ACTIVATIN

G STUDEN

TS O

NLINE

WHAT WE C

AN NIC

K OFF

DIG

ITAL C

AMPAIGNER

S

WE ARESuki Ferguson

Communications manager

Aisling WoottenHead of Engagement and Communications

TODAY WE’LL CHAT ABOUT• Orgs that nail online campaigning

• 5 ways to copy their tactics

• 5 ways to apply them in an SU context

• The briefest possible round-up

• Your thoughts!

WHAT DO WE WANT?Engagement!

WHEN DO WE WANT IT?Not all the time!

WWBFD?

‘BuzzFeed measures whether editors should throw more

social media resources behind the story to help promote it

or just let it die with something it calls social lift.

This is subtly different from how many clicks it receives.

Social lift helps determine whether a story is merely

popular with BuzzFeed’s core audience or if it is bringing in

new readers.’ – Wired.

WHO USES SOCIAL LIFT FOR SOCIAL GOOD?

THIS LOT USE IT TOO

HOW STUDENT UNIONS FIT IN

o ‘Clicktivism’ suits student participation

o BUT most campaigns have a national or international focus

o Student Unions can provide tailored local campaigns

o And make students the centrepiece of them

TACTIC

AL TOOLK

IT

5 WAYS TO

GIV

E DIG

ITAL C

AMPAIGNS SOCIA

L LIFT

1. GATHER SOCIAL PROOFShow that others are responding to your call to action, whatever it is

SOCIAL PROOF OPTIONS

o Qualitative survey responses >

quotes

o Photos or videos of students/sabbs

o Retweets and shares

o Cold, hard numbers > infographics

Student mileage will vary for each method. For example…

Created using Arts student feedback

Campaign testimony quotes made

into shareable Facebook images

were a hit with LSE students…

…but presenting Teaching Awards feedback this way at SUARTS was a major Facebook

fail.

(seriously, this got zero love. Zero?!)

Yet an unusually high

number of Arts

students responded

to this, a survey call

to action with a pic of

sabbs out

campaigning

2. MAKE IT URGENT

LSESU: FIX INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FEES EMAIL

4. PROVIDE RAPID FEEDBACK

LSESU: FIX INTERNATIONAL FEES CAMPAIGN SOCIAL MEDIA POST

5. LEAVE CAMPAIGNS OPEN-ENDED

o ‘The fight continues’

o Campaign goal: fix international student fees

o Comms goal: keep students onside, even when things

get tough

o It’s never over!

+ EXTRA STUFF TO TRYThese campaign tactics can work with communally entertaining projects

o LSESU’s ‘where should we put the campus penguin?’ survey got 500 responses

Set aside budget to promote wins on Facebook

Students want to hear good news as well as the calls to action

IMPLE

MENTIN

G CHANGE

5 TIPS FO

R MAKIN

G IT W

ORK IN YOUR SU

1. FIND AN ALLY

• Research relevant wins & tactics

• Pitch to the relevant sabb(s)

• Make the case for unpopular aspects (surveys, Facebook ads)

• Give your ally the gift of…

SOCIAL LIFT

o Plan campaigns into emails for each term

o Develop an arc: launch, 1st call to action, 2nd call to action, celebration/pep/talk,

final push, wrap-up

o Use sabb’s words in blogs & emails if possible

2. MAKE A LONG-TERM PLAN

Add a big button Or repeat calls to action

3. TWEAK YOUR EMAIL DESIGN

4. START THE VIRTUOUS CYCLE

1. Launch via newsletter then follow up on Facebook et al

2. Your 1st good piece of feedback = social proof

3. Retain email addresses, create a high-engager list specific

to that campaign, + use it

4. Use numbers as news – set targets, celebrate new sign-

ups

5. MANAGE EXPECTATIONS

o Projects that students

just don’t care about

o Inconsistent messages

on different channels

o Letting stuff drop

o Over-asking

Here’s some stuff we got wrong

TO SUM U

P…

ONLINE CAMPAIGNS: PROS AND CONS

PROS

1. It’s inclusive2. It’s cheap3. It empowers ordinary

students

CONS

1. It’s issue dependent2. It requires buy-in3. Demands must be at

least a bit winnable

o Sabb campaigns get seen

o Students get heard

o …and we get engagement!

When it goes well…

SHARE YOUR IN

SIGHTS

+ASK U

S QUES

TIONS!

Thank you for listening!