With this being a political election year, advocacy and outreach seem to be the talk of the town (literally and figuratively). In this issue of Engage, we discuss social media and explore how it can be a valuable tool for building online advocacy and engaging your target audience. Don't forget to check out the latest launches, and our video interview on online advocacy. If you get even one idea, we'd like to think Engage is worth reading (and now watching)!

industry buzz

Green Equals Green
The "green" movement is sweeping the nation and magazines are getting in on the action. Take a look at how two magazines, Backpacker and Canadian Geographic, have successfully employed environmentally-conscious production and operation methods, and out-of-the-box materials.

An Aging Audience
Mediamark Research & Intelligence has just released some interesting statistics concerning the magazine industry. The results: magazine readers are getting older. Click here to find out what the climbing median age could mean for your publication.

Readers Weigh In
In search of fresh perspectives, magazines such as JPEG and Everywhere are looking to their readers for editorial and artistic content. User-generated content is slowly becoming more common but not without some controversy. Check out how some magazines are putting their readers in control and saving money in the process.

Profitable Partnerships?
Social networking sites have been generating a lot of buzz recently. The allure: enormous, ready-made audiences and relatively low start-up costs. However, the question remains, "Is maintaining a presence on these Web sites profitable?" Take a look at this article for more insight into the issue.

Disclaimer: Access to some sites may require registration.

diamond in the rough

Online Advocacy: Social Media Gets the Vote

Social networking sites may have initially grown in popularity among the younger demographic, but today 25% of Americans have embraced social networking. And 85% of those are voting age or older — often much older. According to recent comScore data, more than half of all people using the popular social networking site MySpace are at least age 35. It's no wonder presidential candidates Obama, Clinton and McCain all have their own MySpace pages filled with YouTube videos, family photos, and their thoughts on key issues. The candidates have also adopted other social media tools such as personal blogs, campaign widgets, automatic email updates, and eNewsletters. Welcome to politics à la Web 2.0!

Blogs, widgets and other social media tools are playing a vital role in political campaigning this election year. Jeff Mascott, managing director of the Washington-based Adfero Group says, "There's been a monumental shift in communications that has many organizations looking to model their own advocacy programs on the presidential candidates' use of social media."

Watch Jeff's video interview

In an interview on the TMG Online Video Network, Jeff explores how organizations can use social media to encourage a rich level of audience engagement, while creating an additional distribution channel for your custom content. Jeff notes that educating the public about an issue used to involve pitching a story to the press. Now, you can take your message directly to the public. He helped a political client produce a low-cost custom online video about a ballot initiative, which was then distributed via YouTube and through friends and supporters who forwarded the link to their own networks of contacts. The online video — and the ballot initiative — were ultimately picked up and covered by local news, but not before thousands of people had downloaded and viewed the content, and considered the message.

Advocacy has changed, Jeff explains. Social media has cultivated a rich new online environment in which organizations can further their missions by opening conversation directly with employees, board members, potential donors and other stakeholders.

But how — and where — do you actually go about beginning that conversation? The answer lies in understanding today's different social-media distribution channels and the technologies that tie them together. Our new Social Media Best Practice Guide gives you a quick start! Just click the link below.

Connect    Social Media Best Practice Guide.

Engage    Do you have a social media question or tip to share? We'd love to hear from you!

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