How can civil society organisations effectively use social media advertisements?

In the first part of this practical session, Dr. Ozturk walked us through how social media ads can be strategically employed to drive civic engagement and participation. Building on Professor Anja Neundorf’s presentation held earlier, this session took a more hands-on approach, highlighting concrete examples from Dr. Ozturk’s own research and field experience, particularly in Turkey. He showcased how platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram) were used not only to recruit thousands of survey participants in over 30 countries but also to support a high-stakes civic mobilisation campaign with the organisation Vote and Beyond. In this campaign, targeted ads were used to successfully recruit 500 new election monitors in underrepresented regions of Turkey – many of whom were first-time volunteers.

The session also laid out compelling reasons why civil society actors should consider managing their own social media ads rather than outsourcing to agencies. These include the ability to run hyper-targeted, cost-effective campaigns by selecting specific geographies, age groups, languages, or even postcodes. Ads can be used not just for awareness-raising but also to grow follower bases, collect feedback, recruit volunteers, and circulate civic education content. Dr. Ozturk emphasised that the growing accessibility and reach of Meta’s ad platforms make them a powerful tool in the hands of organisations seeking to boost their visibility and deepen their impact – especially in areas where traditional outreach methods fall short.

👉 View the step-by-step tutorial on creating Meta ad campaigns below.

Speaker:

Dr. Aykut Ozturk, Assistant Professor at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow.