When the nation’s top advocacy organizations look to educate and activate online – they do it on Facebook.  Social media has rapidly evolved from a shiny object to one of the sharpest tools in the professional advocate’s belt. Recently we set out to find out how they’re doing it and what tactics are most effective.

To do this, Engage looked at every possible aspect of the nearly 600 posts by these groups in a 30 day period.  Though the fan base of each varied greatly, engagement measures were adjusted to percentages to provide an apples to apples comparison.

While it is true that paid promotion plays an important role in aggressively building and maintaining a large following for Facebook pages, advertising can only do so much. It can put these groups’ content in front of just the right people, but that is not what drives engagement.  The likes, shares, and comments that push posts far across Facebook’s social graph are generated by quality content presented by using some of the best practices shown here.

There are straightforward steps that any Facebook user or page administrator can take to increase the quality and reach of their posts: use explicit calls to action, make your posts visually interesting, and keep your posts brief.

Does all this matter to decision makers on Capitol Hill or in the Administration?  Yes it does.  Washington politicians’ focus on listening to and integrating social media into every major legislative push tells us this is a medium that is bright on their radar. And while 20,000 likes might not yet have the impact of a 20,000 person march, Facebook and social media are quickly becoming the modern bullhorn that’s empowering Americans to express themselves louder, faster, and more directly than ever before.