“Who was India’s first prime minister? “, a mother asked her 8 year old son who did not know the answer. But the son knew “NaMo” and “Trump” as the current leaders of India and Unites States of America. The son could not recall the full name of both these prominent leaders. Digital literacy has enabled to trigger the current affairs knowledge in the youth of the world. The reason being the penetration of politics into the sphere of digital marketing thus giving rise to the Dawn of Digital Marketing in Politics.

In developing nations like India, this is a critical tool considering that by 2021 we would have over 700 million internet users in the country. Digital marketing would eventually decide who the next prime minister would be. In US alone, it is estimated that by 2020, a whopping $ 3.2 billion would be spent on US digital political ad spend. Political digital marketing also would aid in getting more citizen to cast their vote thus increasing their responsibility towards the country.

Digital Political Campaigns around the world

 Had it not been for internet, Barack Obama would not have been a nominee nor the President of the United States of America. The use of digital marketing helps reduce the barriers to entry in politics. One may not need a political lineage to enter, using digital skills there is a high probability to enter and sustain in the political framework. The Obama campaign page underwent many rounds of testing and optimization. This was led by Dan Siroker, the Director of Analytics for the Obama Campaign. Various testing were done to optimize the landing page by using various videos and images. The sign up button underwent 4 design variations that could enable more digital traffic to the sign up page. This also led to higher donation and fund raising for the campaign.

A lot of strategic campaign and advertising placement in line with the media aperture were triggered by the data that was gathered through the tools of digital marketing. Thus apart from creating a high number of impressions and reach (Fid ratio), digital marketing also enabled in strategizing and optimizing the campaign budget spend. Considering the success of the 2007 Obama campaign, in 2012 content marketing (Obama for America) was the core enabler of version 2 of the digital marketing campaign. There were over 400 A/B tests of the web pages that were conducted.

In India, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has been a great patron of social media and digital marketing tools to reach the youth of the country. For the 2014 general elections, he used his digital presence exhaustively. He wanted to target the 150 million first time voters of the country. The brand essence of “Hindutva” was further connected to “Developed Hindutva”. Along with his team, they analyzed various Indian internet users and generated key insights that people were not loyal to a political party but wanted a leader that would drive the economy and country on the pathway of growth. Social media campaigns such as “ Ab ki baar modi Sarkar”, “ Ache din aane wale hain” & “ Janta maaf nahin karegi” were made viral on the net.

Narendra Modi’s presence on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Google + since 2009 helped him have a larger audience. The development work carried out in Gujrat when he was the Chief Minister were communicated effectively and on a periodic basis using social digital platforms. Campaigns were uniform across all mediums thus building a clear brand personality in “NaMo”. The major advantage of digital media is that it is a two way communication process. His replied to the various comments on the digital platform which helped develop credibility to his intent to be connected with the masses. Narendra Modi’s digital marketing team always monitored the internet and correct measures were taken to wade off negative marketing done by competitors. In such situations content marketing is a prime mover for the balance to sway back towards you.

Tools and trends for online political marketing

Google trends is an important tool that aids in target messaging. Analyzing the areas where the campaign has not spread and where electronic word of mouth (eWOM) was low, triggered more targeted ad spends. Online footprints are not only used to track the user but aids in decision making for the volume, budget and type of advertising that has to be done. This enables hyperlocal targeting thus providing a more effective conversion rate in the form of votes. Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and local websites are use as digital touch points to push targeted messages. Such online campaigns using google trends are aimed at driving traffic to the landing page and thus having a higher conversion rate optimization (CRO). Digital tools are also available to keep a watch on rival candidates and to analyze their strategies. Their engagement can be monitored. It is an open, level playing field.

Facebook’s ad manager would facilitate in knowing the potential target audience in a given geography based on factors such as gender, age, interests and other demographic features. This data would optimize the organic marketing. However usage of Google Ad words and Facebook ad spends would increase penetration and also improve the recall in the minds of the voters. Traditionally political parties used to thrive on the support of famous celebrities and mass influencers. This would encourage the spread of word of mouth marketing.  Considering the seepage of campaigns into the digital world, social media influencers are substitutes of such celebrities, though not as famous but not as expensive too. They are effective and subtly aid in creating buzz marketing for a political party and its candidate.

Final Views

We must always remember that a good product is the backbone of a good brand. Thus digital marketing is just a medium to reach the end customer, but the content and the product is the true essence and only if credible will the communication be effective. Thus a true leader shall have a backing of an effective digital marketing team.

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