How to run a successful campaign
There are several steps needed to running a successful campaign, either on Democracy 3.0, or elsewhere.
This page walks you through the best ways to gain traction and help you realise your campaign’s aims.
1. Have a great cause
When starting a campaign, you need to have thought through your cause very carefully.
Research it thoroughly: what are you seeking to change and how?
Double check your facts to address possible objections.
Most importantly, you need to be able to support your argument with figures. If you want to change how the government perceives an issue: Show them the figures.
2. Be imaginative
In order to stand out from the crowd, you need to be imaginative when starting your campaign.
Ask yourself what will touch the hearts of your audience: A compelling, personal, narrative will always be more powerful than cold facts about an issue when trying to persuade the public to support you.
3. Specify what success looks like
Too many campaigns start with a broad definition of what they want to see changed. Whether that’s a grand ask on an international level, or simply a call to make the local area “better”, campaigns without a specific goal struggle to get off the ground.
By setting a clear ‘win’ condition, you give people a clear definition of what it is they are campaigning for, and funds can be used in a targeted way.
4. Set realistic goals
When setting your fundraising target and petition signature goal, be realistic about what your campaign will achieve. If you are campaigning on a local issue, a petition of 1000 signatures may well be all you need to convince a council of strength of feeling. Nationally, this target and the fundraising target will both want to be significantly larger.
Take a look at our other campaigns to see what Democracy 3.0 views as a good targets for campaigns of differing scales.
5. Think about your target audience
Defining a target audience is key to reaching people and keeping publicity efforts efficient.
Before starting, ask yourself these questions:
- Who is your key demographic?
- Old or young?
- Rural or urban?
- What are their interests?
- How can you best target these people?
- Democracy 3.0 can provide support for social media advertising, which can be very effective when deployed properly.
- When to launch?
- Do you know when in the year your issue might be most pressing?
- Is there an event you can use as a springboard for your campaign?
6. Have creative content ready
Great content is key to changing hearts and minds with a Democracy 3.0 campaign.
Before launching, make sure to have a Facebook and Twitter presence, as well as a short video on your Democracy 3.0 page. These all allow you to spread your reach and gain more attention for your cause.
7. Spread the word
Leveraging your own networks, not only via social media, is critical to winning support for your campaign.
Get all your friends and family to forward your campaign to at least ten others, and get them to do the same.