Political Campaigns by Social Media: Biggest Asset of Politicians in the Modern World
The rise of Information Technology has revolutionized the concept of political campaigns globally. The massive outreach which the social media giants provide to the election campaigns is the biggest reason for their popularity in modern-day elections.
Young voters are likely to spend their time scrolling their newsfeeds on Facebook and Twitter instead of attending political rallies.
This drives the need for an inclusive social media strategy that attracts more and more voters to your political campaign.
In the recent US Presidential elections, the importance of social media was evident as both the candidates counted heavily on it.
Importance of Social Media in Political Campaigns: Instruments for Mass Communication
Social media has also emerged as an absolute authority for news circulation in modern-day journalism, where people do not like to be glued to the traditional media for long.
These political communication regimes force aspiring politicians to become active on social media to manage their reputation and counter the propaganda against them.
The importance of social media can never be ruled out from the election campaigns, considering the results it drove from the targeted campaigns in the recent past.
In the 2016 presidential elections, a few media outlets supported Donald Trump. Had it been about the traditional media, Trump would have lost the presidential elections by a large margin.
However, his campaign management team counted on the importance of social media and used it as the sole single source to the campaign.
And the result was conclusive. Trump won the presidency by a large margin, despite the opposition of the traditional media channels.
The transition from traditional media to social media is not sudden. Social media became the tool of politicians across the globe in the last decade. But the over-reliance on social media was seen only recently, since the 2016 presidential elections in the US.
Take Your Opposition by the Horns: Develop a Vibrant Social Media Campaign
However, this online boom of social media has also introduced fake news regimes where politicians try to tarnish the reputation of their rivals and overly enhance their own.
So, all in all, candidates need to promote their political campaigns on social media and tackle the smear campaigns against them in a timely manner.
Social media is such a robust platform that it could help politicians spread their message to the masses in no time.
Political donors also look on social media to invest their money in the best candidate. So, for winning big political donations, you need to understand the importance of social media to win big donations to run your political campaigns.
Consider the example of Trump reaching out to the mob in executing the January 6 attacks on Congress. Social media giants instantly banned him from their platforms, considering the damage he could do from the sites.
This manifests that politicians need this new form of media to maximize their opportunities.
Social Media has emerged as the biggest tool to advocate your ticket as a candidate seeking to win public office
Reinforcement of Campaign Messages: Social Media is the King
The reinforcement of the message is the easiest way to win voters in any election. Political campaigns do not manage a single social media profile to promote their campaign.
In fact, many politicians run multiple pages sharing the same message from different profiles, hence increasing their credibility over time.
The placement of political ads on social media also increases the opportunity for political candidates to win the elections.
Those who do not incorporate a thoughtful social media strategy in their political campaigns end up on the losing side in today's world.
There are countless examples in this regard. Biden won the presidential elections from Minnesota, but Democrats lost the State Senate to Republicans.
Upon analyzing, it is safer to say that many states' Democratic Senate contestants never considered social media a viable platform.
In contrast, their Republican counterparts left no stone unturned in forming a digital campaign, and the election result is in front of everybody.
Final Thoughts
Political campaign fundraising is perhaps the most crucial strategy for any politician. Political funding is the candidate's critical possession in the election campaign.
And social media plays a crucial role in this fundraising. It is such a powerful tool that despite facing a ban from Facebook, Trump's PAC is still collecting big funds through Facebook ads. These funds then help politicians catalyze their campaigns both online and offline.
The gap between social media and the traditional campaign method is even more evident in the eastern countries, where many politicians don't even know the magic social media campaigns can do to their elections.
Almost four billion people use social media all over the world. No country in the world has people who do not rely on social media for political news.
So, this is a win-win strategy for a social media political campaign that translates content consumers into voters.
The importance of social media in political campaigns can also be analyzed because these platforms are essential tools for content marketing strategy in modern times.
As you develop a content base in favor of your political campaign, you need social media to reach out to potential voters.
Twitter is one of those platforms that is mainly used to initiate a trend about an ongoing issue. If you are not incorporating Twitter into your political campaign strategy, you are at a disadvantage.
Political parties know the importance of social media for political campaigns, so they spend billions of dollars identifying a perfect marketing manager for their election campaign.
The female candidates have also started rolling out this emerging campaign method, which is an encouraging sign.
Gone are the days when candidates could have imagined winning the elections without social networking sites.
Even in the countries where this social translation has not happened yet, a significant shift is apparent in the foreseeable future.
So, only the proactive candidates will survive the immediate shift in the campaigning methods.
