Archive for January, 2010

How Scott Brown Used the Internet to Change the World of Politics

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Tomorrow it will be the one year anniversary of Republitech and thus one year since Obama has been sworn in. It is rather fitting that today is the special election in Massachusetts to replace Senator Ted Kennedy. A Republican named Scott Brown looks like he might beat Democrat Martha Coakley in a state that has not sent a Republican to congress in well over a decade. While we won’t know until later tonight who will win, it is an excellent lesson on how Republicans have an opportunity to seize the moment and leverage technology.

We have been hearing a lot about Brown’s campaign. However, there are some things his campaign has been doing quite well that have not been highly publicized. The first comes from a CNN article that caught my eye – http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/15/first-on-the-ticker-gop-candidate-saturates-google-with-ads/. It was last month that I talked about the power of pay-per-click ads, specifically Google’s tools (See post here). There are two things I want to highlight with Brown’s Google ads. First, he started early. It got him name recognition, traffic to his website, and most critically donations in the early stage of his campaign. Second, his campaign clearly has spent time developing a pay-per-click strategy. They have a focused keyword strategy going after those searching for “Martha Coakley.” Since Coakley is not buying advertising on Google at all, Brown has had free reign on both his name and his opponents. In other words, you are going to get pro-Brown ads no matter if you are searching for Brown or Coakley.

There is one “mistake” I noticed after doing some quick searches on Google. While the campaign is in Massachusetts, the race has become a national sensation. I could not find any ads on Google for either candidate. This is most likely because Brown has limited his ads to the state of Massachusetts (I am in Ohio). People all over the country have been motivated to lend support (money, phone banking from their house, etc). Why not reach out to them through Google ads? The only thing I found was this:
pro-coakley ad
It is an ad with a link to a form to allow you to donate money to support Coakley (albeit somewhat indirectly through the DSCC). There should be Republican ads popping up.

The second facet of Brown’s online strategy I want to discuss is that of social media. I read this interesting blog post just the other day written by Professor William A. Jacobson (Cornell Law School) – http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/01/brown-massacres-coakley-online.html. The charts Jacobson provides are quite telling. Brown is a topic that people are finding very interesting and talking about. Some of this is probably due to the recent national attention the race has been given, but there are two candidates in this race. Voters are finding Brown’s social media efforts to be engaging, helpful, and motivating. Coakley appears to be uninteresting. Interestingly enough, in the previous CNN article Coakley’s campaign’s excuse for not running Google ads was to focus on social media. Clearly her campaign has failed. I also want to point out that so many people have taken interest in Brown’s social media outlets that he is receiving positive and free grassroots advertising. Take a look at the YouTube videos at the end of the blog post that were created by average citizens mocking Coakley’s campaign strategies.

Don’t get me wrong, Scott Brown is a great candidate beyond what he has done with technology. He is active, motivated, respected, thoughtful and unlike his opponent, he is gaffe free. Even so, in a state like Massachusetts a Republican is going to have to be way above and beyond their opponent. The lessons from Brown’s campaign are clear. Online campaign is not a theory. it is not a fad. It is a communication tool that gets the Republican’s message out and it has put Obama in a very awkward spot.

Below are some of Brown’s online resources. Please check them out!
Website – http://www.brownforussenate.com/
Twitter – http://twitter.com/scottbrownma
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scott-Brown/178795233167
YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/user/scottbrownma

The next post will be February 2nd.

Posted in AdWords, Facebook, Massachusetts, Scott Brown, Twitter, YouTube, pay-per-click, social networking | No Comments »

Technology Resolutions for the New Year

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Keeping with tradition, I would like to set a few resolutions for Republicans in terms of technology. With 2010 being an important election year, these goals become even more critical. Below I have 3 simple resolutions which I hope your campaign will adopt.

1. Master at least one social media platform
I have talked about many different social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Many campaigns have adopted social media, but I feel that a good number of those campaigns need to develop their strategy more. There are often two mistakes campaigns make: one inexcusable, the other slightly more understandable, but should still be remedied. First, the inexcusable mistake. Many feel that “if you build it, they will come.” Social media does not work this way. You must engage and build a community. The second mistake is having someone on your staff post content. It is understandable that candidates are extremely busy people and sometimes they will not be able to directly engage everyone who responds to them. However, the most ideal situation is to have the candidate engage social media. Voters will appreciate it more and take more interest in the campaign if they know they are interacting with the candidate (after all, that is the point of social media). Both of these mistakes can be prevented by mastering at least one social media. Know how to use it, follow the changes in that platform, and engage users and build followers.

2. Keep website content fresh
This is a challenge for any organization with a website. Adding content can be time consuming and tedious. However, visitors to your website expect to see up-to-date information. I have even seen sites that advertise the candidate running for the wrong position when they used their old campaign site for a run at a new office. This will only frustrate and annoy voters. On the other hand, voters will revisit your site if they know new information will be there. The site becomes a resource and will get bookmarked. Big campaigns especially need to keep their sites fresh, but it is important for even local candidates. A great example of a local candidate with lots of fresh content is Ohio State Rep. Ron Amstutz, http://www.amstutz.org

3. Develop a comprehensive online strategy
Too many campaigns do not have a comprehensive strategy for the Internet. In my experience, campaigns approach new media in bits and pieces without looking at the big picture. They also do not sit down with their staff and draw up a plan. Technology still is treated like an afterthought. I strongly recommend developing a plan, and then revisiting the plan every now and then. Analyze your options, discuss pros and cons, and decide the best way to execute the plan.

I hope you take these three resolutions into consideration, and above all else…have a happy New Year!

The next post will be January 19th.

Posted in social media, website | No Comments »