Background

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is the largest Iranian-American organization in the country with supporters across all 50 states and with the goal of building tangible political power. Since its founding in 2002, NIAC has been dedicated to growing the voice of Iranian Americans. While NIAC leads on expert research and analysis, civic and policy education, and community building, its sister organizations, NIAC Action and NIAC Action PAC, directly lobby Members of Congress and conduct electoral work that helps build the bench of pro-peace, pro-diplomacy leaders working to prevent conflict with Iran.

Challenge

Since NIAC had been operating in the advocacy space for 20 years, the organization needed to refine its message and undergo a digital transformation to continue building its audiences, telling its story, and touting its accomplishments. NIAC and its affiliates have prevented war with Iran several times, sued the Trump administration over bigoted immigration laws, been instrumental in achieving historic diplomacy with Iran, and endorsed and supported the successful campaigns of dozens of leaders at every level of government — all while combating well-resourced disinformation campaigns. Our team became embedded partners that came on board to help tell their story, grow target audiences, and control the online narrative around the organization.

Solution

We worked with senior stakeholders to develop a message frame and corresponding creative across online channels, including ads and email. We started with a comprehensive audit of NIAC’s email program. Our strategy included developing metrics of success for email fundraising, establishing a cadence for email sends, segmentation, and introducing a paid media program that targeted existing and new audiences with factual information about what the organization was doing in an effort to combat an organized disinformation effort against NIAC.

With news on the resealing of the Iran nuclear deal rapidly evolving and big, concerted lobby campaigns on the Hill, there was no shortage of events or campaigns to highlight. Our team was able to produce both planned and rapid response content in line with the organization’s strategic objectives and was part of the core communications team when deciding how to respond or where to respond to ever-changing news or challenges.

Strategic communications aren’t just about figuring out how to say something. They are also about where to say something and how often to say it. We took our crafted messages and strategically sourced them through a multi-channel approach to obtain optimal visibility among the Iranian-American community through Youtube, Instagram, email, SMS, and other channels. Not only were we able to reach record-breaking fundraising levels, but we were also able to help them craft their own narrative and continue to build upon their influence and political power despite constant disinformation efforts.