Internet Marketing

Pay Per Click Marketing Strategy and Political Candidates

 

The 2008 presidential race is already starting to heat up. So I wasn't surprised when attending my local so social (an after hours business group), I was approached by a friend who asked, what role did I think the internet and emerging technologies will play in the upcoming presidential campaign.

I assume the reason he posed this question to me was because I'm an Internet Marketing strategist and after a cocktail or two, or three, or even four, he failed to make the distinction between a online marketing strategist and an online campaign strategist. On the way home that evening, I began to wonder what online campaign strategists would actually do, and what kind of impact they could make on the campaign itself.

I do remember, in the 2004 election, we saw White House hopefuls harness the web to both gain supporters and fill campaign coffers. But I can't help but believe that next year's election will undoubtedly see web-based campaigning on a far greater scale. The internet, it would seem, is ushering in a new standard in the world of political campaigning.

We, as voters, seem to be more and more often directed by the news media and the politicians themselves to the Internet for our up-to-the minute political information. So the question becomes: How can/should politicians be leveraging the web to attract supporters, and what else can they use the web for? As I finally turned into my driveway, I recalled some of my past work with social networks. And oh how people like weighing in on emotionally charged issues such as politics. It's not just about the candidates, but about the issues surrounding campaigns and what they mean for the Nation. And today, I believe our desire for a two-way dialogue can play into the hands of the politicians.

So I made my way into my office and sat down and started surfing for information on the tools available for politicians to help with their online campaigns. I found that the tools used widely in and throughout campaigns are as follows:

Email communication:
Email can be used in so many ways. So let's look beyond the obvious and all the way to data acquisition and it's multiple uses. Myself, as well as any marketing strategist, would imagine that any campaign strategist already understands what data acquisition encompasses. I personally feel emails are the most important acquisition type. Attributes of the internet can help build supporter bases far more cheaply and more quickly than some of the more traditional forms of offline data gathering.

Forums:
Forums are a great platform for two-way conversations and they create a sense of involvement for campaign supporters. Old school politicians may fear the loss of editorial control that most forums bring about. But for forward-thinking politicians, forums can provide a source of fresh content and a community environment in which supporters can meet and exchange views.

Blogs:
Blogs can lend a highly personal touch to campaigning strategies. And they help address up-to-the-minute campaigning issues in a cost-effective, more informal, and conversational way.

Canvassing for donations:
The web not only provides a tool for communicating campaigning information, but also serves as a cost effective way for politicians to build campaign war chests.

After a quick review, it appears that most politicians will be using a combination of the tools mentioned above as part of their 2008 campaigns.
However, I did find one area that I believe politicians should put more focus on for the 2008 election.

 

I wasn't able to find any information on politicians using tactical pay-per-click strategies. I have used and seen it used quite effectively. It can have a devastating effect, one which can literally neutralize even the most negative ad campaigns very quickly and easily.

It would be foolish for a politician not to add pay-per-click to the mix. Especially if the last two presidential campaigns is any indication of what's to come in 2008.

A brief look through the listings on the major pay-per-click networks reveals there's not much action yet from the political hopefuls. I realize it's still quite early in the campaigns. But I expect in the next few months it will begin to ramp up and take off quickly. If the politicians and their campaign managers fully understood what Pay-per-click can provide I think we'd be seeing quite a bit more action in the networks already.

Pay-per-click provides extensive opportunities for brand building and for building associations with hot-button topics.

Important note:
The immediacy of pay-per-click makes building these associations easier than ever before and enables politicians to extend their reach well beyond the confines of their websites.

Build valuable associations
As politicians canvas on particular topics, their pay-per-click campaigns should include keywords that directly relate to those particular topics. Whether it's environmental, economic, or immigration related campaigning, carefully planned pay-per-click strategies can help to quickly build valuable associations.

This more tactical approach to pay-per-click can be used to address both positive and negative topics. Which gives politicians a higher degree of control in a media landscape where control is fastly becoming a rare commodity.

Counteract negative news
Keep in mind that PPC can be deployed very quickly so therefore it can be used to head off negative news as it breaking in mainstream media or cross Blogs and forums. Let's suppose bloggers begin to negatively report a comment made by a politician. The campaign staff could immediately launch a reactive PPC campaign. Directing the voters and bloggers to a micro website that's been created to deal with this issue. Deployed this way PPC can provide politicians with a new level of rapid damage control.

Capitalize on positive news
Just the same way that PPC was used to counteract negative news stories it can be used to piggyback positive political news stories. For example, there may be online news sources detailing a late breaking story or poll highlighting the candidates lead on a specific topic. His staff could create tactical dedicated landing pages pointing to the positive news articles and provide voters with further information. This more tactical approach to PPC can help candidates drive better category ownership and, if used correctly, can help candidates get out in front of their competitors on a given topic. Immediacy and flexibility are the key elements here. Broadcasters and newspapers are less effective when it comes to candidates quickly gaining visibility around very specific subjects, such as those required when countering negative news stories or maximizing opportunities surrounding positive news stories. That is where PPC can come in.

Support other media
A third way PPC can be used beyond pure acquisition is to support political campaigns being run across other media, be it TV, press, radio or outdoor advertising. Voters, it would seem, are often remembering the topics and not the Candidate's names. Candidates and there campaign managers not bidding on these topics through PPC campaigns are missing a trick and simply not making the most of their political investment across other channels.

Blogs are a cost effective way to address this issue. And as such, blogging and tactical pay-per-click campaigns should be closely integrated.

One of the areas where political campaigning significantly differs from traditional marketing is that if a politician achieves even 99 percent of his objective -- namely, to win -- even still he has failed. As a result, today's politicians know that by not embracing the internet and other emerging mediums they may be left out in the cold.

Whether embracing blogs, a forum, tactical pay-per-click ads, or even a mobile campaign, politicians are increasingly thinking outside the box. As people go to the voting booths next year to cast their ballots, the ultimate winners will be revealed.

 

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