Providing content cover for legislators (or anyone else) is worth your energy

If you lead content initiatives at an organization that relies on legislation to achieve its objectives, then providing cover for legislators, or anyone else who needs it, will likely be a key part of your job.

When I say provide cover, I’m referring to content that shines a positive light on that person to counter any backlash they may receive for supporting your cause.

Real life example

As communications director for an education nonprofit, we advocated for an initiative that was not supported by the majority party in the general assembly - the same party that was also in the governor’s mansion.

But there was one member who went against party leaders and supported our cause.

The response wasn’t pretty. His fellow party members challenged him on the House floor to the point that a member of the minority party had to step in.

So I had some work to do.

Multi-Pronged Attack

Op-Eds

It so happened this legislator had a compelling reason for supporting our cause - children in his district were failing and they need other options.

His story works great in print because people still read newspapers and all newspapers publish there op-eds online, which helps build organic SEO for your organization.

But I didn’t just write the op-ed for his local newspaper. I wrote it for the entire state so that his fellow legislators and others would understand our cause of his support.

Newspapers like exclusivity, so they’re not going to run and not bad that ran another paper. But writing different iPads for every main newspaper in North Carolina would’ve been a very time-consuming process.

Here’s how I got around it:

• The first few paragraphs were similar.

• The middle is where I added local stats and context

• The ending was always the same and included a call to action.

Every major newspaper in the state ran our op-ed.

If you think op-eds are too old school, then you’re not also thinking SEO.

While op-eds are a great tool, their effectiveness can’t be difficult to measure unless you include a very specific call to action.

Video

We both know that children always win the Internet and a compelling story gets attention.

And this is a situation where we had both.

I traveled to this lawmaker’s district and not only did I conduct a sit down interview with him, I also interviewed parents and children that would be positively impacted by the measure he supported.

When creating video to advocate for a cause, you have to include these three things:

• The people who are most impacted

• B-roll that shows their community

• A clear call to action

The videos were featured on our website, social media, newsletter, and in any communication we sent to legislators and supporters.

They did well, but we had one more trick up our sleeve.

Live events

If you haven’t noticed, these ideas are getting more and more expensive.

But this last one is for maximum exposure.

Many organizations hold rallies at their state capitol, and yes, they often get news coverage.

But our thinking was that we wanted people to take action in a way that connects to their deeper purpose.

So we held a free concert featuring a popular gospel artist. And yes, it was in the lawmaker’s district.

Now you know a free concert isn’t free for the sponsor organization. And for us, it certainly wasn’t cheap. But this was a great way to share our message, uninterrupted, in front of a captive and engaged audience.

If you’re considering this route, a few things to consider:

• Make sure the artist aligns with your mission.

• Have the audience take out their phones and do some work (i.e. QR codes)

• Add every attendee to your distribution list.

The majority of attendees scanned the QR code, which linked to an automated message to legislators. This was our clearest engagement metric during our campaign.

The result

Understand that no single tactic will achieve your objective. You have to reach target audiences through as many touchpoints as possible.

• Always include your core messaging

• Always connect to your target audiences

• Always have a call to action

Also understand that your content initiatives are part of a bigger effort that involves your organization’s lobbyist, community lead, and many others.

As to our efforts, not only did nearly every legislator vote for our measure, but the governor signed it into law (which she wasn’t required to).