that I came up with on how to use your Pinterest account within your campaign:

Creating an account or boards for conference/event attendees to share videos, pictures, presentations and other content;

Promote relevant videos from your YouTube or other video channels;

Use boards to tell a story about the history of the issue at hand and why it is important;

Create a more rounded portrait of your candidate by showcasing their likes, interests and personal side;

Showcase items for your latest fundraiser or swag collection (you can even set prices for sale);

Link strong images for your platform/policy/announcement to your Pinterest account, with links back to relevant content;

Create multiple campaigns divided into boards that supporters and others can contribute to;

Use Pinterest for community outreach, asking your audience to “pin” ideas, concepts or suggestions to your board(s);

Curate your candidate’s TV appearances, photos, ad copy and news clips;

And those are just a few. As Pintrest matures, the audience expands, developers begin to create tools to manage your account and other good ideas/hacks begin to emerge, Pinterest could be a useful tool for your campaign arsenal. It is especially useful for non-profit associations, issue campaigns, events and any kind of initiative that particularly promotes visual content.

But the full utility of Pinterest in a political context should not be discounted. After all, when Twitter first came on the scene, it was widely dismissed by many in the political community. Now, it is an essential part of virtually every connected campaign.