6. “There is no more powerful
endorsement than the one from someone
you know and trust, whether it is a
Facebook post or a knock on the door from
your neighbor.”
… build your base.
(“Republicans Shake More Hands Using Social Media,” The New York Times, December 28, 2011)
Matthew N. Strawn,
chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa
7. … form relationships.
(Cell Phones, Social Media and Campaign 2014, Pew Research Center, November 2014)
“Major reasons” voters give for following political
figures on social media:
» Finding out about political news before other
people do (41%)
» Feeling more personally connected to political
candidates or groups (36%)
» Getting more reliable information than what is
available from traditional news organizations (26%)
8. … mobilize your supporters.
(Cell Phones, Social Media and Campaign 2014, Pew Research Center, November 2014)
Registered voters who follow political figures on SM
are more likely to:
» More likely to volunteer for a campaign (11% vs
4%)
» Make a campaign contribution (21% vs 11%)
» Attend a campaign event (13% vs 6%)
» Encourage their friends to support a candidate or
issue at the pools (62% vs 39%)
9. … get out the vote.
(Civic Engagement in the Digital Age, Pew Internet & American Life Project, April 2013)
(Social Media and Voting, Pew Research Center, November 2012)
» In 2010, Facebook’s “I’m a voter” app increased voter turnout by
340,000 people
» On November 4, 2014, almost 7 million people shared on Facebook that
they were voting.
» 30% of registered voters have been encouraged to vote by family and
friends via SM posts.
» 22% of registered voters let others know how they voted by posting on a
SM site.
10. What’s a little politics among friends?
(Political Polarization and Media Habits, Pew Research Center, October 2014)
Among Facebook users surveyed:
» 26% of FB users have hidden, blocked, defriended,
or stopped following someone because they
disagreed with a political post.
12. Audience first.
» This is about you, but it’s also about us.
» This is your chance to form relationships with your
future constituency, to get to know the people you
want to serve and represent.
» Listen!
» Ask questions
» Respond to comments (as possible)
» Respect our time and attention
» Share content that is interesting or relevant to us
13. Be professional but human.
» Friendly
» Authentic
» Transparent
» Honest
» Gracious
15. Consistent identity.
» Pick a handle for your campaign (15
characters or less)
» Pick a campaign hashtag
» Use consistent images – photo of you,
campaign logo
» Buy your domain name(s)
˃ NameCheap
16. Your social media team:
» Has a professional but friendly “voice”
» Feels comfortable with multiple social media
platforms
» Is permanently connected to their smartphone
» Skillfully convinces people to pose for photos at
events
» Subtly encourages others to #hashtag their posts
and photos from your events
» Closely connected with you and your traditional
media efforts
» Friends with everyone, everywhere
21. Protect yourself.
» Decide where to divide your personal from your
political life, and maintain a clear boundary
» Pay attention to privacy settings!
» Set up a campaign-specific email account
» Prepare yourself for negative comments
» Have a plan for handling online abuse
23. “Digital advertising is still a work in
progress, especially at the level of House
races and further down the ballot.
Targeting voters with online ads is
difficult, messy work, even under ideal
circumstances… The technology to make it
happen is available, but the process is not
perfect.”
“Online Political Ads Have Been Slow to Catch On as TV Reigns”
New York Times
January 29, 2015
26. Facebook
» Broadest demographics
˃ 71% of internet users use Facebook
˃ 56% of internet users ages 65+ use Facebook
˃ 70% of SM users who use just one site use Facebook
» Active users
˃ 70% of FB users engage with the site daily, 45% several times a day
˃ 65% of FB users frequently or sometimes share, post, or comment
» Community connections
˃ 68% of FB users are there to see what friends and family are up to
˃ FB users friend family members (93%), friends from the past (like high school or
college classmates (87%), coworkers (53%), neighbors (36%)
(Social Media Update 2014, Pew Research Center, January 2015)
27. Facebook: Personal Profile
» Lock it down?
˃ Be EXTRA careful with privacy settings
˃ Friend only people you know
˃ Use lists to sort out close friends from acquaintances
˃ Use “View As” to see how your profile looks to others
˃ Edit your timeline
˃ Be careful with your ‘Likes’
28. Facebook: Campaign Page
» Set up a Campaign Page
˃ Customize your Facebook URL: www.facebook.com/yourcampaignhandle
˃ Polish your cover and profile photos
˃ Make yourself and your social media moguls Page Admins
˃ Post and comment “as your page”
˃ Create FB events for fundraisers and other events
˃ See: Government and Politics on Facebook
˃ See: Facebook for Business: Politics
30. Facebook: Advertising
» EdgeRank = Pay to play
» Facebook says its ads encourage donations.
