Obama can teach our politicians a social media lesson

David Swan
Tuesday, 07 June 2011 13:07

IT Industry - Strategy

As U.S. President Barack Obama re-launches his online marketing campaign ahead of the November elections, Australian politicians would be well advised to take his lead and learn to implement social media into their own campaigns, according to an internet marketing expert.

Paul Sprokkreeff says there are now over 10 million active Australian users on Facebook and it's estimated over one million using Twitter, but many Australian politicians are still struggling to effectively engage with voters through the services.

Mr Sprokkreeff, Managing Director at online marketing agency Web Profits, says of all Australian politicians, Kevin Rudd is using social media the most effectively, with close to one million Twitter followers.

'When Kevin Rudd has something to say, he has close to one million immediate listeners. While they might not always agree with what he has to say, he has that direct communication channel open and there is nobody near him in the Australian political landscape.'

'Prime Minister Julia Gillard had a slow start to adopting social media, but is now regularly tweeting and updating her 100,000 plus followers about what is happening. This compares to the Opposition leader Tony Abbott, who has tweeted once this month to his 33,507 followers.

'Ultimately, the aim of any politician is to garner as many votes as possible and online marketing and social media are highly effective in communicating with voters, particularly the younger generation.'

'Most of our politicians are failing to realise that social media is a great platform for two-way communication - where they can communicate directly with voters and find out public opinion, and where voters can raise their concerns directly with policymakers,' he says.

He says if Australian politicians are going to build up a network of fans and followers, they will need to give them regular quality updates, be genuine in all communication and engage with voters.

Alex Cleanthous, Head Online Strategist at Web Profits, who will closely monitor the Obama online campaign, said 'When it comes to successfully using Twitter and Facebook President Obama has showed the world how to do it.'

'In 2008, President Obama implemented one of the most powerful online marketing strategies in the history of the Internet. He raised more than $500 million and changed the way elections were won.'

Cleanthous said in 2008 President Obama had a presence on 16 different social media platforms, and promoted all of them on his website. In 2011 that number has been reduced to two, Facebook and Twitter, which reflects the growth and market share that these two websites have achieved in the last three years.

'If President Obama, with all the resources at his disposal, is only focusing on Facebook and Twitter, then why would you spend any of your own resources on anything else?'

He says President Obama's main Facebook page has more than 20 million fans. There are another 8 million followers on Twitter. He uses them both to share updates on his campaign through articles, commentary, YouTube videos and asks his fans for their input.

'Obama's strategy hasn't changed much since 2008 - build up a database, grow social media followers, encourage donations, build credibility and trust through ongoing and sincere communication.'

'Australian politicians could learn a lot by following his lead.'

He said that success online is the same in every market, even when running for President;

1.       Develop an effective website that drives action

2.       Drive visitors to your website using marketing and advertising

3.       Build a relationship with your prospects through email marketing & social media

4.       Expand your reach through mobile services