A recent news article on PBS.org makes a great point about the value of social media (and directly correlates to one of my favorite talking points about our Campaign 2.0™ iPhone application) — social media removes the filter of the Mainstream Press and puts campaigns and organizations directly in touch with their supporters and with those who want to learn more about them. It allows the campaign or organization to structure their message in their own words, and to help their supporters deliver that message consistently as they advocate for the cause.

Ask any marketing professional what is the very best kind of advertising, and you’ll hear, “The Testimonial!”. Better yet is the testimonial delivered in an authentic voice, by someone known to the recipient of the message, and in the context of normal conversation instead of in an artificial “commercial break”. Social media delivers exactly that — messages that are authentic, in context, and user generated.

But let’s face it — our advocates don’t always get the message “right”. They emphasize the points they most identify with, they forget the details or mess up the statistics, and they don’t always put the highlights in the carefully crafted memorable phrasing we’ve spent so much time developing! Any time you have untrained people advocating on your behalf, you run the risk of a blurred or inaccurate message. Granted, the messaging is essentially free, but…what if you could get all the advantages of social media messaging AND deliver that message consistently?

With NonProfit 2.0™ and Campaign 2.0™ we’ve addressed that challenge. The most important messaging can be provided word-for-word in a “Talking Points” webview. The webview can even have an embedded YouTube video that contains a direct message from the candidate or CEO. And the specific message that gets Tweeted or Facebooked or Emailed or Texted in the Share section is composed by the application owner.

We’ve combined the best of both worlds, then — the direct and viral nature of social media, along with message control to ensure the communication is as effective as possible.

What do you think — does that work? Will messages be most impactful if they’re composed by the campaign or organization, or would they be more effective if they were drafted directly by the application user?