The Social Challenge:

For many of us, reading the news is a frustrating daily routine. We’re faced with articles on failures and successes: from natural disasters and grassroots movements to research breakthroughs and pivotal legislation. But how do we act?

Action Button, Speakable PBC’s first product, empowers readers to impact news stories that inspire them. We power purpose campaigns for brands, amplify non-profit causes, and make news content actionable, driving meaningful reader participation online. Our users can do more than read headlines, they can change the headlines.

The Strategy + Execution:

For us, driving engagement is about pairing credible, impactful actions with relevant content early, and making the experience personal. Users can:

• Voice their opinions and learn more with polls and quizzes;
• Email and call their representatives directly;
• Sign petitions and pledges;
• Donate to leading nonprofits;
• And even volunteer their time.

Just this summer, we launched actions that allow readers to register to vote and find their local polling station for the midterm elections.

With our integration on sites like Refinery29, VICE and Time, media publications are getting involved and engaging their readers like never before. By making content actionable and giving audiences the ability to do something, instead of the passive reading experience we have become used to, we’ve been able to accomplish extraordinary engagement rates of 1-5% (over 10x times higher than the industry average for standard display ads).

The Impact: 

Every day we’re bringing leading non-profits and purpose-driven brands into the thick of breaking news and editorial content. One example of this is our partnership with Lonely Whale. The ocean-conservation organization has propelled the consumer shift away from disposable plastic straws, earning victories in cities like Seattle, and with major plastic-consumers like Starbucks.

Through a series of actions, we’ve been able to let readers learn and voice their opinions about global plastic pollution, donate to support the organization’s mission, and commit to change by pledging to reduce their own plastic use. As all functionality is contained within Action Button, this increase in engagement for Lonely Whale also resulted in increased time spent on site for our publisher-partners.

We’re proud to feature organizations like Lonely Whale in today’s trending news stories, bringing them right into the thick of the conversation to amplify their reach to new supporters and drive change.