• Why Didn’t Facebook Help Me Win?

    Posted on June 22 2010 by Megan Jackson in Online Strategy with 0 comments

    In the wake of primary elections nationwide, candidates are asking themselves why their social media presence didn’t provide the silver bullet for them that it did for Barack Obama in 2008 and Scott Brown in early 2010. The winner of the US Senate Primary in Nevada and the opportunity to face Harry Reid in the fall left a field of candidates with bigger and shinier social networks wondering why more fans, more ads and more messages didn’t catapult them to victory.

    I had more friends…

    In late 2009, Sue Lowden emerged as the front runner, and the campaign invested large amounts of resources into looking like a front runner with a fancy website, positive television and a substantial lead in fans on Facebook. On June 8th Sue Lowden, with more than a 2,000 fan lead, found herself behind by almost 14% at the end of election night.

    A fan is very different from a voter. Social network fans are all there for different reasons, but there are only three reasons that benefit a campaign: donations, volunteering or voting, but, more often than not, fans are not in a position to provide any of the three. On a US Senate race, especially one for the opportunity to take out Harry Reid, the Lowden campaign attracted national goodwill and support that obviously couldn’t translate to votes on Election Day.

    This doesn’t mean Facebook pages are useless for a campaign. It just means that campaigns need to keep the number of fans in perspective and don’t forget that a majority of fans will not be able to translate to money, volunteers or votes because of sheer logistical challenges. Campaigns need to work on targeting fans as close to the district as possible, ask supporters for what they need and remember that it is possible to be beaten by candidates with much smaller web presences but more powerful overall campaigns.

    I used Facebook ads…

    Chad Christensen used Facebook ads as a last ditch effort to gain some traction in a campaign that was all but over, but he did discover one exciting trend. The “Dump Reid Truck” had the potential of going viral on Facebook, but when the ad buy ran out, so did the excitement. Other campaign specific ads ran the last few weeks of the campaign, but were quickly outbid by candidates with more money and more at stake.

    Not all impressions are created equal. Facebook ads are a very quick and cost effective way to dramatically increase impressions within a targeted audience, but campaigns need to remember that an ad impression doesn’t carry as much power as other types of impressions, such as television, radio, direct mail, etc.

    Facebook ads come in many shapes and sizes, but if clicks are your goal, then creativity is a must. Television ads give viewers two choices: change the channel or listen to the ad. Online ads don’t have that option. The ad creator needs to set the tone which will determine if viewers just let it pass them by or if they stop to take a look.

    I posted more messages…

    Danny Tarkanian and team used social networks for a very early, very aggressive push for money and volunteers. Not one day would go by without multiple messages reminding early fans of the importance of giving money and volunteering. About this time, I felt the need to hit that small, conveniently placed word on the right side of each comment in my news feed – hide.

    Online, there is a fine line between talking too much and not enough. Tarkanian, early on, posted for the sake of posting, and messages felt very repetitive. Other campaigns use social networks as a campaign bulletin board for posting links and news stories they want to use but aren’t sure how. As the campaign heated up and there was more “meat” to talk about, candidates post a wider variety of messages in faster succession, causing fans to reach overload.

    Social networks provide campaigns a great opportunity to share more of the day to day news with fans and supporters, but it’s easy to start treating them like they, too, live and breathe the campaign. Online messages need to be selected and posted with as much care as they are given in any other area of the campaign. Before you post, take a deep breath and ask yourself if this message is worth all of your future messages being hidden by an overwhelmed supporter.

    Every campaign media brings a valuable piece to a successful campaign, but you cannot win on one alone. Facebook may feel like the ultimate campaign tool, but it cannot replace tried and true campaign tactics. Candidates with no or little social network presence are continuing to win. There is no silver bullet for campaigns, only hard work and a lot of trial and error.

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