Survey Types

Advocacy with Impact: How Trade Associations Can Use Data to Strengthen Their Lobbying Efforts

Interested in how trade associations can maximize their research efforts? You’re joining us halfway through a four-part series covering trade association research parameters and protocols. Want to start from the beginning? Check out “Policymaking: Why Trade Associations Need Real-Time Public Sentiment Data” and “Going Beyond Surface-Level Research: How Trade Associations Can Conduct Meaningful Grassroots Studies” to dive deeper into this topic. What does trade association lobbying involve? It’s an activity that advocates (i.e., promotes) specific industry or economic category interests and contributions. How? By meeting with and engaging policymakers in government and state legislatures to construct policies, protocols, and regulations that favor association members or customer communities. Promoting industry or brand contributions to targeted segments and organized employee/customer groups. Either way, it’s a complex process that requires due diligence, member or group feedback, and securing consensus from all sides. Here are steps vital to launching an advocacy initiative for your trade association: 1. Identify the key problems or expectations (via cross-section and longitudinal surveys) that impact members’ businesses, professions, or markets, reflecting consensus thoughts and positions. 2. Connect with rainmakers to communicate interested party proposals. Viable avenues for doing this indicate that you should: Contribute to political campaigns through: PACs (political action groups) ”Issue campaigns” that have no political affiliation but connect compellingly to your industry. Attend scheduled meetings or town hall events and submit written documents as regulations require. Run industry-centric SM and mainstream channel ads highlighting the benefits and value propositions to targeted audiences. Develop YouTube video chats […]