Introduction

The League of Women Voters of California (LWVC) is a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active civic engagement and increases understanding of public policy issues in California through advocacy and education. Amid ongoing protests demanding racial justice and accountability on law enforcement, the world witnessed an extraordinary amount of young people speaking up and seeking change. It was a historical moment that called for action.

Our Objectives

LWVC approached Mixte to launch a digital campaign to achieve one main goal — motivate California youth ages 18–24, specifically in Black and Latinx communities, to vote in the 2020 general election, and to view voting as an integral part of driving social change. Through research on the state of youth civic engagement to inform messaging, outreach to young Black and Latinx digital influencers, and social media ads and assets that promoted the importance of voting, we were able to engage California youth in important conversations about voting and activism.

The Work

We created a campaign that provided easy information that centered trustworthy and relatable spokespeople on TikTok.

What we did:

  • Hired TikTok influencers from key areas to mobilize campaign messages and calls to action in their own personal style and tone.
  • Launched Snapchat ads that repurposed influencer-generated videos leading up to key dates.
  • Utilized Snapchat Geofilters to engage audiences in chosen geographic areas.
  • Launched a 24-hour Snapchat filter: In collaboration with Snapchat, we launched a filter to raise awareness about the importance of voting and encourage civic engagement.
  • Leveraged partner networks in key geographic areas to participate in Snapchat and TikTok content creation.
The Outcome

LWVC stepped out of its comfort zone to reach young voters and the results were definitely worth it. We reached well over our target goals with more than one million earned impressions, nearly six million paid impressions and just over one million total swipes to the landing page. The influencers we worked with also found purpose through using their platforms to encourage their peers to vote.

The executive director of LWVC wrote a summary report of the campaign reflecting on what we learned from working on the project — from stepping back to amplify the voices of an intern with a better perspective on what would actually resonate with Gen Z voters, to utilizing digital-first tools to supplement on-the-ground work, and tapping into the power of micro influencers and user-generated content to spread our message across channels other than our own. The now-documented insights gained from this campaign will surely influence youth voter outreach in future elections.