Tag: Campaigns

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Kelly D Johnston
Kelly D Johnston
47256
 

Podcasting is huge and growing, even more so than written blogs like this one. In many cases, blogs and podcasts go hand in hand. Prominent radio talkers like Hugh Hewitt and Chris Stigall (both friends) use podcasts to augment their live shows. Our cell phones – excuse me, personal digital assistants (PDAs) – and apps […]
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Kelly D Johnston
Kelly D Johnston
02
 

US Rep. Matt Gaetz, Republican from Florida’s panhandle, darling of Fox News aficionados and star among conservatives active on social media today spoke to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (C-PAC) that is led by my friend and fellow conservative, Matt Schlapp. During his speech to the assembled and enthusiastic throng, Rep. Gaetz briefly took […]
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MartinKnight
MartinKnight
25
 

4. The black community needs to become politically competitive. Today Democrats know they will win without even bothering to campaign, without any regard for candidate quality. Republicans, on the other hand, know there’s zero chance of winning, no matter how good their candidate or his roots, record or pedigree in the district. Preview Open
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How the GOP Can Win Black Votes: Sideline the NAACP

MartinKnight
MartinKnight
379
 

A note: I’m using NAACP is a stand-in for itself and every other supposed “civil rights” organization that purports to speak on behalf of the black community, but, in actuality, has cast its own mission and history aside, and is now no more than a fully owned and operated subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee.

Let’s be clear here: any GOP plan involving the NAACP, the Urban League, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Congressional Black Caucus, etc., or any affiliated individuals (e.g., pastors, community organizers, etc.) in any outreach effort to the black community is not only a waste of time, but a willfully stupid act of self-sabotage. It earns you no goodwill, and it only arms them with extra credibility for when they inevitably turn around to smear you as a racist.

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How The GOP Can Win Black Votes: Actually Talk to Black People

MartinKnight
MartinKnight
3316
 

How should Republicans go about winning over black voters? Most of the articles I’ve seen with similar titles tend to offer a high overarching view of how Republicans should go about winning over more black voters than an actual plan on how to go about it.

What would an actual plan for this look like? How do you put into action? Where do you need to go? Who do you need to see and talk to? What arguments should you push? What pitfalls should you look out for?

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Laura Koch
Laura Koch
66
 

My first experience of German elections here in Berlin has been beyond confusing. While trying to understand what’s going on around me (with very limited German language skills) I’ve come to realize the parties involved are probably just as confused as I am. Some quick facts for those not well acquainted with German politics…Tomorrow Berliners […]
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Facebook Pages Are Lousy, but Campaigns Still Need to Drive People There

Dean Ouellette
Dean Ouellette
64
 

facebookIn this series, started just over a month ago, we saw how campaigns can be more social on social media, whether it’s Snapchat, Twitter, or Instagram. Now let’s talk about Facebook, the king of social media for several years now and most likely will remain so for the next few.

Every candidate and campaign should drive each of their supporters to “Like” their page. This means promoting your Facebook page everywhere, including print media with the URL (i.e., Facebook.com/RossForAZ).

Every business class or seminar says that the first thing you need is a Facebook page. When I was teaching real estate agents to use social media I would tell them not to bother with a page, since they’re a waste for those people. Yet here I am telling candidates to have one.

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Be Your Own Press with Instagram

Dean Ouellette
Dean Ouellette
107
 

instagramEarned media — it’s easy if your name is Donald Trump or you are a sitting governor looking for re-election. But what if you’re an underdog congressional candidate looking to take on a sitting, but vulnerable, incumbent?

While earned media is not going to be easy for you to obtain, you now have media tools at your disposal to talk to the voter directly. One of the most powerful ones is the social photo platform Instagram. Instagram, along with Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat are changing the way that politicians interact with existing supporters and those in their district.

Instagram allows you to give an account of the your day that the local media can’t cover. While Instagram may not have the same attention grab as Snapchat, it does exceed the engagement that you can garner on Twitter. But Instagram should also be used differently than both of those platforms.

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Twitter: Where Everyone Is Social, Except Campaigns

Dean Ouellette
Dean Ouellette
34
 

political twitterTwo weeks ago I started this series on how candidates and campaigns were missing the boat by forgetting the “social” in social media. Last week I used Snapchat as an example of how the Presidential campaigns were failing, and boy, are they ever failing there.

This week we are going to look at everyone’s favorite social media playground, Twitter. I want to focus mostly on some things a congressional candidate could be doing to make Twitter a tool for engagement instead of another megaphone.

I will admit, using Twitter effectively to engage in a Presidential race is different than in smaller races. The platform is so loud that it is sometimes hard to filter that noise.

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Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn
186
 

The post by Front Seat Cat stimulated the emergence of a thought that has been niggling at me for days. I realized that for those who don’t want Trump to win the candidacy, they are up against a campaign that mimics a campaign that has already proven successful: Barack Obama for two terms. When we […]
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If I Ran Marco Rubio’s Snapchat Account for a Day

Dean Ouellette
Dean Ouellette
2616
 

snapcode-300x300Snapchat? Isn’t that the app 13-year-olds are using to text each other and college kids are using for sexting pictures? No, not even close.

In 2015, brands on Snapchat discovered the power of stories and the world of Snapchat changed forever. Not buying it? Let me give you some numbers to show you how on fire Snapchat is.

From May 2015 to January 2016, Snapchat’s daily videos grew 350 percent, from 2 billion (with a B) to 7 billion per day. Meanwhile, a total of 8 billion videos were viewed on Facebook. Snapchat is closing quick with an estimated 60 percent of voters under age 34 on the new platform.

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Why Do Campaigns Forget the “Social” in Social Media?

Dean Ouellette
Dean Ouellette
124
 

political story tellingWho thinks these presidential political campaigns are absolutely crushing it on social media? I will tell you the campaign that is, as soon as I find one.

When it comes to data, campaigns get it. Campaigns can use the data available and figure out who their voters should be, target them with their message via direct mail and turn them out to vote on election day. They know how to market. So why is it that they fail on the social side?

Data geeks! In general, data geeks run the campaign universe today. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but what campaigns are missing is the personal side of the story. There is still a lot of value in being able to use data to identify who the target audience is, send them the correct direct mail piece, and turn them out to the polls. What is missing is the ability to connect with those swing voters on a personal level and convert them from a swing voter to a raving fan who likes the person because they feel they have developed a relationship with him or her.

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No Caesar
No Caesar
42
 

“…Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser!”  That’s (an approximation of) a line from the brilliant George C. Scott in “Patton” that many GOP candidates would do well to keep front of mind.  I hear many fretting that America has turned, that we’ve lost the spark for liberty, that too many are dependent […]
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Aaron Miller
Aaron Miller
34
 

“In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.  What is the answer to the now-regular liberal strategy of demonization? Righteous indignation? Counter-accusations? Or a patient, joyful demeanor which allows insults to fall away like rain from a raincoat? Preview Open
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What Will Campaign Ads Look Like in 2016?

Charles Allen
Charles Allen
2215
 

Everyone knows that in 2012 the Obama campaign trounced the Romney campaign in use of technology to get out the word and get out the vote. Both with social media and in-house tools (Obama’s geek squad v. Romney’s ill-fated ORCA) the GOP’s efforts were laughable.




But there was also traditional TV advertising. 2012 brought record output in this medium, with almost $2 billion spent and 3 million ads aired, according to NPR. However, not everyone was subjected to the same levels of exposure. Niche markets/demographic and key regions were the major recipients. For instance, Obama outspent Romney 12-1 in Spanish language ads, and residents of places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida saw nothing but candidates during ad-time for 6 months. 
 

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