Give Us Your 
Articles How to run a killer online issues campaign
Thursday, 26 March, 2010
Sheridan Bruce
At risk of Readers Digest banality, see the right column for 12 simple campaign ideas using this website.
The local Council has lost the plot again and this time has gone too far. They’re planning to build a road bypass only 200 metres from your doorstep.
At first you’re deflated by the uneasy thought of storming city hall alone, but then you’re bouyed when you realise an entire suburb is equally outraged. The bypass is a dumb idea and everyone knows it...except the bespectacled tossers at city hall.
Before you know it a meeting is held, a leader and spokesperson appointed and a plan hatched. The big question; how to get the Council to change its mind, even if it means redirecting the bypass through the neighbouring suburb where the less intelligent inhabitants would likely welcome the swapping of parks and gardens for asphalt?
The answer to the problem is to cajole the elected councillors to a view that public opinion is sufficiently against the bypass plan, such that life becomes bothersome for them or, worse still, that they would be unlikely to stand a prayer of re-election.
So teams are organised to swamp councillors and city officials with letters, posters and banners are printed, and a delegation despatched to demand a back down from the Mayor.
Good luck. The Mayor has no time for a meeting until next autumn and your delegation looks a little short on numbers to make any self respecting official tremble.
Of course conducting an issues campaign can be a dangerous thing in some parts of the world. The slightest sign of dissent can lead to an unnatural spat of accidents in one place. But a challenge in an open democracy such as New Zealand can be to mobilise a semblance of support when indifference and apathy may well be the rule.
Smart campaigns gather grassroots support and use the internet
An effective campaign relies on a basic need to frame messages, communicate with people and gather support. But the voices of reason and influence are undoubtedly more compelling where the resources and connections are available to advertise in mass media, engage professional lobbyists and bargain from a position of strength.
Or are they? For those without easy resources, the weapon of choice has always been to seek grassroots volunteer involvement, for example, to raise money, undertake tasks and mobilise support.
So why are the smartest issues campaigners, from Obama to a protest against a bypass, using the internet as a powerful new force? The first answer is that it’s a great way for anyone to get grassroots volunteer involvement. But it’s much more than just that. It has become the biggest source of information and transaction in every area of our lives. That means that your readily available online media environment is open and huge, and you can also be sure that traditional news media, such as for press and television, will be watching it as well.
A website can contain your message, without editorial interference, just as advertising can, but without the expense. But uniquely your message can be unlimited in quantity; it is up-to-the-minute and available to anyone, anywhere in the world at any time. And unlike a placard or radio ad, your audience can talk back to you and immediately offer support and spread the message to others.
Of course, the secret to success in online campaigning is to create compelling and constantly changing content, and use all possible methods to build traffic to your Web Pages. But remember that building traffic is an incremental process and that it works best as a viral exercise – 10 people spreading the word to 10 others quickly attracts 100 supporters and so on.
So maybe the thought of storming city hall without support is no longer an option for anyone with an idea or a grievance. Your support might just be all around you.
Take a look at how you can promote your issue in Web Pages.
