How is promoting Donald Trump the same as marketing TidePods? Even online, both share similar philosophies and techniques to reach their audiences. Here are five facts you should know about campaigning online.
1. Know thy brand
Whether it’s a presidential candidate or kid’s cereal, branding is the foundation of a good campaign. This is their visual identity. The brand reflects the candidate before the candidate utters a thing. In politics, the political party’s color is a prominent part of a candidate’s brand.
“Political campaigns are a brand like any other and you need to have a good understanding of your political brand before you announce that you’re running.”
Jenn In (2020)
2. Ready to reach out
Being online means being within the audience’s reach. Social media narrows the gap between a brand and an audience. This is an opportunity to interact with the audience more frequently and appear more approachable. It also makes candidates seem more personable and not just as a figure.
When Brightspark helped John Boyle reach his audiences through a Facebook Live “Ask Me Anything” event, audiences from across the country got to “meet” him and gather info straight from the source. Hosting the live event gave the audience an entry to interact with the Boyle in real time (n.d.).
3. Know your audience
Your audience is the catalyst of a successful campaign. Without them, you also wouldn’t have the information to supply the campaign.
“Ask your followers for feedback on your political campaigns, positive or negative. It’s a quick way to get a sense of what’s important to the supporters and critics of political campaigns. It also shows your followers that you care about their needs and desires.”
Jenn In (2020)
4. Reality is a curated bubble
The bitter truth: social media users live in their own personal bubbles. These bubbles of curated content (thanks, algorithm) feed viewers the information they want to see and has caused extremely polarized political views (Nguyen, 2018; Wong, Levin, and Solon, 2016).
Within each bubble, everyone has created their own version of reality and they may not want to willingly leave.
5. Online campaigning is a need
N-E-E-D. There is no way of avoiding campaigning online. It is an open pool of people to reach, especially among marginalized communities.
Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign was a smashing success because of his consistent online presence and a plan that resonated with minority voters (Nichols, 2021). Since then, campaigns have relied on digital support to reach the masses without having to wait for a rally or state visit.
Resources
- In, J. (2020). 21 tips for creating a successful social media political campaign. The Juicer Blog. https://www.juicer.io/blog/21-tips-for-creating-a-successful-social-media-political-campaign
- Nguyen, J. (2018). Politics and the Twitter Revolution: A Brief Literature Review and Implications for Future Research. Social Networking, 7(4), 243-251.
- Nichols, L.D. (2021). Social Media and Electoral Politics [Powerpoint slides]. Institute of Communications, Culture, Information, and Technology. University of Toronto Mississauga.
- n.d. (n.d.). Political campaign social media case study. Brightspark. https://wordpress-580253-1878148.cloudwaysapps.com/blog/political-campaigning-social-media-election/
- Wong, J.C., Levin, S. Solon, O. (2016). Bursting the Facebook bubble: we asked voters on the left and right to swap feeds. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/16/facebook-bias-bubble-us-election-conservative-liberal-news-feed