2. Introduction
● Relatively new phenomenon
● Game changer
● Now, a norm for active politicians
● A space to instigate political growth
-Pulse
-Yowie
● Social media influence in the future: UP
3. A good social media plan includes:
● listening platform
● voter inclusion
● analytics
● voter sentiment
4. Why is SM engagement more important
than traditional methods?
● Inexpensive
● Authentic
● Real time conversation
● Reach
5. Shira Schoenberg
@shiraschoenberg
Boston Globe political correspondent
● "Obama mastered the multifaceted social
media world on a level that even his
counterparts cannot contest"
● "He used Facebook, Twitter and other media
platforms to cultivate grassroots organizations,
fundraise, advertise and rally support"
6. Edward Boches
@edwardboches
Klout Score: 57
Chief Innovation Officer;
Mullen; Marketer; Blogger
● "A collective voice for voters"
● "Real-time qualitative feedback for campaigns"
● "Track sentiment"
8. Background: YOWIE
● "An open town hall meeting platform"
● Allows hundreds of people to participate
● Speaker and audience are engaged
● No limit on time, space or content
● No spending money on staff or travel
9. Background: FLOOP
● social polling mobile app
● gauges sentiment on various "Floops"
(questions/topics)
● opportunity for engagement of general
public
10. Tour – “How To”
● Social polling tools
○ Floop
○ Pulse
● Interactive video chat
○ Yowie
“The social web is vocal and wants to be heard.”
- D. Archibald Smart, CTO at Targeted Victory
13. Floop
● 2008 Presidential
debate
● two-way shared
conversation
● analytics and market
research
● Candidates gain insight
“We need Floop because it puts polling in the hands of the people.”
- Co-founders Richard Schultz and Patrick Shields
17. Yowie
● interactive video
chat
● live questions
● participation
● bridges the gap
● give and take
format
“Yowie enables me to have a direct digital dialog with the public
and engage in an open Q&A on key issues…no topic is off limits.”
- Gary Johnson, U.S. Republican Presidential Candidate
18. What these tools
mean for candidates…
● Collective voice of voters
● Real-time feedback
● Track sentiment by geography
● Gather insight at little cost
19. CASE STUDY: Barack Obama
Barack Obama's Social Presence
2008 Campaign for Change
2012 Organizing For America
26. 2008 Campaign for Change
● McCain supporters more likely than Obama
supporters to be internet users (83% vs. 76%)
● Obama supporters participated in a wider range
of online political activities
● Use of email and text messaging for political
communications
28. 2008 Campaign for Change
Key Aspect to
Campaign =
Engagement,
Interaction, and
Involvement with
supporters via social
media
29. 2008 Campaign for Change
● My.BarackObama.com -
interaction with supporters
● spent more than $26 million on
internet advertising
● 83% of Internet users ages 18-29
use social networking sites
●
● “So much of our support [in 2008]
came from younger, more wired
people.” - David Axelrod, top
strategist for the 2012 campaign
30. 2008 Campaign for Change
Outcome = social media helped
Barack Obama increase
interaction and engage with
voters to spread his campaign
message giving him an
advantage in the 2008
presidential election
32. 2012 Organizing for America
● maintain connections with supporters and reach out to new
ones
● interact and make supporters/voters involved in the
conversation
● re-election campaign and the Democratic National
Committee at $5 million in online ad related spending alone
●
34. 2012 Organizing for America
● use social media as a gateway to open a two-
way dialogue, not a vehicle for pushing out
talking points
● partnered with Facebook and LinkedIn to
host interactive events
● "Greater Together"
○ solicit questions and feedback on a live
Twitter feed #greatertogether
35. 2012 Organizing for America
How To Use Social Media To Succeed in
the 2012 Presidential Campaign
● sponsor a debate-watching party
● “Voting For My Future” - video series
"President Obama will need to speak not just to them, but with them." - Jesse
Comart, communications and public affairs consultant at the Glover Park
Group (GPG)
36. WHAT'S NEXT:
The Future of Political Social Media
How social media constantly
evolves and changes in the
political sphere
38. New Trends
● On Friday July 29, 2011, President Obama asked American
citizens to join the debt debate on Twitter.
39. New Trends
In only 8 hours, the president's message had reached 36 million
Twitter users, according to NM incite
40. New Trends
=
● White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer tweeted
that he believed "e-mails & tweets helped Congress to act."
● The people's Twitter influence forced Congress to raise the
debt ceiling.
41. Mathew Lira
● "It's a sea of change from,
say, two years ago ... If
you're not following it on
Twitter, you're out of the
loop and behind the curve."
● "Social web will heal the
relationship between the
public and their legislative
institutions."
Matt Lira is currently the Director of New Media for House
Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor
http://twitter.com/#!/MattLira
42. futureoffacebook.com
The Future of Facebook is a 6 part video series exploring the
impact social networking technologies are having on our lives
45. New Trends
AMERICANS ELECT 2012
● The goal of Americans Elect is to nominate a presidential ticket that
answers directly to voters - not the political system
● Americans Elect is already well on the way to putting the first
directly-nominated nonpartisan ticket on the 2012 ballot in all 50
states.
● Over 2,008,069 signatures and counting!
46. Conclusion
New social media platforms help politicians
boost their political campaigns by:
○ New ways to communicate with voters
■ Ex: Twitter, Facebook
○ Rallying support
■ Ex: 24-hour fundraising bomb websites
○ Promoting interactivity
■ Ex. Interactive video blogs
○ Measuring influence
■ Ex: social polling