˃ An experiment with two Senate campaigns reported at least a 200 percent
return on investment.
˃ But “some of the processes the company used are opaque.” (NYT)
» Targeting
˃ Choose audience by location, interests, age, gender
˃ Match with postal and email lists
˃ Custom Audiences
˃ Finding voters on Facebook (.pdf)
» Facebook Ads Product Guide (June 2014) (.pdf)
» Power Editor
˃ Plug-in tool for managing Facebook ad campaigns
˃ Create ads and sets of ads
˃ Bulk edit ads
˃ Define your audience
˃ Choose your payment structure - cost-per-click, cost-per-1K-impressions…
31. Facebook: Sidebar Ads
» Promote your page, website, event…
» The ad:
˃ Small image, headline, text
˃ Appears to the side of a user’s timeline
˃ Do not appear in mobile feeds
» Budgeting
˃ Set a daily budget for an estimated increase in page likes (e.g., $10/day for 11-43
likes)
˃ Schedule an end date
32. Facebook: Boosted Posts
» Boost one of your page’s posts
» The ad:
˃ Your post appears in a user’s timeline (including
mobile)
˃ Same size as normal posts
˃ Usually images with text or a link
» Budgeting
˃ Pay to “boost” a post for 1-7 days (e.g., $20 for
est. reach of 15,000-39,000)
33. Twitter » Narrower demographic
˃ 23% of online adults use Twitter
˃ Skews: male, young, well-off, college
educated, urban, ethnically diverse,
mobile
» Different kinds of activity
˃ 36% of Twitter users visit the site daily
(down from 46% in 2013)
˃ 91% of Twitter users are also on Facebook,
58% of Twitter users are also on Instagram
» Style
˃ More oriented towards news, breaking
events
˃ Real-time response, rapid shifts in
sentiment
(Social Media Update 2014, Pew Research Center, January 2015)
(News Use Across Social Media Platforms, Pew Research Center, November 2013)
34. Twitter
» Twitter Candidate Playbook
» Twitter Elections Handbook
» Advertise with promoted tweets
» Interact
˃ Respond to comments (@)
˃ RT support from others
˃ Set “office hours” or hold a Twitter town hall
35. See also: Vine
» Looping, 3-6 second
videos on Twitter
» Vine for Politicians
» Pro Tips for using Vine
36. Instagram
» Growing demographic
˃ 26% of online adults use Instagram, up from 17% in 2013
˃ Increasing use in all demographics
˃ Slight skews: young, female, urban/suburban, Hispanic, Black
» Activity
˃ 49% of Instagram users visit the site daily, 32% several times a day
˃ 94% of Instagram users are also on Facebook (parent company)
˃ 52% of Instagram users are also on Twitter
» Style
˃ Very visual, very mobile
˃ Photos and short videos (3-15 seconds)
˃ Some comments, but mostly hearts <3
˃ Difficult to share, re-post
(Social Media Update 2014, Pew Research Center, January 2015)
39. YouTube and Vimeo
» Great places to store video to embed elsewhere
» Just remember… good video is time-consuming to
produce.
» See: YouTube for Government
40. YouTube: Advertising
» YouTube is part of Google’s AdWords platform
» TrueView ads can appear on YouTube and other
Google Display Network sites
42. WordPress and Tumblr
» Instant mobile-friendly websites!
˃ Best Political WordPress themes of 2014
˃ More Best Political WordPress themes of 2014
˃ VoterContact has free political themes for WordPress
43. Email
» Actually pretty effective for fundraising
» But kind of annoying for recipients
» Tools
˃ MailChimp (free for less than 2,000 addresses)
˃ ActiveCampaign
˃ NationBuilder – connect your email list to social media accts
44. Fundraising tools and services
General
» Fundly
» GoFundMe
» DonorBox
» Fundraise.com
» Rally.org
» Stripe - online payment system
» PayPal (see PayPal for Political Campaigns)
Political
» Democracy.com
» Pyrix Political Fundraising
» ActBlue
˃ Must be “a Democrat or working for progressive causes”
˃ Local candidates from Pennsylvania will need a “merchant account”
˃ Existing accts include PA State Senate and U.S. Congress campaigns (Bob Casey, Joe
Sestak, Robert Prady, Chaka Fattah, Brendan Boyle, Mike Doyle, Matt Cartwright…)
45. Democracy.com
» Free candidate profile
» Fundraising with small
transaction fee (3.9%)
» Eligible candidates:
have filed to run for
office, have designated
a campaign treasurer
and bank account for
your campaign
» Verify identity via
credit card or driver’s
license
» Social media
integration