How Candidate for Governor Neumann Is Crushing It
New media is changing how our society communicates and keeps informed on the topics that are most important to us. Whether friends, family or our favorite celebrities, social media keeps us connected. Barack Obama illustrated how new media platforms could play an integral role in politics. From raising money to keeping constituents informed, new media has solidified its place in the future of politics. One candidate for Governor in Wisconsin is using these new platforms to drive his campaign to what they hope will be a favorable vote this fall.
Hyper Focused Advertising
Inexpensive ads are one of the many advantages for campaigns. The most useful platform for very narrow, focused ads that don’t hurt the pocket book is Facebook. Traditional advertising mediums like television and newspaper may blanket a vast number of people but there is no telling how much waste is included in traditional ad campaigns. The problem is they are not highly targeted, and that is some new media platforms like Facebook deliver. Not only are they a fraction of the cost, but they also let you target extremely narrow demographics and focus a particular message for that group. This kind of targeting is incredibly valuable to political campaigns and traditional business alike.
There are many stories around the country of success with using new media for advertising in politics. One of these is Republican Patrick Mara. Mara defeated a 16-year incumbent in a DC city council primary in 2008. His campaign said they had excellent results using hyper focused ads on Facebook to reach their core demographic.
Put Your Net”work” To Work
No one can help you more than your constituents. Motivating your network to action is an extremely powerful task to accomplish and is now easier than ever before with new media tools and the Internet. Passing your messages and beliefs through your followers is much more effective than any high-dollar ad campaign can accomplish. A personal conversation between friends or family is much more likely to carry weight than a TV ad or a radio spot. Your network is your biggest and most powerful advocate. Don’t forget it, you’ll need them!
Don’t underestimate what your network will or won’t do. Don’t assume they won’t help your cause or do what you ask. Once you have solidified connections with them, your message hits hard. While casual messages through television, radio and other traditional mediums may reach constituents, the message isn’t nearly as personal and is less likely to influence. When your followers choose to connect with you on a new media platform, they’re allowing you into their personal network, they’re not picking up background noise on traditional mediums. Messages are hence stronger and make a larger impact on your constituents, and are more likely to spread.
Bring Your Network Into “The Huddle”
To utilize your network, you need to bring them into your huddle. A disconnect between executives, administrators is a very common problem; both business and politics suffers from this disconnect. This disconnect is often referred to as “Ivory Tower Syndrome.” The leaders of movements often fall out of touch with their base and aren’t aware of what their constituents really feel and really want. New media platforms connect leaders with even the smallest of their base.
82 year-old Dorothy in a town of 1500 people can get on her Facebook account or Twitter account and voice her opinion; something that without these new technologies would be incredibly more difficult for her. This is the power of the “Huddle.” Being your network close and communicate. Don’t just spew one way and use your tools as broadcast platforms. Talk with them, engage them and good things will happen.
“Sometimes we have to ask the hard questions and get real, truthful, and sometimes harsh answers. The more we know about what our constituents are thinking, the better we can serve them.” said Nicole Russo, Legislative Aide to New York State Senator Kemp Hannon. (Mashable)
Transparency = Trust
All of these efforts provide transparency for the candidate. Transparency is something Barack Obama really mainstreamed in his presidential campaign. People want that from the political candidates today. With all our personal information being streamed online, it is becoming the norm to receive your most important & personal information on the Internet.
What are my nephews up to today via Facebook? VOIP chat with them online via the PlayStation Network, and see what my friends around the country are talking about today on Twitter. This transparency is further illustrated by the explosion of location-based services like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt. Millions of people have no problem sharing their location every second of the day with the world.
Making the candidate transparent lessens the probability of your messages being lost in translation and makes it much stronger. Trying to communicate solely through press releases or your press team making statement can lead misinterpretation and statements being mis-judged. This can quickly swirl into a PR nightmare. Keeping fresh content and being 100% open on your new media platforms keeps everything on the public record accurately. Transparency also allows to handle small fires that arise on the political trail quickly before they can spread out of control. Cutting the legs beneath allegations and disputes before mainstream media picks it up while reassuring your base of your stance. Mobility and timeliness are key in putting out the fires.
The Neumann campaign uses video to discuss Mark’s stance on the issues and answer question he receives online. The key to efforts like this boils down to one word, genuine. If you think Facebook, Twitter, E-mail will just be another one-way street with you soapboxing your messages, your horribly mistaken. The ship has sailed for you. These platforms need to be personal, they need to be genuine. Your constituents want to feel connected to you and your causes. They do not want to feel connected to your PR team and press releases.
Here is a perfect example from the Neumann campaign. It’s not overly produced and you can tell it’s just Mark speaking, no fancy scripts, no constant cutting and splicing of the video. It’s genuine and it offers some personal details about his life
Wrapping It Up
New media has a firm place in politics. Candidates who fail to utilize these technologies, I feel, are at a significant disadvantage. The Neumann campaign has dedicated effort to the social media sphere and has a following of over 50,000 constituents online because of it.
Don’t be afraid to embrace the new and understand how society is changing. People’s information gathering is changing and they have certain expectations from public figures. Meet those expectations, engage with them, be transparent, and be genuine. Mark has, what can’t others?
Learn more about Mark Neumann
http://www.facebook.com/strongwisconsin
http://www.twitter.com/strongwisconsin
Neumann has the most facebook fans of any GOP governor candidate in the U.S.
The MarkForGov.com website also has many networking and transparency features that offer similar benefits as Facebook.