The Presidential Campaigns on Facebook

By John McGory

The 2012 presidential campaigns are in full swing.  Ohio will soon be the battleground as the March 6 primary looms. 

Facebook is playing a large role in the campaigns.  Facebook's advice to the candidates is to be authentic.  Here is an update on how the contenders use the social media giant and content marketing to promote their candidacies.

The numbers

Facebook is the run-away winner among all age groups in terms of social media use.  President Barack Obama has a huge advantage among the four established candidates in the number of followers.

Obama has more than ten times the Facebook followers (25 million people) compared to the three Republican challengers combined.  Mitt Romney is the top Republican with 1.5 million followers, with Newt Gingrich second at 288,000 and Rick Santorum a distant third at 157,000.

Barack Obama

The president‘s Facebook posts are mostly of young or female activists.  His wall uses photos and non-technical materials such as photographs of hand-written signs to attract like-minded followers.
  
Contests sell on Facebook and Obama has adopted the strategy.  A $3 donation can win a follower a chance to have dinner with the president.  It is a solid strategy because it is an affordable amount and gives the young an opportunity to be a part of the campaign.

Free bumper stickers and the ability to purchase iPhone cases are also available.  These are both items that are popular with younger voters.

The site has a post appealing to Spanish-speaking supporters. 

Mitt Romney

Challengers in political races must focus their attention on fundraising.  Romney’s Facebook efforts are consistent with that political reality.

Romney takes the contest idea and puts his spin on it.  A $3 donation gets the winner an opportunity to hang around the candidate on a primary election night.

Challengers also face the problem of getting known.  Campaigns need to make voters become comfortable with candidates.  Facebook is a good source of providing followers with issue updates from the campaign.  There is no shortage of these on Romney’s site.

He devotes some space for slamming his chief primary opponent, Rick Santorum.

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum’s handlers must feel their candidate looks the part of president.  There are several posts providing downloadable images of the candidate for use among supporters.  Also, there are plenty of pictures of him looking presidential. This is a good strategy considering the importance of visuals in social media.

His site is strong in event promotions.  While Romney’s site does this as well, it looks as if Santorum focuses on one event and works it hard.  His site is peppered with Daytona 500 posts and Santorum’s efforts during the race.

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich’s Facebook page is issue driven.  He posts extensively about the high price of gasoline and the importance of oil and natural gas drilling.  His attacks on the president regarding this issue are forceful.

He allows viewers to follow him live on the campaign trail on Facebook.  He also works at building post-debate support by encouraging followers to like him for his debate performances.

He uses more video than the other candidates.  He has a longer history in front of the national cameras and seems to use that to his video advantage.

Conclusion

All the candidates are using Facebook in ways that highlight their individual strengths.  Obama can use Facebook in a more traditional method since he doesn’t have a primary opponent.  The Republicans are forced to be more aggressive as they fight for the nomination. 

It will be interesting to see how the use of Facebook changes for the Republican-party nominee.  The biggest challenge will be shifting to a more mainstream approach to capture independent Facebook viewers this fall.  Webface will keep its eye on this shift as the campaign continues.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, http://web-face-solutions.com  Webface provides content marketing services including video for businesses and organizations.

  

Marketing's True Spirit is You

By John McGory

Dale Carnegie wrote one of the first and greatest self help books.  The 1936 classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” sold millions of copies.  Here is an article dedicated to Mr. Carnegie’s philosophy.    

Do me a favor by answering this question.  Are you happy to be alive?

Hopefully everyone said yes.  Now jot down or think about why you are happy.  Who are the people or what are the things that make your life enjoyable?  Do you think others have similar reasons for their happiness? 

You have just created the seeds for your next great marketing idea.   You are on to something big.  Here are a few examples:

Let’s say you are an attorney and you are happy for your beautiful home and family.  There are many potential legal clients who are happy for those same reasons.  Do you think emphasizing your firm’s desire to help people protect their home and family would resonate with these potential clients?

Or you are the head of a large non-profit organization and are glad to have a job helping people.  Reaching out to others who also want to help could be your way of increasing volunteers and fundraising.  The United Way’s Live United campaign is an excellent example of this in action.

A third person may be a city official who enjoys making their city a better place to live.  Helping like-minded citizens find ways to improve their home town is a wonderful place to start.

Many of you are already practicing these strategies.  You are winning people over to your way of thinking by trying to see things from the client’s point of view.  You are sympathetic to their ideas and desires.

Now people may think this is corny advice, that social media and the Internet do not have a place in a 1930s way of thinking. And they may be right.

But people want noble causes to be central to their lives.  These include social concerns, personal traits and spiritual beliefs.  Many potential clients feel the same way.  Letting them understand that you feel as they do is a powerful first step in making a friend.

Many favorite marketing campaigns strike a chord by appealing to a noble cause.  Three of the most-famous campaigns and the emotion they evoke include: Old Spice’s Smell Like a Man (strong, cool and independent), Just Do It (active and winning) and You Deserve a Break Today (hard working and dependable).

Think about the noble causes in your life.  What makes you proud to be alive? Think about it then put it into action.

I challenge you to reach out to your potential clients by using one noble cause in your life as the central theme in a new marketing campaign.  Create a video or series of Facebook posts/tweets to highlight that you have the same noble cause as your potential new clients.  Your marketing effort's true spirit is you. I guarantee you will make new friends and influence people.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, www.web-face-solutions.com  Webface can help you tap your true spirit through content marketing including videos, blogs, social media and marketing materials.

Is the News at 6 Defining Your Community?

By John McGory

If it bleeds, it leads.  This mantra of local television news organizations comes from market research that suggests stories of crime and violence increase newscasts’ ratings.  This finding drives news directors to deliver more crime-related stories to their audiences.

How do these news stories impact your community or neighborhood?  Are potential homebuyers and investors scared away by the nightly news?  It’s likely.

Here are two studies that illustrate problems facing local communities:

A Baltimore study suggested that local television crime coverage is related to a heightened fear of the central city and that this fear translates to reduced travel there.

A study in New Orleans showed that reports of homicides made up 0.4 percent of all crimes but represented 50 percent of all reported crime stories.

 How can communities fight back?  By sidestepping traditional media to seize the opportunity to tell their own stories through the use of both social media and old school tactics such as word of mouth and newsletters.

No one is going to invest in a community that is feared.  If all people know about your neighborhood is what they see on the six o’clock news, then many of the wonderful stories will never be told.   Telling others what your community is about, the citizens who make it special and your neighborhood’s potential, are the ingredients for success.

There is hope for the future.  Social media is providing communities with the opportunity to change the way we view ourselves.  A Pew Research Center for Excellence in Journalism reported in September that the younger generations are turning away from television when getting their local community news. 

The report also showed that people use three to six different sources for local community news.  Television is viewed for breaking news, traffic and weather.  Newspapers are read for news about local government, housing and taxes.  The Internet is for restaurants and local businesses.  Old school forms such as word of mouth and printed newsletters still have a place in getting the word out about events.

The report shows that communities need to be strategic in communicating with the public.  Using a variety of sources can increase the chances that good stories will be a part of the discussion.

Crime scenes, grim-faced detectives and yellow tape will not disappear from the evening news’ leads.  Communities can help balance the public perception of urban neighborhoods by being proactive and telling the good stories that take place much more frequently than violent crime.    

The evening news is a business built on creating emotion, much of it fear.  Don’t let that business define your community.  Tell your story by getting strategic and using the tools of today.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, www.web-face-solutions.com.   We help communities and neighborhoods tell their stories through social media, video and community engagement strategies.