In the age of the internet, political parties are attempting to utilize the power of social media and the internet to run their campaigns and help them get elected into office. In some countries, this has even led to parties creating presidential candidates that people can elect online rather than voting in real life, as well as parties creating specific government positions to be filled by an internet-based vote in addition to a real life vote. Let’s take a look at how this works, as well as how it helps political parties achieve success.
How does an online campaign help political parties?
Because online political campaigns have less overhead than traditional campaign methods, such as television or radio ads, political parties can spend less money to attract more voters. This means that the same amount of money will go further in an online campaign. The internet also offers campaigners more information about voters because they typically fill out a form before signing up for e-mail updates, so it is easier to find out about their interests. And, with email now being standard for everyone who has access to a computer or smartphone, campaigners can easily reach their target audience. Additionally, the internet offers many opportunities for marketing campaigns because it is such a popular topic of discussion nowadays.
With this list we see that there are many ways in which an online campaign helps political parties.
Why Do They Want To Run An Online Campaign?
Campaign managers face a lot of challenges when trying to reach voters. Political parties run traditional campaigns with newspaper ads, TV commercials, door-to-door canvassing and leafleting. But they have been working hard to engage voters on social media channels by sending sponsored messages to supporters through mobile phones, websites or e-mail. Political campaign managers are trying to make campaigning easier for themselves by campaigning online in order to cut down on expenses like printing materials or broadcasting commercials. Running an online campaign is cost effective for political parties because it gives them a chance to advertise quickly without having to spend as much money as it would be if they were to run a traditional campaign. They can also target specific audiences since the internet allows you with the ability of doing targeted marketing.
What Are Facebook and Twitter Doing To Help Political Parties?
Facebook, the leading social media company, launched Facebook campaigns in 2006 which were given a more prominent position on users' homepages. This feature allowed advertisers to promote posts from their own Facebook pages as well as advertise on other businesses' profiles and pages. On Twitter, businesses can advertise on others' tweets to boost their product reach by charging to be placed at the top of a Tweet for 24 hours or reaching out to individual users.
Social media sites are incredible resources for political parties looking to connect with their audience online. They provide interactive ways for people with different viewpoints to have conversations about politics without ever speaking a word, making it easier than ever before for politicians to learn what matters most to citizens across the world
But Is It Working For Them?
In any election campaign, a political party needs to win votes. To do this they need two things: they need to get the word out to as many people as possible and they need to persuade people that their idea is the best option. From knocking on doors, talking to neighbours, hanging banners outside of polling stations on election day, parties have long been reliant on traditional tactics for winning votes. There has also always been an online element with sites set up to host debates or track election campaigns with the evidence from focus groups inputting into tactics used by teams. This isn't all new but the role of digital communications has increased massively in recent years thanks in part due to social media sites like Facebook or Twitter which have become an essential tool for communicating with potential voters across the country.
