Ryan Davis, a veteran of digital political campaigns and co-founder of creator marketing agency People First, spearheads “Creators for Kamala,” a virtual Zoom rally to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential bid. 

The online event, scheduled for October 10, aims to engage approximately 1,000 content creators with a combined audience of 10 to 25 million followers.

It builds on the momentum of the Democratic National Convention, which recently invited 200 influencers to participate. 

People First, which operates across political, advocacy, and commercial sectors, is leveraging its creator network for the rally. 

“We’re doing political work now for probably 30 different campaigns or organizations supporting democratic candidates, pushing democratic messaging, and working to elect Kamala,” Ryan explains.

The event’s timing is strategic, coinciding with the start of the get-out-the-vote period. “People have already started to get their ballots,” Ryan notes. “If you want to make a difference, this is the last 30 days you can do it.”

By curating a diverse group of creators across multiple platforms, Ryan aims to deliver authentic, targeted messaging to key demographics.

The 90-minute virtual rally will feature diverse speakers, including White House policy team members, political candidates, and legal experts in creator marketing. 

“We try to be an agency that leads on pay equity,” Ryan says. “We’re paying creators based on followings and engagement, but we pay fair and equitable rates for women and minorities and all sorts of folks.”

He believes the “Creators for Kamala” event is more than just a rally; it’s a blueprint for future political engagement focusing on equity, diversity, and grassroots organizing.

Ryan shares his thoughts on the selection process for creators, strategies for leveraging their influence, and his vision for the future of creator-driven political campaigns.

Creators as Political Messengers

Ryan sees content creators as a powerful medium for political campaigns like Kamala’s. 

“Creators have a connection with their audience, a sort of parasocial connection where people feel like they know them even if they don’t,” he explains.

The agency’s approach leverages the creators’ authenticity to reach specific demographics. 

“If you’re a suburban white woman in Wisconsin, to have another suburban white woman in Wisconsin telling you about why they’re supporting Kamala… you’re able to get inside of particular demographics with a messenger who can speak to people authentically,” Ryan says.

People First’s strategy includes getting creators through Meta’s political authorization process, allowing for boosted content directly from creator profiles. 

“Instead of coming from the campaign, it’s coming from [creators], and we’re putting [creators] in front of folks we think she’ll be persuasive for,” Ryan notes.

Curating Diverse Voices

“Creators for Kamala” highlights diversity in its speaker lineup. Ryan reveals they wanted to ensure they have a “good number of women and men, a good number of folks of different ethnicities.”

The team sought creators active across various platforms, not limiting themselves to a single social media site. “We have some folks who are active on Instagram. We have a couple of active folks on X,” Ryan explains.

As the event gained traction, reaching 700 RSVPs as of writing, the organizers received numerous inbound requests from creators wanting to participate. 

“We left enough time in the program to add another five or six folks between now and Thursday (Oct. 10) based on whether we think they’re a good fit,” Ryan shares.

The event’s format prioritizes engagement and variety. 

“It’s going to be much more like a convention on TikTok where people give a two—to three-minute speech,” Ryan says. This approach aims to keep the audience interested and provide exposure to multiple perspectives.

Ryan reiterates the importance of authentic messaging: “We want everybody watching to feel like there’s somebody up there on the Zoom screen that represents them.” 

Speakers are encouraged to discuss why Kamala Harris matters to them personally.

Leveraging Influence

“Creators for Kamala” aims to convert influencer reach into tangible support for Kamala Harris’s campaign.

“We have several speakers who are going to provide concrete things people can do, from knocking on doors to making phone calls,” Ryan explains. 

He reveals that the strategy extends beyond the event itself, with plans to onboard participants into a Slack channel and mailing list for ongoing engagement.

“If 600 of them take the next steps, we’re going to be reaching millions and millions of people who might not have heard this messaging otherwise,” Ryan emphasizes the potential impact.

The team focuses on several key metrics to measure success. 

“We wanted to democratize the creators, the number of creators who got to participate,” Ryan says, noting that their goal of 1,000 participants would quintuple the DNC’s recent influencer engagement. They’ll also track creator activity in the 30 days following the event.

Data collection plays a crucial role. Everyone receives a hashtag to use when posting so that Ryan and his team can determine the total number of impressions generated.

Logistically, coordinating an event of this scale presents challenges. Still, Ryan credits his team’s digital marketing background for their ability to quickly build momentum, treating the process as “doing a project for a client.”

The team employs a multi-channel approach, including paid ads, creator posts, and direct outreach.

As the event approaches, Ryan remains optimistic about its potential impact, particularly in swing states: “If there’s a creator that they like who starts to talk in a personal way about why it matters… they could win some votes, and if those votes are in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin or Michigan, they could be the deciding votes for the election.”

The Future of Creator-Driven Political Campaigns

Ryan envisions a growing role for creators in political campaigns, stressing the importance of early engagement: “You should be integrating influencers from the very beginning, building those relationships, figuring out who’s going to be a great fit, who’s not.”

He highlights the challenges of organizing political campaigns with creators, noting, “Most people don’t want to talk about politics on their pages. So the political campaigns we organize for are so much harder than the fashion campaigns we organize for.”

Post-event engagement is paramount for maintaining momentum. That’s where the Slack channel comes in, with Ryan adding that they will send an email newsletter to everybody who attended the event. 

“We will allow them to join our creator portal, where they can get involved in many other political things,” he says.

The industry vet sees potential for creator involvement in local and state elections. 

“Next year, when there’s a bunch of local and state elections, we’ll be able to go back to these folks and say, local elections matter, your state elections matter,” he explains.

Ryan offers two key pieces of advice for campaigns working with creators:

Firstly, “Don’t get too hung up on follower counts. Get more hung up on finding the right messenger,” he advises, putting the value of targeted, authentic messaging over raw audience size.

Secondly, “Don’t be too precious about the content,” Ryan says, encouraging campaigns to trust creators’ understanding of their audience. “If the message is good, they know how to speak to that audience better than you. That’s why you hired them.”

As People First continues to build its creator community, Ryan focuses on “campaigns that make the world a better place,” indicating a long-term commitment to leveraging creator influence for political and social impact.

The virtual rally is scheduled on Zoom on October 10, 8 – 9:30 PM ET.