2009 New York City Mayoral RaceDigital Social Media Strategies and Impact AnalysisBill Thompson vs. Mike BloombergVs.Monday, October 19th, 20091Ian Orekondy @iano1000

The 2009 New York City Mayoral Race Is Taking Place on Social Media Sites Much More Than on The Campaigns’ Own Sites2Ian Orekondy @iano1000

Bloomberg’s YouTube Videos Have 4x More Views as Thompson’s Videos 3Ian Orekondy @iano1000Only Bloomberg Appears to Be Promoting His YouTube Channel With Promoted Videos when users search on relevant terms within YouTube

Bloomberg Is Winning the Battle for Attention on Twitter, and He Is Aggressively Promoting His Twitter Profile via text ads on Google’s Content Network Bloomberg has built a comparatively large Twitter following, despite a less personal toneThompson has a more personal tone on Twitter, but has not been effective at building a large following# of Followers on TwitterExample of Bloomberg’s Google Content Network Text Ad Driving People to His Twitter ProfileBloomberg’s Twitter Account Is Using A Range of Borough-Specific Hashtags to Increase the Reach of His Tweets4Graph of Twitter Followers Over Time Provided by TwitterCounterIan Orekondy @iano1000

Bloomberg’s Facebook Page Has 4x More Fans/Supporters Than Thompson’s Page5Ian Orekondy @iano1000Only Bloomberg Appears to Be Actively Promoting His FacebookPage with Cost Facebook’sSocial Ads -Cost Per Click Text/Image Ads Presumably Targeted to People Who List New York City As Their Hometown*Facebook also prices these on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions basis)

Search Interest in Thompson Peaked Higher Than Bloomberg’s in September and October, Probably Because Fewer NYC Residents Knew Much About Thompson Before The RaceHowever, Bloomberg’s Campaign Site Traffic Has Grown Significantly Faster.6Ian Orekondy @iano1000

Bloomberg’s Campaign Website Is Dominating The First Page of Google Search Results for Keyword “NYC Mayoral Election”7Paid Search (PPC): Top Listing Premium Placement Organic Search (SEO): 4th Listing on Page 1Ian Orekondy @iano1000

Bloomberg Is Even Reaching Voters With Ads On Bill Thompson’s Own WebsiteWhen visitors to Bill Thompson’s website search for information on Mike Bloomberg, they are served an ad for Mike Bloomberg via the Google Content Network8Ian Orekondy @iano1000

Both Thompson and Bloomberg are Bidding on Their Own “Brand Terms”, And Both Candidates Are Battling for the Term “Mike Bloomberg” within Paid Search (PPC)9One area within the search and social media space that Bill Thompson is winning is on his own “brand term” – Bloomberg doesn’t appear to be bidding on this termIan Orekondy @iano1000

Recommendations for Both CandidatesBillThompson2009:Extend the reach of your tweetsEngage passionate groups in relevant ways with better hashtags (e.g. #brooklyn or #yankees, #jets), just make sure you’re staying relevant to these groupsFocus funds on reaching engaged voters researching the election onlineWith only two weeks until the election, it’s probably too late in the race to try to compete within the organic search results on GoogleBut with few competitors bidding on relevant search terms in the paid search space, give yourself a voice on more general keywords (e.g. NYC Mayoral Election), and…Consider driving these engaged searchers directly from Google to your YouTube videos ,Twitter profile and Facebook page where people are more likely to return on an ongoing basis, so you can keep them engaged throughout the rest of the race Finally, your campaign may need all the funds it can get, but give up the $1.25 your making from Google AdSense and stop (inadvertently) promoting Bloomberg on your site. Mike Bloomberg for Mayor:Make sure you’re paying your search and social media teams handsomely – they’re doing a pretty good job for you.10Ian Orekondy @iano1000

Engage passionate groups in relevant ways with better hashtags (e.g. #brooklyn or #yankees, #jets), just make sure you’re staying relevant to these groups

With only two weeks until the election, it’s probably too late in the race to try to compete within the organic search results on Google

But with few competitors bidding on relevant search terms in the paid search space, give yourself a voice on more general keywords (e.g. NYC Mayoral Election), and…

Consider driving these engaged searchers directly from Google to your YouTube videos ,Twitter profile and Facebook page where people are more likely to return on an ongoing basis, so you can keep them engaged throughout the rest of the race

Agree/Disagree?Share Your Thoughts, Ideas, Suggestions for the Candidates athttp://www.SearchandSocialMedia.comAnd you can find me on Twitter @iano1000Vs.Monday, October 19th, 200911Ian Orekondy @iano1000