We hope everyone is adjusting to a new normal and staying healthy in light of COVID-19. We wanted to share a few insights from our ongoing work with leading companies and advocacy organizations during this unique time. The overall lesson for organizations: Your work can’t stop — there is an opportunity right now to make the best of where we are by intelligently using virtual events, SMS and email marketing, and other digital tools.
Insight 1: Digital Ad Costs Decreasing, Offering Opportunity for Organizations to Invest in Grassroots Acquisition. Dollars spent on political and advocacy ads right now are generally buying more inventory than they did pre-COVID-19. There has been a likely decrease in competition as some organizations have pared their advertising back, which corresponds with an increase in supply with more people spending time reading news in uncertain times. Twitter and Facebook have both noted increase usage of their platforms, but are projecting declining ad revenue overall. Rational 360 is seeing some clients with decreases in cost per thousand impressions (CPM) of up to 60 percent, and a recent Quartz article cites two other agencies seeing significant 30+ percent decreases in the cost of advertising.
Insight 2: Digital Advocacy Outreach to Legislators Increasing With More Advocates At Home. People are spending more time in front of their computers, and are taking more advocacy actions than usual. While many of those actions directly relate to COVID-19, Rational 360 is seeing clients driving actions on their own core missions as well. Phone2Action, one leading grassroots activation tool that connects constituents with their elected officials, said Saturday was one of the most active days in their eight-year history, with 216,000 advocates sending 460,000 messages to lawmakers.
Insight 3: The 2020 Presidential Election Offers Another Major Hook for Organizations. As the 2020 election becomes more focused, organizations must start to get their issues into the national conversation. While COVID-19 will be the major topic, the candidates will also spar across other issue areas and be looking for other ways to effectively communicate their messages with the American public. Smart digital strategies can help drive messages to campaigns, advisors, debate moderators and other key stakeholders.
Send us an email if you want to learn more about what you can do to build a strong foundation in this new world.
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