Social media has influenced our way of life, how we interact and our advertising strategies. According to Emarketer, in 2016 more than 80% of social network users interacted with social media through their phones, and it comes as no surprise given that we use social media for everything… even for politics.
Social media for shaping a political profile
No politician who wants to keep being one can disregard the impact of social media on popularity. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram give politicians the opportunity to shape their public image and convey a sense of transparency to users. And nowadays you better own it and avoid hiding any shady business, because nothing can stay out of the public eye for too long. Voters can now more than ever hold politicians accountable for their wrongdoings.
Media users and politics
Nowadays, to gain voters, politicians can’t just focus on opinion, government projects and tax reduction plans because it doesn’t attract the attention of a user scrolling down on Facebook or Twitter.
To grab their attention, then, political candidates have resorted to dynamic and fresh material, such as videos, to communicate their government plans and encourage the target audience to vote. This also gives them the chance to have a modern image that appeals to younger audiences. For maintaining it they have to remain active, commenting and interacting with followers.
A sense of humor in politics
Interchanging sober comments with a funny joke can go a long way with undecided voters. Of course, professionalism is key, but the new approach aims at a personalized exchange with followers, a more humanized dynamic. For instance, Peña Nieto, the Mexican president, changed up his serious Twitter profile by writing a funny comment on Twitter: ‘To House of Cards fans, I’m sorry, I can’t give any details on the third season’. In this way, he surprised his followers with a new approach to gain voters.
Advertising through social media
Youtube has become a means for advertising political campaigns without spending money on advertising space on TV or the radio. This saves up millions of dollars, because a digital ad costs a fraction of the price of traditional advertising.
A politician who recognized the power of social media was President Trump. He exploited different social networks for fundraising his political campaign with Donate buttons. One way to do so involved gauging the voters’ interests on social media to target them with specific content. For instance, if you were a feminist who actively demonstrated it on Facebook, Trump’s ads would mention how he would benefit women’s rights when elected.
Another politician who boosted his political image and gained voters through social media was Obama. He was a pacesetter in social media political advertising. Through social networks he went from an unknown political candidate to a social media celebrity. This won him the 2008 elections.
The social media revolution
- USA
Trump invested more on social media than on any other media. This is considered to be one of the key factors for his triumph over Clinton. Facebook has the advantage of providing data on what users like and dislike. In this way, advertisement can be targeted according to personal preferences.
Users interact with posts and the controversial ones even get the earned media, that is, free press coverage. Basically, Trump said something controversial on Facebook or Twitter and two hours later, news channels and talk shows were spreading the word, whether it was with positive or negative remarks, Trump didn’t mind because he’s a believer in the saying “all press is good press”.
- Latin America
Although in the US there was a clear and evident correlation between social media advertising investment and the number of votes, this remains uncertain for Latin America. Candidates do invest in social media advertising. However, the results aren’t always directly proportional.
It didn’t always gain them the popularity they hoped and it even affected them negatively. Users would disregard their marketing strategies due to the lack of originality and the inadequate adaptation to a completely dissimilar society.
But what can we do? It’s clear that Latin-American users do interact with social media, more so than any other users in the world: according to Sprout Social, brands received an average of 5444 messages per year from Latin America, whereas the average in the rest of the world is 2747.
The influence of social media in politics is undeniable and start-up marketing businesses can reap the results of a good marketing strategy with targeted advertising.
We still have a lot to perfect, but it’s clear that politics has been redefined and every click, every share, every like can have a direct impact on our government. Do we realize the power we hold in our hands?
