An approach I have seen work well is to just take the time to talk to someone and get to know their perspective. A lot of advocates try to do this, but people can become intimidated or even bothered when somebody with fliers is waiting for them outside a store and starts firing questions at them or a lot of information. This is why I don't think talking to people on street corners and stuff while they are trying to go about their business is necessarily the right way to spread the word in all cases. To relay the information you want too, they need to come to you in interest and on their own terms.
Getting people to come to an event or a regular meeting can be difficult, but making a chain of friends to spread the word can be a great help. Friends with interests in common will tell each other about these things because they think they're cool or interesting. Obviously, this might seem like a really slow approach for something big, but the internet has really sped up the process and I think a concerted and active effort by some people with the internet as a tool could work well.
I was recently pleased with myself for helping a friend of mine back home fix up a bike through the internet. I didn't even do that much step-by-step help with fixing things. I really just gave him some resources on researching/parts/advice on places to get service and some knowledge. Now he has this bike that he mostly fixed up himself that he is super stoked on. He's always on the internet writing about his bike rides and asking people if they want to ride too. Hopefully, it could develop into a chain reaction, (no pun intended)
Yes! What you're describing is community-based advocacy or community-based social marketing, which uses community relationships and networks, people talking to others in their community in strategic ways, to market something. There is great power in community-based marketing because people trust others in their community and recommendations from people they know is always going to be more powerful than a stranger.
ReplyDeleteThe internet replicates this in the virtual sphere, with varying degrees of success based on how often your target community uses social media. It's one strategy, but oftentimes the in-person communication is super important for those who are not using social media as others do.
Thanks for the reflection, Corin!