How Galvanize USA Meets Ideologically-Moderate Women Where They Scroll

Many of the ideologically-moderate women in our audience avoid the news, especially when it adds to their stress and doesn’t directly relate to their immediate concerns. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t having their opinions and worldview shaped by the cultural content they consume—we all do. That’s why Galvanize USA takes a culture-first approach to our programming. 

Where do ideologically-moderate women get their news? 

In order for our messages to meet our audience where they are, we need to understand where they get their news and how we can be a part of their online diet. 

We know from our study last year that our audience spends a lot of time on social media, more than other forms of media, and they favor Facebook. Most respondents said they use Facebook daily, and some use it multiple times a day. They like that it offers connection, helping them stay in touch with family, keep up to date with school and community groups, and get alerts about important dates. What they don’t like is the controversy and negativity, even when it comes from loved ones. And many were concerned with accuracy and bias. We’re worried about this too!

Knowing where our audience spends their time and what they are looking for allows us to be where we’re needed, cutting through harmful narratives with prosocial messages that offer this sense of connection without the negativity and fighting. 

But it’s not enough to share content on the platforms they’re on, we need to deliver the style of content they engage with most to be effective. Overall, our audience spends 54% of their time on social media watching videos. That’s (in part) why we personified Grace and brought Dear Grace® to short-form videos like these!

Sugar and Vegetables

Our Dear Grace® content finds a careful balance between light-hearted content that builds community and confidence, and more hard-hitting content that deals with tough topics. Our content brings a mix of fun and seriousness—sugar and vegetables.

Our programming follows a simple formula:

By mixing entertainment and fun with the messages they need, we can support our audience to grow together. We find relatable ways to move them in a prosocial direction, gently push back against biases, and encourage them to be more open. It’s a long-game strategy, but one that has proven effective. 

Part of meeting our audience where they are means finding out what they are hearing about and how issues are being framed. 

One way we do this is by checking in with our audience about what’s happening in the world to hear from them directly.

For topics like ICE that tap into our audience’s concerns around safety and stability, it is important that we understand where they are coming from and craft narratives that get at the heart of those fears. 

You can read more about how we helped our audience make sense of ICE here. 

We also used Grace’s trusted and relatable voice to drive home important messages about ICE, immigration, and safety. 

Our deep connection with our audience helps us identify the harmful narratives they have already been exposed to and counter them by speaking to shared values. Our audience are susceptible to “othering” narratives as many worry about the safety of their family and have low familiarity with marginalized groups. Once we understand where they are being told to place blame, we can better understand how to help move towards social cohesion and away from “othering” by countering those harmful messages and showing where blame truly lies. 

We see this in action in Friends with Grace discussions like this one: 

Here, Grace helps guide participants through a discussion of what they are seeing and hearing and how they can make sense of “who’s benefiting from us having that perception” and take a more critical look at what they are being told. 

Our programming shows our audience that they can make a difference with actions that help create an America that works better for everyone!