Chapter 4
Twitter Action
What is it?
Twitter and other social media platforms can be used to share our campaign messages, actions and ideas in a way that helps to build a broader and more powerful base.
Twitter is most commonly used by campaigners but that doesn’t mean you should neglect other social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok can also be used to attract attention and win new supporters.
A Twitter action aims to engage as many people as possible, get them to share and interact with your messages – as well as encourage them to act by signing petitions, going to protests, voting differently etc.
How do you do it?
Like any other action, before you launch your Twitter action you want to decide your purpose.
- Do you want to publicise a protest or a stunt?
- Are you asking people to sign a petition?
- Are you using your action to tell a story?
- Are you using a current Twitter trend to draw attention to your campaign?
- Are you using it to contact some elected politicians or public figures?
Once you have identified your purpose, consider the following:
- What are you inviting people to do? Is your call to action clear and directional? Do you have the right links in the message?
- Is your message short and relatable? People follow many accounts on social media so try to balance messages that people can relate to and encourage them to take action!
- Does it feel urgent / appealing to share your message? Think about the kinds of things you would share on social media.
- How will you tell your supporter base about it? Sending emails is an excellent way to drive sharing on Twitter.
- Think about people or organisations who can help to amplify your message. If possible, have a 1-1 with them before. This may be one of many actions you will take together.
- Find hashtags that people already know or create one that people are very likely to use. This will create more traction and get your message shared more widely.
There are many tools that have been designed to help campaigns reach out to more people on social media, like speechifai.
This platform enables you to upload template posts adapted to each social media platform. They can then be edited by supporters before sharing. You can use the platform across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linked In and more.
Works best in combination with:
Whatever action you want to promote, from a petition to a protest.