The 2020 elections in the U.S. was going to be unlike any other. It was already going to be a heated campaign, and that was before the pandemic. And given the civic discourse, voting is the single most powerful expression of democracy. And with the pandemic, voter turnout was expected to be low, particularly with young people.

Our insight was that young people are civically engaged, but politically disengaged. We are in a moment of intense political debate and action, both on social channels and in the streets, especially among young people. However, that passion is not necessarily translating to political participation through voting. Our goal was to drive voter registration particularly with young people.

We worked with creators and artists to develop stickers that help people register to vote, vote by mail, finding polls and getting critical voting information from the Voter Information Center on the platform. We developed a campaign leveraging stickers to then address key barriers to voting during the pandemic directing people to voting information at key stages of the voting process.

We spoke to young people around the country to understand what they needed most during these times and what were barriers to voting this election season. From there, we developed communications to address these barriers along the voting journey: registration, making a voting plan, and voting.

During each stage of the voting journey, we commissioned artists to develop stickers used in stories which helped drive people to the Voter Information Center where they could register to vote, learn about mail in voting, find polls and more.

We developed a national campaign taking one of the most loved features of Instagram – stickers – and communications to direct people to critical information: how to register, vote by mail, poll locations, and Election Day planning tips. The campaign was broken up into three waves. The first wave was helping people to register to vote, given that many states had different requirements and deadlines.

In the second wave of communications, we focused on making a plan. Voting during a pandemic was unchartered territory, so people had lots of questions including safety. Our communications helped direct people to the right information. The last wave was voting. We developed stickers and communications that celebrated the act of voting through shareable stickers.

The result: Instagram helped an estimated 4.4 million people register to vote. And turnout was the highest in over a century.