How to target influencers and activists on social media for advocacy and politics.

1. TARGETING FOR IMPACT
VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
Reaching the audiences you need with messages they want
Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D.
Principal
Digital & Social Media Strategy
turner4D
alan@turner4D.com
@DrDigiPol

2. Which Social Network Serves My Goals?
sort
% of US
Adults Age Key Audience
Got News?
2018(2017) Comments
YouTube 73%
56% of 50+;
85-94% <49
Skews towards college+, (sub)urban,
wealthy; but still 59% rural
38% (+6)
Everyone watches YouTube, but not always on
YouTube.
Facebook 68%
55% of 50+;
80% <49
Skews less wealthy & less educated
than YouTube watchers
67% (-1)
Everyone still uses Facebook, but in many
different ways.
Twitter 24%
14% of 50+;
25-45% <49
Skews more educated: more urban 71% (-3)
Influencers share & collect information here;
agenda setting & message testing.
Instagram 35%
16% of 50+;
40-71% <49
Skews college+; urban 32%(+5)
Great image branding; restricted action
conversions. More popular among Hispanics
and Blacks than Whites.
LinkedIn 25%
1/4-1/3 of
under 64
50% of College Grads 30%(+7)
More traffic on the social feed than the job
feed for past few years
reddit
Skews young
(<50, esp.
<30) & male
(~70% of
users)
Skews educated & White 73%(+5)
Great early warning for breaking news and
conversation trends.
tumblr 29%(-10)
A window into what your teens are talking
about and more. Also, 84 IRA/Russian
accounts were deleted.
Pinterest 29% 41% of Women (16% of Men)
Its all about images linked to their respective
websites.
SnapChat 27%
7% of 50+;
25% of 30-49;
55-78% <30
29%(0)
Gab.ai
Where all the racists, bigots & anti-Semitic
people went after other social networks
suspended them.
WhatsApp 22%
49% of Latinos (21% of Blacks 14%
of Whites)
18%(-5) Very urban, but should it be?

3. Targeting Hashtag Communities on Twitter
• Goal: Get your message seen & shared by
hashtag communities
– Issue and identity groups
• Challenge: Get noticed over the noise in the
busiest hashtag communities
• Solution: Pairing busy & moderate hashtags

4. Finding Good Twitter Hashtags
• How often is it used?
– Busy – Large audience, noisy
– Moderate – Best hashtag
– Slow – No audience
• How many people are using it?
– Many people – Big public conversation
– 1 or 2 people – Private conversation
• What is the ratio of RTs:Tweets?
– Ideal for network effect
• Where do you find which hashtag to use?
– Twitter search
– RiteTag.com

5. Finding Key Influencers on Twitter
• Keyword/Hashtag Searches
– Twitter
– SocialMention
– RiteTag
• Influencer Searches
– RightRelevance.com
– Google
– Hashtag searches
– Target their friends (Twiangulate.com)
• Influencers’ Lists, Followers & Friends

6. Find Influencers to Follow:
List Diving on Twitter
Find an issue expert
• Follow who they follow
• Follow their followers
• Follow their lists
– Lists they curate
– Lists they are Members Of

7. Targeting Key Influencers on Twitter
• Goal: Get key influencers to see & share your
message
• Challenge: Get the attention of busy influencers
• Solution:
– @Mention influencers by name.
– Target people they read.
– Add them to your Lists so you can find them
whenever you need them.

8. Facebook Targeting & Tagging
• Influencers from Twitter are on Facebook, too.
• Tagging notifies other people and organizations about your
post
• Tag people - your friends and fellow activists to alert them (if
they are your friend or fan of your page); Ask your Facebook
friends to share your content to their Facebook page
• Tag pages – of key organizations, causes or celebrities
• To tag – type the @ symbol followed by organization’s name.
When the name comes up in the list, click on it.

9. I’m Down with OPP (Other People’s Pages)
Your Page
Other targeted pages
• Toggle to use Facebook as your page
• Post your message on affinity pages
• Vary the text of your posts to avoid being suspended for SPAM

10. Promoted Facebook Page Wall Post
• Occasionally pay for wall post promotions
– $5 or $10 will dramatically increase exposure
– Target fans of page (and friends of fans)
– Target by interests
– Use Facebook.com/Ads to nano-target promotions
– Custom audiences
• Only promote really good wall posts
– Compelling content (infographics, photos, etc.)
– Ask people to like your page and SHARE!
• Target small audiences at a time

11. Targeting LinkedIn Groups

12. Final Thought
• You can target on social media, if you try.
• But even when targeting, you will often be
speaking to more people than just your
targeted audience.
• This creates a unique challenge that few
people consider.

13. TARGETING FOR IMPACT
VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
Reaching Key Communities about their Key Issues on their Preferred Network
Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D.
Principal
Digital & Social Media Strategy
turner4D
alan@turner4D.com
@DrDigiPol
THANK YOU