Mobile Advocacy Strategies

This week's readings (Using Mobile Phones in Advocacy Campaigns and Trend to Watch in 2012: The Rise of Mobile) focused on the use of mobile technologies in advocacy campaigns. The key take aways:

1. Mobile technology has a few important benefits as an advocacy tool:

• It is widespread
• It is easily accessible/relatively inexpensive for users
  
• It is easy to use
• It is fast
  
• It is increasingly nimble and can be used in a number of creative ways
  

2. Those who think mobile technology is just about texting are missing the boat. Mobile advocacy strategies can include:

• Text messaging
• Voice
  
• Mobile applications
• Mobile advertising
• Optimizing websites to be viewable and usable for mobile users

3. The rationale for using mobile technology is the same as the rationale for using any other communication platform: it is a preferred form of communication for many audiences. For certain populations -- such as many in the developing world -- cell phones are easy to obtain and cheaper than a land line, and may serve as the primary connection to the internet. Mobile technology is increasingly important to engaging key constituencies and reaching key audiences.