what the internet can do for your candidacy

What the Internet Can do for your Candidacy

New Medium, Same Goal:

Raise campaign funds. Widgets & online donation process.

Recruit supporters & volunteers. Social Networks & Email. Use “Game Mechanics” to make your site more compelling.

Increase awareness of the candidate. Video, blogging & email.

Get your message out. Video, blogging, & social networks

Secure more votes than your opponent and win the election. Online viral marketing & Mobile phone messaging. Traditional political science efforts should be integrated with online

efforts.

The web is just another tool – a power tool!

Raise Campaign fund$

Barack Obama got 27% of his $25 million in contributions from online donors. Sen. Clinton, the only other candidate to announce the percent raised online, got about 23%.

Candidates have learned that putting a “Give money” button on the home page of their Web sites usually is both cheaper and more effective than mass mailings or 800 numbers, the two standards for populist fund raising in the days before the Web.


Rudy Giuliani is recruiting other bloggers to raise funds for him through the use of Widgets.

The internet offers “viral” tools that can help you harness the enthusiasm and energy of your supporters in raising funds.


Fred Thompson has an effective and comprehensive online donation page.

Notice he can take donations through PayPal

Its easy to set up recurring contributions.

Recruit supporters & volunteers People research candidates online.

Make sure your campaign has a website and that it is optimized for Search Engines.

The first screen on Rudy’s home page requests name and email.

Mike Huckabee encourages supporters to recruit through a “Email Friends” tool.

Notice his use of the 4 major social networking sites.

Recruit supporters &volunteers Use Game Mechanics to make your site

more compelling, and to motivate your supporters.

Recognize your top volunteers, contributors and recruiters!

Recruit supporters &volunteersGOP.com allows supporters to create the own MyGOP website, and tracks & rewards top contributors.

Recruit supporters &volunteers

The Conservative Party is taking steps to include user-generated content in its website.

Polls are a great way to engage your constituents, and get feedback.

Increase candidate awareness

What the French taught us: Conservative candidate Nicholas Sarkozy’s website

provides hundreds of videos that drove his campaign’s message, many user-generated.

Repetition counts. Establishing a strong online presence can not only increase candidate awareness, but also keep the message focused and on the forefront.

There is a need for video that can be parsed into channels to people can go see the video that is relevant to them on the issue they care about.


Leverage partnerships with major online media sites:

Big Web operations such as Yahoo and Google have learned that the interest in a presidential election, just like the interest in “American Idol,” can, with the right sort of marketing, be translated into more “page views” and thus more advertising. The sites have begun actively recruiting presidential candidates to avail themselves of politically oriented special features, such as a presidential election “channel” on Google’s YouTube.


The effort isn’t just in the U.S. In France, Yahoo’s French home page linked to “Presidentielle 2007″ about that country’s current election campaign.


Make effective use of email: Let your supporters know about media appearances, so

they can tell their friends and family members. Keep the email targeted. Because of a blog I write

focused on Hispanic issues, I received a Romney email about a recent Hispanic media coverage.

Romney is using his adult sons to promote his message and raise support.

Romney campaign sent an email from Mrs. Romney with the latest straw poll victory news.

Get your message out

Fred Thompson authors a blog (Fred Files) that is often quoted among conservative bloggers. This is an effective and FAST way to get your core message out to supporters and a way to bypass the establishment liberal media.

Mike Huckabee shares campaign videos, pictures and up to the minute news on his blog.

All GOP candidates currently include a blog as part of their campaign website. Candidates that post to their blogs are afforded more credibility.


Notice Fred’s use of the most popular Social Networking websites. The best part: its FREE!

Secure more votes

The web is a powerful tool.

Like a power tool, it requires handling with care.

Wrongly used, it can cause your campaign damage.

But effective use of the internet DOES make the difference in an election.

Secure more votes

Some ideas: Provide a search / map to help supporters find their

voting precinct.

Provide a “Reminder” email or phone text alert to help remind voters of important dates.

All key areas or tools should include a “Email to a friend” tool that empowers your supporters to spread your message.

Secure more votes

Use the power of the internet to reduce geographic barriers and bypass media gatekeepers.

Keep your message focused. Don’t over do it. Keep your eyes on the end-results: winning the

election. Integrate your Internet efforts with all other

strategies – Your campaign manager should be in charge of your internet efforts, not a volunteer or an intern.

Learning from the Americans: http://adfero.com (Agency) http://www.davidallgroup.com (Web Strategist) http://jameskotecki.com (video) http://www.campaignleadership.com (Strategist) http://www.patrickruffini.com (web strategy) http://techrepublican.com http://www.campaign08blog.com http://www.techpresident.com http://www.springwidgets.com http://netcentriccampaigns.org http://www.technomania.com http://connelldonatelli.com http://www.imwithfred.com/Downloads/widgets.aspx

what the internet can do for your candidacy

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