Holiday Spirit and Online Activism

Guest today on the Digital Politics podcast was Steve Daigneault, Vice President, M+R Strategic Services talking about challenges advocacy groups face raising money in tough economic times.  Steve emphasized that the most successful messages are those that are simple and seem relevant to the outside world as much as to the needs of the organization.  He also notes those advocates willing to take more chances with messaging and digital media are showing the most progress.

Steve understands grassroots organizing and particularly the power of email.  I do challenge him a bit on the definition of ‘volunteer’ and how advocacy groups are dealing with the social media world.

Check out this discussion with an experienced online strategist.

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Email Strategy

Digital Politics podcast this week features Ben Katz, CTO, Aristotle talking about best practices for email campaigns and how to maximize the impact of messages. Ben provides insights about SPAM filters, subject lines, and building email lists. He also emphasizes the importance of mixing up the kinds of emails sent —long form, short form, embedded video of the candidate– and the need to test messages to increase the likelihood that the target constituents will respond.

Listen to this interview with an industry insider.

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Voter Engagement

The Digital Politics podcast this week with Colin Delany, founder and editor of  e.politics, explores uses for Twitter and the hilarious spoof from Slate about the next Twitter…Colin has it posted on his site. We also discussed a report Nielsen released in April which shows that time spent on social networks surpassed time spent on email in February and the explosive growth of time spent viewing online video.  Politican and advocacy clients are asking about how to use all these tools to engage voters and supporters but there is still great uncertainty about who they might influence.  We say now is the time to experiment.

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Viral Growth of Social Nets

Podcast today with guest Michael Turk, VP of Industry Grassroots for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association starts with a discussion about naymz.com and how he “invited” hundreds of his contacts to join.  Other topics include trends in social net functionality and managing a presence on multiple social networks. Check out NYTimes article All You Need to Know to Tweet on Twitter which gets into some useful tips which Michael elaborates on.  Trend watch: Michael reports his 3 year old son is showing signs of wanting to start his own circle and is not exactly willing to join in the establish circle at his school. Time to start his own Facebook group?  Listen to the interview.

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The Art and Science of Targeting Voters

My guest today on the Digital Politics podcast was Matthew Dybwad, Senior Director of Internet Strategy, emotive LLC, a Virginia based Internet consulting firm. We talked about the panel Matthew moderated at the IPDI Politics Online Conference in DC this week on targeting voters and being smart about setting up databases and using the information to make better decisions about what messages individual voters should receive.  Segmentation is the name of the game but only if you have the ability to mine the data you have collected.  Matthew encourages campaigns to collect in any way possible, the names, addresses, emails, mobile phone numbers, and the means by which the contact was made.  Whether that info comes in on paper, electronically or over the phone, it all needs to go into one database.  Do most campaigns understand the need for good data management?  Expect to see more campaigns take advantage of voter segmentation the more user friendly these database tools become.

Listen to the interview.

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Future Campaigns Must be More Interactive and Voter-Driven

Washington, DC, January 22, 2009 – Results of a new national study among  3536 Americans revealed that there has been a permanent move from passive communications in political campaigns to on-demand information and relationships with candidates.

The E-Voter Institute surveys conducted by HCD Research revealed that in May 2008, 40% of potential voters viewed on-line videos about candidates. Results from a recent, post election survey released today indicated that 52% of respondents reported that they viewed on-line videos. In addition, there was a 35% increase in the number of women who reported that they watched the candidates’ videos.

Two-thirds of voters reported that they expected candidates to use email communications as part of their campaigns. Particularly striking is the growth of the unofficial campaign, with 45% of respondents reporting that they forwarded links or email about political issues to friends and family.

Furthermore, more than half of the respondents indicated that they received an email from friends or family about politics. For those who voted early, the official web site was almost as attention getting as a television or cable advertisement.

Download the report The Rise of On-Demand Political Campaigns: E-Voter Institute 2008 Post-Election Findings. E-Voter Institute Post-Election-Findings-01-22-09

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White House via Web

Reporters are starting to put together the pieces to better explain the impact of the Internet on politics and advocacy. In a business section article today White House via Web by Jonathan Sidener in the San Diego Union-Tribune, I am quoted talking about the expectations of voters.  Andrew Rasiej reveals that his 82 year old father asked if you can send email to more than one person.

Read the entire article.

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Targeting Women Voters

E-Voter Institute Report looks more specifically at the women who represented 70% of the group of responders to the 3rd Annual Survey of Voter Expectations.

Comparisons between genders on Internet activity, political activism, and interest in news sources is augmented by details about the women by age, membership in social networks, and party affiliation.  Surveys conducted with the support of HCD Research, with analysis from Chris Borick, Muhlenberg College.

Of those women 18-24, 92% use email, 85% expect candidates to have a web site, and 68% expect candidates to post their television ads on the official site.

Of those women 55-64, 96% use email, 86% expect candidates to have a web site, and 64% expect candidates to post their television ads on the official site.

Surprised at how similar the expectations are regardless of age?

Looking at party affiliation, of women self-identified as Democrats, 94% use email, 89% expect candidates to have a web site, and 73% forward links  and email to friends and family.  Of those women self-identified as Republicans, 94% use email, 87% expect candidates to have a web site, and 73% forward links to friends and family.

Tough to tell the difference.

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Harnessing the Power of Social Networks: Campaign 2008 Taps Into the Virtual Grid

Social Network Grid

Report from E-Voter Institute looks closely at the 44% of the survey respondents from the 3rd Annual Survey of Voter Expectations who use online social networks.  Compared to average voters, social networkers are 78% more likely to click on an online political ad, 56% more likely to read a political blog and 53% more likely to submit an email in order to receive information from a candidate.

A nearly equal number of active social network members (63%) say that television and cable ads are as effective as the official candidate web site (62%) to get their attention.  The most active social net members tend to use traditional media significantly less than the average voter.

Included in this study are details by age, gender, party affiliation and level of political activism of these social networkers.  Surveys conducted with the support of HCD Research, with analysis from Chris Borick, Muhlenberg College.

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