Obama's Online Marketing Campaign

| December 2009 Posted in Business |

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I have thought about this for a long time, and now that we are coming up on the one year mark of Obama as our Nations President I am convinced that the millions of dollars he spent during and prior to campaigning and the election on social media and web based ads were by far the most effective dollars he could have spent.

Quick Facts

Did you know that Obama spent millions advertising online?

$7.5 Million advertising on Google
$1.5 Million advertising on Yahoo!
$643,000 advertising on Facebook

And millions more on other networks like;

Centro
Advertising.com
Pulse 360

Where did Obama build his presence?

Facebook, 6.5 million supporters
Twitter, 1.9 million followers
MySpace, 1.8 million friends
YouTube, 175,000 channel subscribers & 21.9 million channel viewers
Also uses eMail Marketing
And SMS text communication

See for yourself

As you can see from the facts and links above, Obama has made himself known. Sure, he probably has never used any of these platforms or sites himself, but the tens of thousands of dollars he spends to have others manage and promote him and his causes have been very successful. I, as a consultant would never encourage my clients to pay someone else to promote their brand or cause. I would recommend that they promote themselves, or find an employee that is as passionate about the business or brand as they are to run the media campaigns. This is what Obama has done. He has connected with people like him, who have the same visions and goals to manage and promote his presence in the world of the web. I am sure he pays them well too, which never hurts!

What I believe lead to the overall success of Obama’s online campaigns were his consistency. Or the consistency of those who manage his online brand.

Why I think this consistency is so important is based on the natural expectations of people. When someone choses to subscribe to your blog, become a fan of you Facebook Fan Page, follow you on Twitter and linkup with you on Linkedin, its because they are interested in what you have to offer and possible because they are interested in you. These new friends and followers become the life blood of your online presence. It is impossible to be successful at building a Social Media presence without other people. Social Media is about reaching out and networking with people you can help or that help you.

Obama is consistent, he offers new content each week, he keeps his followers informed and involved. People engage because they like what you have to offer. When you keep them engaged you keep them as a friend and a follower. But you not only keep them, you keep their friends and followers.

I have said it before, social media is changing things. It is changing the way we do everything. It has even become a platform for running for President of the United States. Do I think that Obama won because he reached out to millions of voters through media channels that capture millions of peoples attention for hours upon hours everyday, no, but it certainly did not hurt his cause. I think that what won Obama the election was his ability to connect with the one, to connect with the individual and make them feel important and as if his message was for them!

Here is the key, reach out to millions of people through media channels that capture millions of peoples attention for hours upon hours everyday! Be sure to something valuable and be consistent.