POLITICALLY SOCIAL

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO WIN ELECTIONS- THE PRINCIPLES

WHO ARE YOU?Have you ever seen a “nobody” from “nowhere” run for an election & win? NO.

They aren’t branded a “nobody” because they are inferior; it’s simply because they are not known by most—especially influencers.

Politics is a game of “mind-share.” your influence on the people largely depends on how much they see you & hear from you—how connected you are with your voters

SOCIAL MEDIA—YOUR BEST WEAPON

Social Media is the best “Mind Share” weapon available to political candidates for 3 simple reasons;

1. It is the least expensive medium compared to all other P.R methods

2. It is so popular today that more than 90% of the people you want to reach use it at least 1hour everyday

3. Your message spreads MUCH FASTER & WIDER compared to any other medium e.g. you can reach 1,000,000 people a day with one click—can you do that with flyers?

GETTING AROUNDWhile social media has proved it’s usefulness and power already, note that there is a method to the madness i.e. just because you can easily create a page & post what you want doesn’t mean you’re “doing social media.” Proper social media has it’s own principles which guarantee success for your campaign if executed correctly

PRINCIPLE 1: STRATEGY

“A goal without a plan is just a wish”-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The first step is to decide what you want to achieve from social media e.g. do you want to focus on buzz? (how much you’re talked about) Do you want to focus on your strong message being shared to millions (virality)?

Every goal has it’s own plan of action; a good strategy will clearly define how you will get there—explicitly pointing out key tasks & effective approach

STRATEGYMy favorite social media strategy for politics is the “cult” strategy; it focuses on recruiting, reassuring & creating evangelists who in turn recruit & reassure others—it’s genius because your hardest work is in the “seed” stage, everything else from there works out “automatically.”

In just 3 months, you can have millions of people you have never met singing your name like you are neighbors they have known their whole life

PRINCIPLE 2: SKILLFUL EXECUTION

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent

direction and skillful execution; it represents the

wise choice of many alternatives.” WILLIAM A FOSTER

ENGAGEMENT IS KING!

Social media sites will only work for a political campaign if there is thorough engagement. Endeavor to post new stories, connect with new people, answer questions and be engaged in trends & conversations.

A member of YOUR staff should be doing this work, not the candidate. Your press secretary, someone from your communications staff or a professional agency, depending on the size of your campaign & resources.

SKILLFUL EXECUTION

O Use powerful language in your contentO Use professional branded design e.g.

website, graphic content, profiles e.t.cO Maintain consistent engagement &

presenceO Develop & establish a strong sense of

presence that resonates with your ideal voters

O Be easy to find, like & promote by peers & targets (social media optimization)

PRINCIPLE 3: MEASURE EVERYTHING

The strongest advantage the internet has over other marketing & publicity media is its PIN-POINT ACCOUNTABILITY! If you pay for 5,000,000 people to view your advert, it will be seen by 5,000,000 people & you WILL have clear proof.

As such, it’s important to measure every action in terms of the result e.g. no use posting 100 times a week generically while only 6 people see each post yet you can use $5 to reach 500,000 daily with JUST 5 posts a week

PRINCIPLE 4: STRIKE A BALANCE

Take your roar offline to the street & back once in a while. At the end of the day, people will need to connect with you in person beyond the internet. Don’t spend far too much time on Twitter or Facebook, and neglect grassroots rallies, fundraising calls, and small events.– it is a MUST to include social media interaction as part, but not all, of your overall communications strategy.

It’s your TURNThe changing way the public connects with politicians is especially notable given the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

Many candidates, including Amama Mbabazi (voted most active leader on social media) have used social media platforms to announce or discuss their potential presidential candidacy. President Obama has only recently joined Twitter but his presidential campaigns have often been praised for effectively using social media to mobilize volunteers and voters.

HAVE YOU CLAIMED YOUR PIECE OF THE PIE?

Say Something…

If you have any questions or need help creating, setting up or running a

powerful social media campaign, GET IN TOUCH!

TWITTER: @PipBuyoEMAIL: phil@smatmarketing.netWEBSITE: www.smatmarketing.net