I love it when someone takes a complex task, such as planning an online campaign, and cuts it down to its simplest, core elements. Thanks to Colin Delany at epolitics.com for passing along this accessible tripod model for online campaign planning:
The basic idea (which I stole from Josh McConaha a while back) is that most online advocacy campaigns end up with three essential components:
An online hub (usually a website although it could be a MySpace profile, a Facebook fan page or a blog)
- raman amplifierSome way of keeping in touch with people (usually email though it could also be Twitter or a social network)
- Online outreach (everything from blogger relations to video to social networking)
People often get overwhelmed by the sheer number of communications options available online — paralyzed by the plethora of channels! But the tripod model puts the pieces in context without isolating them from each other, since each reinforces the other: online outreach sends people to the website, where they’re captured on an email list, which in turn keeps them involved in online outreach, and so on.
This goes into my toolbox, alongside the ladder of engagement, as easy starting points for sitting down with a campaign team to sketch out basic campaign structure.
> Read Colin’s full post
