How Politicians Are Using Digital
Marketing To Improve Exposure
In the past few years, the relationship between political campaigning and digital marketing have become inseparable.
Politicians and political parties are increasingly dependent on digital platforms to help connect with the voters, raise funds for parties, engage their constituencies and carry out many other important functions.
Whether you look at President Trump in the USA or Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, experts have looked at how these entities took help from digital advertising and marketing to come to power and spread their messages.
In this article, we are going to examine the role of digital marketing and political campaigns. We look at the major platforms politicians are using to increase their political appeal and mileage.
Advantages of using Digital Technology for Political CampaigningÂ
The huge investments, the elaborate strategies and expert teams show that digital is highly advantageous for political parties. In this section, we look at some of the major advantages of digital technology and marketing.
Increase in Reach and Exposure
Politics is all about reaching out to the largest possible audiences and communicating your messages with them. In the past few years, the more rallies and campaigns a politician attends, the more are the chances of success. With increasing costs, and hoardings becoming too expensive, digital marketing has emerged as a viable and potent mechanism for politicians.
High Penetration in different Geographies
One of the major reasons digital marketing works for politics is because it has enormous reach and spread. With smartphones and internet prices becoming cheaper every day, digital amplification is efficient, productive and affordable. It also allows reaching people of even the lowest strata and getting your messaging to them.
Acts as a source of Record Keeping
Digital also allows for information, content, videos and speeches to be viewed as records. In other words, you can store everything in a publicly accessible domain for an infinite period. This helps in building credibility and adding value to what you said or mentioned just once, over a long time.
The Role of Data Technology in Politics
If there is one area of digital, which has influenced politics in a major way; it has to be the role of data. Political parties are engaging with Big Data and Data Management on a never-before scale. Everything from organizing WhatsApp groups to voter dissemination and constituency studies, everything is being done with Data.
Political parties are working with data companies or even setting up their Data Analysis teams internally. Political parties are using data and analytics to study:
- Voter election patterns and cycles
- Social media and digital preferences
- Search patterns on search engines
- Financial data and spending
- Tracking mobile penetration and communication
The collection of data is not just limited to online communication. It also allows for offline data gathering and utilizing the same for online targeting and communication. For example, if you attend a rally, a representative is very likely to take your information like phone number, email id and so on and use the same to send you constant updates and communications.
Exploring the Relationship between Social Media and PoliticsÂ
No other area has evoked criticism and study, as has the relationship between social media and politics. In recent years, platforms like Facebook and Twitter have increasingly come under the radar from lawmakers and opposing politicians.
It has been alleged that these platforms have influenced public opinion in a major way favoring certain political outfits and ideologies. While criticisms are running thick and fast in either direction, what is certain is that they are very powerful in spreading the word of political parties and representatives.
Politicians and parties spend massive amounts (to the tune of billions of dollars) on social media for reach, exposure and branding. They have realized that it is one of the most important ways of influencing the people and spreading narratives, which are favorable for political interest.
The Final Word
While most agencies can just offer social media services of a political nature, the big agencies have set up internal teams to design and plan elaborate digital campaigns, presentations, virtual rallies and utilize data effectively.
Political marketing on digital platforms is one of the biggest changes, which has changed the way politics is done and the way politics is perceived. If you wish to know more about how digital platforms can be used for political marketing, please visit digitrio.com.sg/political-marketing.
