The importance of internet activism for politicians and political parties

by Guna Nadar - 12/8/2015 2506 Views

Social media has been playing a crucial role for political parties to reach out for the voters, inspire them and fight better for their candidature

Most political parties are already making more intensive use of blogs, social networks, RSS Feeds and other tools to draw attention to campaigns. A good online campaign is far more profitable than a good offline one. As opposed to going door to door, you reach the inbox and news feed on individual voters. Strategic planning and content marketed over social media doesn’t have a better alternative in the present times. It is necessary that politicians and political parties today invest in professional web developers, designers, social networking marketers and applications like Hootsuite to optimize their presence on the web. Ofcourse, the old fashioned ‘shoe leather and elbow grease’ is still necessary, social media can right compliment the campaign. Asking people to follow your Facebook and Twitter pages and profiles is a great way to find out what people think about your standing and how they expect things to turn out.

Communication technologies like web, emails, podcasts and social messages enable faster communication to deliver the message to a larger audience. Internet has also been a great medium for fund raising, volunteering, lobbying, organizing and community building. Another big advantage with social campaigns is the low cost but efficient means to mobilize voters and inspire participation. Social media especially has been highly successful with reaching out to the young voters and create a lasting loyalty.

According to top analysts across the globe, the effectiveness of the traditional television and newspaper advertisements are already diminishing. Online tools for political campaigns offer means of direct messaging to specific audience groups and even individuals. These will include podcasts that feature downloading messages from candidates and use video advertisements to encourage peer-to-peer distribution via email chains. So, how to ensure that you are heard?

Develop a narrative

The narrative of a campaign is one of the top priorities of political parties. It should suggest the story behind the candidate, his personality, his beliefs, his work in the past and any other thing that makes him worthy of a vote.

Social marketing

Social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are highly effective tools to raise awareness about the worth of a political party, the issues it is trying to address, encourage voters and promoting their candidates. Social media platforms are primarily used by the young mass, making it an even more crucial part of the whole process. All top world leaders are ensuring that they are heard on social networks, regardless of the things they talk about. Social media engages a more humane communication between the candidate and the potential voters.

Negative campaigning

Winning, be it in election or a game of football, require getting more votes/score than your competitor. Well, there are two ways to this end. The first is to bring the good things about your party/candidate into the limelight and secondly, talk more about the bad things that the opposition/competitor does. Negative campaigning is a popular tool in political marketing to convince voters not to cast in favor of your competitor but give the opportunity to your party. Internet and its tools like videos, images, news, etc can be a useful tool to this comparative campaigning.

Direct mails

While most political parties still rely on door to door visits before a campaign, direct mailers can help boost the success of the same. Mailers can include more information and links about the party/candidate than a two minute conversation or a ride through the streets.

Politics today has come of age, and the failure to improvise on online campaigns can quite likely spell the doom for your candidature.

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SEO News

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politician,political parties,political

About Guna Nadar

Brief Info about Guna Nadar +

I mostly write technical aspects and not much into creative writing. For the past decade I worked along with top notch SEO & Internet Marketing professionals which naturally lured me into the world of Search Engines. When I am not writing I read from comics to philosophy.Antiques, Fishing, hunting are my passions. Currently I am working on Google Penalty protection and .... more info about the author