The Strategy Behind our Favorite Content

Galvanize USA is growing fast! We spent our summer learning, researching, connecting with partners, and devising the best ways to reach even more women with even more pro-democracy content. It’s time to pull back the curtain and show you just a little bit about our behind-the-scenes strategy! Next month we’ll reveal new details about what we learned during our incredible summer of new possibilities. 

Galvanize USA’s niche is right at the intersection of what our audience wants, what our audience needs, and what Galvanize USA is uniquely good at doing. With over seven years of experience engaging ideologically-moderate women, a wealth of research, and unique insights from our investment in getting to know our incredible community so well, we’ve really found our sweet spot in the media ecosystem at large! Let’s dive in.

What does our audience WANT?

It all starts with what our audience wants—it’s important to offer appealing content that keeps them coming back for more! We know that the women we hear from want: 

Relationship content
Juicy relationship content is a great hook to get women to take their first look at our programming. One moment they’re weighing in on whether someone should dump her boyfriend or forgive her mother in law, the next moment they’re getting prosocial relationship advice that supports healthy boundaries and self-esteem! Check out some of the latest love & romance topics on Dear Grace® to see more, or see our team’s favorite Dear Grace® posts on Instagram!

Content about making ends meet
Just about everyone is struggling in this economy, and our audience is looking for ways to stretch their grocery budget and figure out why things feel so hard. They’re already looking for tips for saving money, so we make sure they see tips that encourage them, build them up, and help them see that it’s systemic inequities, not their fellow Americans, causing their struggles.

Personal growth & wellness
If you haven’t looked at wellness content online in a few years, it might surprise you to learn that “trad wife” content is flourishing in a big way. As our audience wrestles with everything from fluoride to vaccines to “traditional gender roles,” prosocial content for the body and mind delivers what our audience is seeking without the anti-science bias they might find elsewhere online. Get ready to see our empowering takes on wellness, personal growth, and mental health care on TikTok!

Connection and belonging
Women are facing a crisis of loneliness (it’s not just men!), and they need connection and belonging to show them they’re not alone. Sometimes just showing our audience that what they’re feeling is normal and common is enough to make a difference! We’re all in this democracy together, and social proof content like this collection of reader-submitted advice helps women see that clearly.

A balance of making sense of the world and escapism
Sometimes we just need a break! A little bit of escapism goes a long way. Are pumpkin spice lattes overrated or underrated? Who’s your favorite celebrity? Which game shows are you watching? Sometimes content like this, pleasantly wrapped in encouragement and kindness, is just what women need to stay positive in a chaotic world. 

Go ahead, join in the fun and tell us who your favorite celebrity is!

What does our audience NEED?

Support
Fear of conflict holds our audience back, so they need support to overcome those anxieties and make their voices heard. When asked about civic engagement, we hear things like, “I’m intimidated,” “I’m afraid of being judged for my opinions,” and “I fear someone will strongly oppose something I’ve said.” That’s why self-esteem and civic self-efficacy have been cornerstones of our work since the early days. Our content makes it easy for small steps to build up to bigger actions that make our country better for everyone. 

Sensemaking
Many in our audience avoid the news: they’re not seeking it out, but they often hear about headlines from social media or the men in their lives! We want to make sure that women hear our takes on current events and big issues so they don’t get distracted by bad actors pushing regressive ideas.

Here’s a recent example: headlines about Charlie Kirk were inescapable last month, even for people who had never heard of him before. Here’s how we helped our audience process that news:

We’ve taken the same approach with government shutdowns, various legislation, actions taken by ICE, and even the passing of the late Pope Francis. Sometimes we’re even the ones breaking news to our audience!

Social Cohesion
Our audience can be held back by other barriers too, like internalized sexism and racial resentment. Some of these barriers lead to “othering,” which is when someone views others as fundamentally different, separate, or not part of “us.” It’s about distancing or excluding people from the group you identify with, not necessarily about fearing or being unkind to others. That’s why we make content that fosters social cohesion! It helps to remind our audience that it’s not “us versus them,” it’s “all of us in this together.”

What are we GOOD at doing?

As the examples above demonstrate, Galvanize USA is really good at making prosocial, pro-democracy content that our audience loves and returns to! Our years of expertise with this audience really set us up for success. The content we’ve produced gently shapes worldviews, moves women toward prosocial positions, and supports them to act! 

For a shining example of how it all comes together, please enjoy one of our latest videos: “Pieces of Us.” It’s entertaining and fun, it highlights connections across differences, and it’s the pinnacle of what our research, audience insights, and in-house production team can accomplish.

Check out some of our favorite YouTube comments on this video:

• “I saw apprehension turn into curiosity, I saw curiosity turn into understanding, I saw understanding turn into conversations about common situations.”

• “This was absolutely beautiful to witness! 💛… it didn’t matter the age, the background, or the differences. Just pure connection, kindness, and joy. A reminder that when we choose love over judgment, unity over division, powerful things happen.”

• “Inspiring!!! When we see all of the negatives in our country, it was great to see women that don’t look like each other bond over similarities. Respectful and kind!!”

Like a delicious carrot cake, this content offers the vegetables that fuel our democracy in an irresistibly sweet package. It’s all about balance! Not too sweet, not too spicy, and just the right mix of good and good for you. Stay tuned: we can’t wait to show you the new content we’re cooking up!