Work Toward Curing ALS With Digital Activism

What is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as ALS is a disease within the nervous system that weakens muscles and the ability for physical movement over time. As of right now, there is no known cause for the disease. Although there are treatments that can help with the symptoms of ALS, there is no cure.

The Ice Bucket Challenge

Almost ten years ago now, Anthony Senerchia Jr., who suffered from ALS, his family started the Ice Bucket Challenge. It was not until Pete Frates, a previous college baseball player who also had ALS that the challenge became popular. Days later, there were thousands of videos being posted of people participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge by pouring buckets of icy cold water over their heads to challenge others to donate money toward the ALS association.

ALS Association Marketing

Very soon later, the ALS Association began to notice the traffic that was being brought in from the challenge. One of the best aspects of the Ice Bucket Challenge is that all of the campaign's content was user generated. The ALS Association took the opportunity of the challenge to further market the disease by promoting these videos and providing updates to the participants and audience of how much money is being raised and where the money is to be used. Through the Ice Bucket Challenge, the ALS Association was able to use a variety of marketing strategies to generate awareness for the disease including:

• Social Media Marketing
• User-Generated Content
• Influencer Marketing
• Digital Activism

Besides the Ice Bucket Challenge, the ALS Association is also incorporating many other strategies as well. One example is the organization has an easy-to-navigate donation landing page. The top of the page begins with a snippet of text about why the user should donate to the cause. Then right at the top of the form, the design of the page is easy to use as users can clearly choose between a one-time or monthly donation. It is also extremely easy for users to see and pick a donation amount as it is the biggest section of the page.

Right on the home page of the ALS Association, the page is immediately filled with content and sections for users to explore.

Looking at the home page, users are also able to locate a chatbot on the bottom right of the page to use for communication of questions. The chatbot immediately reaches out to the user and provides five general options for the user to choose from for their general purpose of using the chatbot. Through the chatbot, the ALS Association is able to communicate, provide customer service, and build relations with its users.

Another strategy that the ALS Association is using to further promote the disease of ALS is by providing an e-newsletter that users can sign up for, that would provide the latest news about events, news, and opportunities. Here, the ALS Association is using the marketing strategy of email marketing. The organization is also further tailoring to individual users by allowing users to choose their areas of interest for more customized emails.

Click to learn about ALS and donate today!