In 2020, COVID-19 put the brakes on in-person meetings, but that didn’t mean your association had to stop communicating its efforts, especially when the audience is legislators and policymakers.

When fly-in days—which are the norm for so many associations—came to a halt, we needed to pivot. At OnWrd & UpWrd, we created live virtual briefings for clients who wanted to educate, engage, and move members of Congress to action. Here are four tactics we learned that can help other associations master their policy outreach work without busting their budgets.

Develop a Virtual Briefing

When putting together a virtual briefing, remember that time and attention spans on Capitol Hill are short. The briefings we developed were one hour at the most. Presentations needed to be concise and on point, featuring association leadership and members telling impactful stories about the work their industry does and why it matters.

Rehearsals were also a priority and ensured speakers were ready from both a technical and content standpoint. Briefing invites included an overview, agenda, and speakers' bios. For our audience, we cast a wide net, including not only members of Congress but also their staffers and federal agency staff as well.

Pick the Right Platform for You

Choose your platform wisely. Think about your goal and whether you want the briefing to be limited to only those invited or streamed publicly on YouTube and across your social platforms.

Virtual briefings combined with a solid digital component allow you to create an echo chamber so your message is being heard from all directions—a key factor to ensuring it will have impact.

A small budget shouldn’t stop you; much can be done with video platforms we use every day. You may also be surprised how affordable video vendors can be, giving you peace of mind when it comes to tech issues and a much higher standard of production.

Target Local Media

In today’s media climate, getting your message out requires creativity and persistence. It would be wonderful to have an exclusive with The New York Times, but most associations are not going to get that. Don’t underestimate the power of hyperlocal news. Most Americans, especially in home districts of members of the Congress you are trying to target, pay close attention to their local newspapers.

Hyperlocal publishers that cover cities, towns, communities, and neighborhoods remain trusted and influential sources of information in every community. According to a Public Affairs Council survey, local newspapers and local TV are second and third on the list of beneficial sources for political discourse with positive scores of 77 percent and 72 percent, respectively.

To engage local media, invite them to your virtual briefing, but also search for hooks and angles to pitch stories around your key issues and look for opportunities to place op-eds and letters to the editor. You can also reach out to a local thought leader and have them sign on as a coauthor to an op-ed, which gives it more local sway. For our clients, we identified targeted media lists to get messages out in Congressional districts that mattered most for their efforts.

Engage on Social Media

The digital age has changed everything—especially the lines between public relations, marketing, and advocacy. We all know the power of social media and that Congress members and their staff use it to talk to constituents and get a pulse of their districts. They also use it to see what constituents are saying about them and to determine what issues matter most.

Every advocacy communications plan should have a social and digital component. Make your ask clear and public because it will increase accountability and reward support. Our virtual briefing campaign included organic and paid tactics that built an online echo chamber that supported and advanced our client’s lobbying efforts in key districts. Clips from the virtual briefing can also be used for paid social posts targeting key districts and the Hill so the members you are targeting are seeing and hearing your message everywhere they are. In addition, a build-up of local coverage highlighted via your social channels can create the momentum needed to land your pitch in Hill publications you might not have been able to garner interest in at first.

See Results

Virtual briefings proved to be successful and cost-effective during the pandemic. They can and should be a creative tool to have in your advocacy toolbox going forward, and they are also a good complement to other efforts, including fly-ins and letters to Congressional leadership.

Virtual briefings combined with a solid digital component allow you to create an echo chamber so your message is being heard from all directions—a key factor to ensuring it will have impact. When done right, these tactics will also allow your messages to continue to resonate with your audience long after the event is over.