In the world of User Generated Content (UGC), Constituent Generated Content (CGC) is a flavor unique to the political realms. The proliferation of social media has empowered voters of all generations to share their concerns in the public forum. A 2018 Pew Study finds that “nearly half of Americans have engaged in some form of political or social-minded activity on social media in the past year.” A record number of people are using social media to engage with campaigns and elected officials; a CGC strategy has never been more valuable.
What is Constituent Generated Content?
Like UGC, Constituent Generated Content strategy captures the unique perspectives of your constituency. CGC can be commentary, complaints, photographs, and videos shared across a variety of social platforms. From candidate to incumbent, campaign to cause, your voter base is constantly seeking and creating content that speaks to their expectations.
What are the strengths of Constituent Generated Content?
The strength of CGC, and all variants of UGC, is authenticity which allows voters to feel heard and involved in the process. We live in a world of Fake News, foreign interference, trolls, and spambots. People have diminishing faith in the content displayed across social channels. Political organizations tend to lean heavily on publicity photos and stock images in their outreach materials. While visually appealing, they do not provide an authentic experience. Constituent Generated Content drives engagement, and turnout, by providing specific proof that a voter base or community are well represented by an elected, or prospective, official.
Is Constituent Generated Content Effective?
Yes, and the research backs it up. Baby Boomers are engaging on Facebook in record numbers. eMarketer estimates 31.9 million Boomers use the platform monthly. According to studies by Pew and Nielsen, via MediaPost, Boomers have the highest propensity to create and share content across social media, particularly Facebook.
The proof continues with a 2018 study showing a strong correlation for Hispanic and Latinx turnout being driven by social media engagement particularly with content created specifically for those demographic sets.
Another 2018 study emphasizes social media participation to drive youth engagement for Millenial and Generation Z voters. Millenials are now entering, or on the verge, of their 30’s and the first wave Gen. Z is old enough to drink. Given the ideological generation gaps in personal politics, there has never been a better time to utilize a constituent generated content strategy to persuade and turnout voters.
Where does Constituent Generated Content Go?
The versatility of CGC allows for placement almost anywhere.
Digital
- Embedded on the homepage to immediately provide authenticity.
- Displayed on microsites, landing pages, or policy pages to provide social proof.
- Shoppable CGC to drive sales of campaign merchandise, yard signs, and other fundraising efforts.
Physical
- Direct mailers sharing events, policy, and turnout messaging.
- Campaign Literature ranging from policy to persuasion to turnout.
Media
- No more stock photos! Include CGC in your media buys to show the vibrancy and authenticity of your community.
- Display CGC in field offices, head quarters, and at special events to drive engagement.
What else does Constituent Generated Content Do?
Constituent Generated Content is a useful social listening tool. Your community will create content about things they care about. This could be negatives, such as issues in their neighborhoods that have been ignored. They could be positives, such as celebration of local accomplishments and successes. CGC allows you to capture the emotion and energy to support your efforts in governance.
Constituent Generated Content, when executed correctly, identifies macro- and micro-influencers. Anyone with a mobile device and a social media account can be an influencer. There are people in your community that have the power to persuade their friends and neighbors to vote, engage, or act. CGC monitoring will help you find and connect with these influencers.
Unfamiliar with Influencers? We have a blog to help.
How do we acquire Constituent Generated Content?
As resource constrained organizations, campaigns and elected officials can either spend time, personnel, or money acquiring CGC. You could use interns or staffers to support the effort, but this is generally ineffective unless they are well trained in the pragmatics of content identification and creator outreach. Your team needs to be equipped with the tools and strategy to easily gather CGC.
There are also a slew of state and federal laws, not to mention platform-specific terms of service, around creator’s rights and rules for reposting. (We have a great blog about the legalities of reposting on Instagram.)
TINT is a non-partisan platform that helps campaigns, candidates, causes, and elected officials leverage the voice of their constituents. Using TINT, you can capture Constituent Generated Content (CGC) across multiple social media platforms. TINT is scalable to support the smallest downballot race to nation-wide federal elections. We’ve worked with advocacy organizations, agencies, and fundraisers to leverage the power of constituent generated content.
Request a demo today to learn how TINT can transform your constituent generated content strategy.
