Archive for June 19th, 2008
Almost two years in the making, the new version of “Online Politics 101: The Tools and Tactics of Online Advocacy” is now ready for downloading! New chapters cover online political advertising, political databases, choosing the right tools, along with expanded chapters on social networking, fundraising, video, blogs and more. It’s an essential guide to doing politics on the internet, and it’s absolutely free.
– cpd
June 19th, 2008
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Updated January, 2011
Political databases generally don’t get a whole lot of attention in the press or in public, but they underlie much of the technology of modern politics. Email advocacy and fundraising systems are really just specialized examples of CRM (customer/constituent/contact management) software, while blogs and website content management systems are database-driven, as are online ad serving systems. Robocalls, phone banks and direct mail depend on databases of voter registration and consumer behavior, and database experts frequently spend large amounts of time sorting their lists and testing different messages and asks.
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June 19th, 2008
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Updated January, 2011
If I had to pick a most-neglected aspect of internet politics, it would be online advertising — until recently. In particular, electoral campaigns used to spend relatively little money advertising to web audiences, particularly compared to the huge amounts they raised online. While it’s typical for commercial marketing campaigns to spend 15% or 20% of their budgets online, for political campaigns the comparable range before 2010 would have been 3% to 5%. This seems particularly strange considering the targetability of online advertising (the ‘net naturally breaks down into demographic and interest-based niches) as well as its trackability. During the 2010 election cycle, this situation finally started to change, with campaigns turning to Google and Facebook ads in particular.
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June 19th, 2008
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Updated January, 2011
If you want to build a following online, a good strategy is to go where the people are — and in 2011, plenty of them have flocked to online social networks, particularly (in the U.S.) on Facebook. Earlier versions of this guide focused on strategies for MySpace and the plethora of other social networks, but over the past two years Facebook has come to dominate the social side of online advocacy to an unprecedented degree. Facebook (and to a lesser extent, niche social websites like Black Planet) have in some ways become the modern equivalent of town squares, places where people from all walks of life can mingle and connect in a public environment and where campaigns can fish for support in a pond both broad and deep.
Since 2008 edition of this guide, political campaigns and nonprofits have hit social networks hard, but before we dive in, let’s answer the basic question of what a social networking site IS. An online social network is a website on which people and organizations can set up profile pages with basic information about themselves and then link to other people’s pages — it’s that simple. Readers typically browse profiles by searching by keyword or name or by following links from one person to another, and they can also leave comments behind as they go.
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June 19th, 2008
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Updated January, 2011
Okay, I’m sold — let’s get started. So what ARE the essential tools of online politics, and are they the same for every campaign? I’d argue that the answer to the second question is pretty close to yes: regardless of their ultimate goals, most campaigns will end up needing three basic online components:
- A central online hub, usually a conventional website but sometimes (and particularly for citizen activists) a Facebook page, YouTube channel or blog.
- Some way to keep in touch with supporters, usually via email list but also including Facebook and other social networking websites, RSS feed, Twitter or text messaging.
- Online outreach, to connect with potential supporters and to influence the online discussion in your space, often meaning blogger relations but also including traditional media relations, social networking outreach, RSS, participation in back-channel email/IM discussions, online advertising, the production of podcasts and video pieces, etc.
(By the way, I’m indebted to Josh McConaha, formerly of the Democratic National Committee, for that division: when asked on a panel in the winter of 2007-8 to name the three essential tools for online politics, he listed a website, email and blogger relations or some other way to influence the discussion. My list just expands on his.)
The exact mix of tools you use depends on the goals you’re trying to reach and on actual means you have available to reach them. If you’re trying to organize high school and college students to speak out about human rights issues, you’re likely to use Facebook and (if it ever comes back from the grave) MySpace. If you’re a think tank or policy-heavy nonprofit, or if you’re just a good writer with something to say, a blog or family of blogs may be the right answer. If you’re raising money for a candidate for office, you’re likely to use email and a website that takes credit cards, with Google Ads helping to build the donor list over time.
The chapters that follow will look at the major tools available to political communicators as of January, 2011, along with tactics for specific applications like fundraising and influencing legislation or the media.
Next: Websites
June 19th, 2008
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