presente.org has launched a campaign against Lou Dobbs, the hate-mongering CNN commentator. It’s about time. However, here are some suggestions to make it more effective:

1. The action

Currently the action the user is asked to take is to send a form email, with an optional personal comment, to CNN president Jon Klein. But:

• emails to CNN president don’t generate pressure on the network. A lot of research shows that the only effective way to pressure the network is through advertisers.
• The action here should be to select some key companies that advertise on CNN and may be sympathetic, then have the user pledge to boycott and/or contact those companies asking them to pull ads from lou dobbs’ show.
• For example see http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/
• No matter what the target, form emails are the least effective. They’ll get caught in an email filter on the other end. Instead of allowing the user to add an additional comment, autofill the form with your prewritten comment and ask the user to edit / change it to be their own.

2. The mobile interface

Kudos for setting up a shortcode and allowing people to connect that way. But a couple things:

• People who text in don’t get any action item! They just get asked for their email and zip code. This is a big missed opportunity. If I text in it’s because I’m ready to do an action that moment. Ask them to DO something, for example: send them the number of a targeted company to call and ask to pull advertising from Dobbs. Ask them to text or email (from their phone) to a target.
• Send them a message that is DESIGNED for them to forward to their contacts, with the key info points about the campaign!

OK, gotta run.