The Politicos Enter the Online Marketing Realm

Last summer I wrote an article called "The Politicos Still Don't Get It" that talked about how many political consultants and campaign managers just did not grasp the full potential of marketing their candidates online. It looks like the 2008 Presidential candidates and their advisors are finally starting to understand the need to have good online reach.

The Washington Post reports:

That shows some great progression, especially since voters have been turning to the Internet for more information on candidates and their campaigns for years anyway. While Howard Dean did an excellent job of utilizing the grass-roots viral marketing potential of the Internet in his 2004 run for the Democratic nomination, it wasn't enough to keep him on track after the scream heard round the world.

We've come a long way since I first blogged about the potential impact of paid search advertising on political campaigns back in 2004. In those days, political campaign advisors were shocked to find out that pay per click even existed. From that article:

These days, paid search is part of the game...but the real focus is on social media marketing.

I've got to say, it's refreshing to see that a political advisor knows that true social media marketing extends beyond "let's get Dugg!"

In fact, they seem to grasp that social media isn't simply about social bookmarking sites. Hilary Clinton posed a question about health care to Americans via Yahoo! Answers and received more than 24,000 responses in less than 24 hours. John McCain asked about reducing wasteful government spending and received more than 16,000 responses.

It doesn't stop there however...

Already, people are using Yahoo's Group service, which connects people via e-mail and message boards, to talk about the race. So far, more than 700 groups formed around next year's election. In addition, the company has recently launched You Witness News, an offering that allows users to upload their own video clips from events around the country to the site.

Candidates are also launching political blogs, podcasts, YouTube Channels and even interactive online games. (Anyone up for seeing John McCain playing a cowboy out to shoot all the bad guys in Washington or Hilary Clinton desperately balancing bed pans and emesis basins as she races around a hospital cutting costs in a push toward socialized medicine?)

In fact, The Washington Post reported last fall that political parties are way behind traditional companies in terms of taking advantage of the marketing power of the Internet.

Harrah's Casino had the e-mail addresses of 28 million Americans in 2005, far outstripping the databanks of both political parties.

With Internet advertising often offering far better ROI numbers than more traditional forms of marketing, it will be interesting to see how the candidates make use of their online dollars in the campaigning leading up to the November 2008 election.