Running in 2012? You Need a Digital Strategy!
Pin ItWith the Republican primary season in full throttle, we thought it would be a good time to look at the ever–expanding role social media is playing in our election process.
You only need to look at the incredible success the Obama campaign had in 2008 in energizing large masses of committed individuals, particularly young voters, utilizing Facebook and Twitter to realize the power of social media in politics. Social media was used with great success to distribute Obama’s message, engage with voters, attract and coordinate an army of volunteers, and solicit and collect donations.
Political candidates and their handlers have certainly noticed. They learned that unless they are involved and active in social media, they are missing out on a large demographic of voters. The power of social media is great, and all serious political operatives recognize that.
Many campaign managers are not well versed in how to manage the online aspects of an election. That is where a Digital Marketing Agency comes in. Digital Marketing firms know how to captivate and interact with an online audience, so getting one involved could make all the difference.
While most campaigns now have a great website and some kind of social media presence, what they are lacking is the strategy behind it. Looking back at Obama’s campaign, his opponent McCain also had an online presence. But only Obama leveraged it to its full potential.
Once a political website is set up, all of the campaign’s social media channels should be focused on directing users back to the site. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and other social channels should all work in concert. All traffic data should be analyzed to assess which channels are working and which are not. This analysis forms the basis for plotting the campaign’s next strategies. In addition, these social sites can be a main point of contact for voters. Participating in live conversations, confronting negative comments, and spreading positive words will help voters to feel heard and appreciated, which is what they really want from their elected officials.
2011 proved the political prowess of social media; think about the recent uprisings largely led with an online force in Egypt, Syria, and the US. In Egypt posts on Facebook and Twitter lead to huge demonstrations protesting the government. In Syria viral videos are fueling frustrations of the public. And in the US, after the government announced possible legislation (SOPA) restricting internet access, social media was the dominating channel of communication regarding the bill. The public, along with many websites, were so outraged that it produced over 2.4 million negative tweets, 7 million online petition signatures, and over 200,000 phone calls. Though the discussion is still not dead, social media was instrumental in killing the original SOPA bill.
The modern political campaign must utilize a combination of both traditional and new media and continually assess the effectiveness of each in order to reach and influence the greatest number of voters. Most 70 year olds are not on Twitter, and most 18 year olds do not watch debates. Your Digital Marketing strategy will help reach all of these audiences in the medium they choose and at the time they choose.