Thanks very much for your post! I think this a really interesting idea and it’s really useful to learn from your experience in this area.
What would you think of the concern that these types of ads would be a “low fidelity” way of spreading EA that could risk misinforming people about EA? I think from my experience community building, it’s really useful to be able to describe and discuss EA ideas in detail, and that there are risks to giving someone an incorrect view of EA. These risks include someone being critical of what they believe EA is, and spreading this critique, as well as discouraging them from getting involved when they may have done so at a later time. The risk is probably lower if someone clicks on a short ad that takes them to say effectivealtruism.com where the various ideas are carefully explained and introduced. But someone who only saw the ads and didn’t click could end up with an incorrect view of EA.
I would be interested to see discussion about what would and wouldn’t make a good online ad for EA e.g. how to intrigue people without being inaccurate or over-sensationalizing parts of EA.
There might also be an interesting balance between how much interest we want to someone to have shown in EA-related topics before advertising to them. E.g. every university student in the US is probably too wide a net, but everyone who’s searching “effective altruism” or “existential risk” are probably already on their way to EA resources without the need for an advert.
I know lots of university EA groups make use of Facebook advertising and some have found this useful to promote events. I don’t know whether Google/Youtube ads allow targeting at the level of students of a specific university?
“What would you think of the concern that these types of ads would be a “low fidelity” way of spreading EA that could risk misinforming people about EA? I think from my experience community building, it’s really useful to be able to describe and discuss EA ideas in detail, and that there are risks to giving someone an incorrect view of EA. These risks include someone being critical of what they believe EA is, and spreading this critique, as well as discouraging them from getting involved when they may have done so at a later time. The risk is probably lower if someone clicks on a short ad that takes them to say effectivealtruism.com where the various ideas are carefully explained and introduced. But someone who only saw the ads and didn’t click could end up with an incorrect view of EA.”
-> Great points! A couple thoughts.
In most cases I imagine the ads would be promoting a single org/group/book/event vs EA as a movement/philosophy. I think this makes it much easier to be high fidelity. (e.g. promoting deworming initiatives doesn’t require a thorough overview of the ins and outs of EA. )
Many ads don’t have to get into detail at all in order to be successful. E.g. a 6 second video of a student saying “I started a student group to help students do good, check it out!” isn’t actually saying anything about EA that could be right or wrong. As another example, if you see an image that says “Founders Pledge” on a website frequented by founders, the ad itself isn’t saying anything about the org that would be right or wrong except for the fact that Founders Pledge exists ad spends money on advertising.
“I would be interested to see discussion about what would and wouldn’t make a good online ad for EA e.g. how to intrigue people without being inaccurate or over-sensationalizing parts of EA. ”
-> I agree! I’m excited to start testing
“I know lots of university EA groups make use of Facebook advertising and some have found this useful to promote events. I don’t know whether Google/Youtube ads allow targeting at the level of students of a specific university?”
-> Yep! We could only target 18-24 year-olds within Xkm of the university. Part of the reason I expect this would be beneficial above and beyond the FB ads is (1) it would be video + sound vs just an image which I think is standard for FB and (2) it would be incredibly cheap (you could reach ~1,000 students for $10). I would be very interested in helping interested university groups with this.
I didn’t know Google/YouTube ads could be that specific. Reaching 1,000 students for $10 seems really cost-effective. Though I think a 6 second video of a student talking about their EA group doesn’t seem like the best idea to get people to join the EA group. Maybe a one-minute video (with a good 6-second hook) would be better, in case some people find the ad intriguing enough to watch the whole length.
Agreed—I am guessing it would be incredibly cost-effective. I’m hoping to test this with a few student groups this upcoming fall, we’ll see if it works.
Possibly the 1 minute video would be better than the 6 second. The good news is it’s easily testable :)
This sounds like a great idea and potentially something that CEA etc should be doing to help new groups to start. One of the biggest challenges is getting the required initial awareness and critical mass and word of mouth/Facebook posting only gets you so far.
