Digital Media Buzz > Yes We Can: Political Campaigns Go Social

Yes We Can: Political Campaigns Go Social

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By Patrick Patullo

In 2008 online marketers, social networks and web analytics specialists moved to the forefront of political campaigns and the person they need to thank is Barack Obama.

Historians will point to last year’s election of the nation’s first African-American president as an important milestone in American history; but for those who study the Internet, 2008 also may be seen as a dividing line. There will be online campaigns before 2008 and then there will be everything that comes after.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that people are going to model what the Obama campaign did because the results are very clear and it’s obviously effective,” says Andrew Lipsman, senior analyst at comScore.

The Internet as an online campaign tool first opened eyes in 2004 when Howard Dean, a relatively unknown Vermont governor, built a grassroots campaign, in large part using the Internet, to become a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Dean used Meetup.com. to organize supporters but, more than that, he raised money online. Lots of money in $80-$100 increments that were well below campaign finance regulations on re-soliciting donors. Other politicians took note. While virtually all candidates in 2008 raised money online, Obama’s campaign went further.

“What he did with his campaign changed the game,” says Devora Rogers, senior content manager at IPG Emerging Media Lab. “From now on that’s going to be the minimum that people have to do. They have to have their website, they have to have their social media down pat, they have to have a totally integrated campaign with radio, TV, web, social media, Twitter. Those are the new rules.”

The campaign used a host of new digital platforms to push people to the Obama’s campaign website, raise money and organize grassroots activities. For example, the campaign used an iPhone application to get supporters to call friends in swing states, Rogers says.

Both Rogers and Lipsman agree that Obama’s 2008 campaign was nearly flawless in terms of execution. It was so well-honed that nearly all marketing/branding campaigns, not just political ones, can benefit from studying the Obama strategy.

The Obama campaign promoted user engagement, and kept messaging and branding consistent. It was more reminiscent of a Fortune 40 company than a political bid for office.

The parallels to John F. Kennedy’s innovative use of television in the 1960 presidential race have been drawn and, though some of that is hyperbole, one point is that Obama could not have run his campaign as effectively before 2008. Since Dean’s run in 2004, the Internet landscape became richer and more complex, leaving Obama as the right candidate at the right time to leverage the new medium.

“[The Internet] was just a lot more widespread,” Rogers says. “Now everybody is on Facebook and that’s only five years later, but five years ago it was limited what people were doing online — maybe they were searching, maybe they participated in forums, maybe some people belonged to Meetup and had their Myspace page. Now, grandmothers and grandfathers are on Facebook. Teenagers and tweens are on Facebook.”

This had little to do with political affiliation, and Obama wasn’t the only one who benefited. Republican Senator John McCain’s campaign also made good use of social media and search marketing to organize and raise money.
The influence of the 2008 campaign is likely to affect digital marketing of all kind. It could be that the social aspect of the web naturally lends itself to political exploitation. “He [Obama] raised the bar for everyone, not just in politics,” Rogers says.

One of those social tools, Twitter, also emerged as a big winner in 2008. The microblogging tool was key for Obama to rally organizers and fundraisers. Today, there are few politicians that don’t have a presence on Twitter and, even though this election season is comprised of mostly state and local races, expect to see campaigns making more use of Twitter.

“One of the most obvious trends, and this has become a much bigger factor even since November, is Twitter,” Lipsman says. “We are seeing a pretty high percentage of politicians now tweeting to their constituents on a regular basis.”
Rogers agrees. “Twitter will continue and it will be interesting to see if there will be new uses for it that, maybe right now, isn’t happening,” Rogers says. “To speak to a lot of people at once, it’s really powerful.”

Rogers also expects to see more mobile applications from candidates and possibly greater use of digital out-of-home tactics. “All of these networks all across the country, whether it be in doctors’ offices and public squares — I’m curious how digital-out-of-home will be used increasingly with mobile and calls-to-action, especially as digital billboards proliferate,” Rogers says.

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