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CAMPAIGNING IN THE DIGITAL AGE
By Michael Babowal, March 2, 2011
I’ve worked on a number of political campaigns in my lifetime. They’ve ranged from local
ballot initiative to statewide races. Since my first campaign back in 1996 campaigning has
changed. Although not gone, the days of phone banking, precinct walking and TV ads might
be numbered. Why you might ask? We are in the digital age, my friends, and updated and
accurate voter data and outreach is now more important than ever. Voters are looking for
up-to-the minute news and information.
In the past, it was a giving that you could walk to someone’s door, and they would probably
answer. Now, you might not even be able to get to the front door. Or, you could call and
someone would answer. Now with caller ID, your call is identified as a “Political Call.”
Don’t get me started on TV ads – including their ridiculous cost.
The digital age has created a whole new way to connect with voters. Social networking and
viral videos are a few ways, and they aren’t the wave of the future for campaigns, they are the
here and now. Unfortunately, many campaigns aren’t taking advantage of these resources –
having staff and volunteers who are unqualified, untrained and have limited time left
“managing” these applications. It should be noted that just because someone knows how to
use a social networking site personally – doesn’t mean they can run it for a campaign.
Let me ask you a question: Why do business hire full time staff or a social networking
consultant to manage their social network?
Answer: Because, creating and maintaining a solid social networking presence take
significant time and energy away from day-to-day operations. Businesses also get that you
have to develop a social networking strategy, by identifying who your audience is and where
you can find them. While campaigns do this for mail, precinct walks and phone calls very
few are doing this with social networking.
Let’s look at some staggering statistics. In the United States alone, there are over 150 million
Facebook users and they spend over 19 billion hours a month on the site. Twitter has almost
20 million users in the United States, and it is estimated that 80% of those users look to their
Twitter feed as a news source. A considerable amount of the target audience for political
candidates, elected officials and advocacy groups reside on social networks, especially
Facebook. What better way to connect?
According to the US Census Bureau, in 2008, there were 225.5 million people over the age
of 18 living in the United States, of which, 206 million or 91% who were US citizens eligible
to vote. During the 2008 election cycle, there were 146 million, or 71% of eligible voters,
registered to vote, and 131 million, or 64% of eligible voters, who voted in the Presidential
General election.I will admit, applying these numbers to Facebook will not give 100%
accurate results – they do paint a picture of the potential size of the voting population on
Facebook.
According to Facebook, there are almost 121 million accounts registered to individuals over

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the age of 18 – voting age in the United States. Let’s apply the numbers from above, and say
91% of them are citizens, then there would be about 110 million eligible US voters on
Facebook.
We know that, in 2008, 71% of the eligible voters were registered, meaning there are about
78 million registered US voters on Facebook. Using the 64% of people who voted in the
2008 Presidential General Election, we can assume that there are over 70 million likely
voters on Facebook in the United States.
Looking at past election statistics, and seeing that mid-term elections generally attract fewer
voters - around 37%, potential voters on Facebook were probably closer to 41 million last
November.
Now matter how you look at it, there potentially between 41 and 70 million likely voters
who are on Facebook. In the past, Facebook users tended to be younger, but the growing
number of users on Facebook are women ages 45-65, with men in the same age range not
too far behind. I would argue that these numbers demonstrate the need to have a strategy
and plan to connect with likely voters on Facebook, thus ending the days of only seeing
“Money Bomb,” “Volunteers needed for precinct walks or phone banking,” and “ICYMI,”
Facebook posts.
When you compare the cost of a single direct mail piece to the cost of having a consultant
manage a campaigns social network - posting consistent and fresh status updates, the ROI
for a campaigns using social networking is stunning. Using voter data files and the latest
online social networking tracking software, campaigns can begin to track and measure their
social networking outreach.
A veteran of several campaigns, Michael Babowal is the president and CEO of ROICOM Consulting,
LLC a Sacramento based, consulting firm that specializes in social networking management, campaign
management and government relations for political and corporate clients. He has over a decade of experience
in public and government relations, and his career accomplishments include being a Chief of Staff and a Field
Representative for California State Assembly Members and Director of Government Affairs for California's
10th largest chamber of commerce. For more information on ROICOM and its services, visit them on the
web at www.ROICOMConsulting.com.