Thanks very much for your post! I think this a really interesting idea and it’s really useful to learn from your experience in this area.
What would you think of the concern that these types of ads would be a “low fidelity” way of spreading EA that could risk misinforming people about EA? I think from my experience community building, it’s really useful to be able to describe and discuss EA ideas in detail, and that there are risks to giving someone an incorrect view of EA. These risks include someone being critical of what they believe EA is, and spreading this critique, as well as discouraging them from getting involved when they may have done so at a later time. The risk is probably lower if someone clicks on a short ad that takes them to say effectivealtruism.com where the various ideas are carefully explained and introduced. But someone who only saw the ads and didn’t click could end up with an incorrect view of EA.
I would be interested to see discussion about what would and wouldn’t make a good online ad for EA e.g. how to intrigue people without being inaccurate or over-sensationalizing parts of EA.
There might also be an interesting balance between how much interest we want to someone to have shown in EA-related topics before advertising to them. E.g. every university student in the US is probably too wide a net, but everyone who’s searching “effective altruism” or “existential risk” are probably already on their way to EA resources without the need for an advert.
I know lots of university EA groups make use of Facebook advertising and some have found this useful to promote events. I don’t know whether Google/Youtube ads allow targeting at the level of students of a specific university?
Thanks so much for your thoughts Robert!
“What would you think of the concern that these types of ads would be a “low fidelity” way of spreading EA that could risk misinforming people about EA? I think from my experience community building, it’s really useful to be able to describe and discuss EA ideas in detail, and that there are risks to giving someone an incorrect view of EA. These risks include someone being critical of what they believe EA is, and spreading this critique, as well as discouraging them from getting involved when they may have done so at a later time. The risk is probably lower if someone clicks on a short ad that takes them to say effectivealtruism.com where the various ideas are carefully explained and introduced. But someone who only saw the ads and didn’t click could end up with an incorrect view of EA.”
-> Great points! A couple thoughts.
In most cases I imagine the ads would be promoting a single org/group/book/event vs EA as a movement/philosophy. I think this makes it much easier to be high fidelity. (e.g. promoting deworming initiatives doesn’t require a thorough overview of the ins and outs of EA. )
Many ads don’t have to get into detail at all in order to be successful. E.g. a 6 second video of a student saying “I started a student group to help students do good, check it out!” isn’t actually saying anything about EA that could be right or wrong. As another example, if you see an image that says “Founders Pledge” on a website frequented by founders, the ad itself isn’t saying anything about the org that would be right or wrong except for the fact that Founders Pledge exists ad spends money on advertising.
“I would be interested to see discussion about what would and wouldn’t make a good online ad for EA e.g. how to intrigue people without being inaccurate or over-sensationalizing parts of EA. ”
-> I agree! I’m excited to start testing
“I know lots of university EA groups make use of Facebook advertising and some have found this useful to promote events. I don’t know whether Google/Youtube ads allow targeting at the level of students of a specific university?”
-> Yep! We could only target 18-24 year-olds within Xkm of the university. Part of the reason I expect this would be beneficial above and beyond the FB ads is (1) it would be video + sound vs just an image which I think is standard for FB and (2) it would be incredibly cheap (you could reach ~1,000 students for $10). I would be very interested in helping interested university groups with this.
I didn’t know Google/YouTube ads could be that specific. Reaching 1,000 students for $10 seems really cost-effective. Though I think a 6 second video of a student talking about their EA group doesn’t seem like the best idea to get people to join the EA group. Maybe a one-minute video (with a good 6-second hook) would be better, in case some people find the ad intriguing enough to watch the whole length.
Agreed—I am guessing it would be incredibly cost-effective. I’m hoping to test this with a few student groups this upcoming fall, we’ll see if it works.
Possibly the 1 minute video would be better than the 6 second. The good news is it’s easily testable :)
This sounds like a great idea and potentially something that CEA etc should be doing to help new groups to start. One of the biggest challenges is getting the required initial awareness and critical mass and word of mouth/Facebook posting only gets you so far.
100% agree!