3 Common Mistakes Brands Make On Advocacy (+ How to Avoid Them)
An advocacy campaign can have transformative impact and create value for you brand - when it’s done right.
But success requires avoiding some common pitfalls. We shed some light on how to avoid them.
Mistake 1. No campaign plan
After about a decade working on public policy advocacy campaigns with businesses, NGOs, legislators, and public agencies, I know how valuable and persuasive strong business voices can be when it comes to passing legislation.
Brands recognize that they can’t change a system on their own and that their customers want to support a company with purpose. The key is developing a practical plan for how you’ll engage in advocacy and aligning internal stakeholders to fund the work long-term.
Like many business activities, without a plan you’re leaving success up to chance. Without a plan you’re more likely to make costly missteps and spend money without having an impact. Making a plan will give you a better likelihood that you create the change you want and reap the benefits with customers.
How to avoid this mistake
Here are some of the elements your campaign plan should include a clearly defined problem, a policy gap analysis, stakeholder landscape assessment, a legislative strategy, and a community engagement & communications roadmap. More details available on these in our free download below.
Work with someone who knows how to build and execute an advocacy campaign. Since most small and medium sized companies don’t have the resources to hire a full-time staff person, they end up delegating this work to someone in marketing. Sometimes that works and sometimes not…
We field calls at least once a month from brands that want to get involved in advocacy. We’ve helped more than a few find the right way to engage. Feel free to reach out if you’d like a sounding board on your interest in advocacy work - we’re happy to help.
Download our free business advocacy playbook for more on campaign planning
Mistake 2. Marketing = Advocacy
Lot’s of brands think that “getting loud” on social media is authentic advocacy. I was scrolling through my feed on LinkedIn this morning and saw brands with posts about how they’re advocating on issues that are tangentially related to their business or in ways that lack integrity.
Social media posts does not equal advocacy. A dedicated website does not equal advocacy. A letter to congress does not equal advocacy. In fact, this can actually hurt your brand reputation without some kind of authentic engagement underlying these kinds of messages.
How to avoid this mistake
Once you’ve got a campaign plan in place, take some credible actions in coalition with others before you launch a communications or marketing play. Give people a way to engage with you and meet them where they’re at (see the “Ladder of Engagement” for more on this topic).
When you do decide to communicate about your advocacy efforts be sure to include the other organizations that you’re working with - nobody likes it when someone takes all the credit.
And while this isn’t typically an issue for small and medium-sized firms - please check to see if the trade groups or industry associations that you belong to are not actively working against the issue you’re targeting for advocacy.
Mistake 3. Hiring a lobbying firm early in the campaign
Don’t get me wrong - lobbying firms can be really helpful when they are part of a smart campaign plan. They’re particularly helpful when their firm has good relationships with key legislators or members of congress. When the firm is familiar with your issue they can also provide strategic insight on policy asks.
But what seems to happen with unfortunately frequency is a company decides to hire a lobbying firm (which tend to be quite expensive!) without a clear sense of why they need one or how they’ll utilize them in pursuit of a policy objective. Or they hire a firm that doesn’t know anyone on the key committees.
How to avoid this mistake
Have a clearly defined need and scope for a lobbyist before you hire. See who else they represent, which issues they know, and where they’re had success.
Have a dedicated point of contact internally who is responsible for managing the lobbyist and is managing the campaign they are supporting.
We’ve worked with lobbyists at the local, state, and federal levels across the country. If you’re looking for advice on when and how to build a campaign plan, engage grassroots, build community, or partner with a lobbying firm we can help.