Viral Marketing for Politics

Keith Vera
Account Manager

With the Internet (Web 2.0) comes the power; The power for people to learn more, get involved, make themselves heard, and perhaps most importantly, spread information. In the political realm, this ability can be both a blessing and a curse as both positive AND negative information has the potential to spread like wildfire. The ability to harness the power the Internet provides is crucial to the success of any political campaign, and it all starts with building a community.

When I say “building a community”, of course I’m talking about a community of supporters. Finding individuals who will donate money and campaign for candidates is far more important than simply banking a large donation from a single supporter. There is a massive advantage to the candidate who can leverage the backing and donation power of hundreds of thousands of individuals over the candidate who relies exclusively on large donation supporters. The way to tap into this resource is a concept that every political campaign should be implementing, and that is to make their messages viral.

Techniques for the political side of viral marketing can range from tapping into social networks, to embracing micro-targeted campaigns to initiating viral fund-raising efforts. Broad campaign messages can be spread to millions, specific messages can be tailored to help gain supporters in areas that may have been previously impenetrable, and millions of dollars in donations can be harvested. These are just some of the quality ways to spread campaign messages and develop that essential community of supporters.

The Internet gives the power to political candidates to keep people informed and increase the reach and frequency of their messages better than ever before. The question is simply, who will be able to harness that power the best?