The 2010 midterm elections were the busiest political season for internet marketing yet. More candidate campaigns and PACs saw the saturation in TV and moved to the internet for greater efficiency in voter reach. As you run your 2011 state and local campaigns, and prepare for national, state, and local 2012 campaigns (yes, you should be doing that now), be sure to make search engine marketing part of your advertising planning.
Read on to learn how to use Google Display Ad Bombing, facebook advertising, and other search engine / social marketing strategies to raise funds and push your campaign over the top.
Google Display Remnant Ads: Maximum Exposure in Final Days
One of the most popular strategies of winning campaigns such as President Obama, Governor Bobby Jindal, and Congressman Scott Murphy is to utilize a display advertising blast in the final few days or hours of the campaign, with the time frame being determined by your budget and polling. Some candidates will choose to go during the entire early / absentee voting period while others will just go during open poll hours on Election Day. Campaigns with large budgets often begin months out, though usually not for maximum exposure (and ad spend).
Here’s how it works. Google AdWords offers remnant banner ad purchases through its Display Network (formerly called Content Network). You can then buy these ads and pay on Google’s traditional payment model: cost per click. Since an average “good” click through rate on the Display Network is only ~ 0.1% , you can usually get your ad shown 1,000 times for just a couple dollars (although prices go up drastically during the final days, just as you might expect).
You can target the ads – image, video, or text – geographically just to your voting district, which is done by the person’s IP address, meaning your ad can appear to a voter reading the local newspaper just as easily as one visiting ESPN or reading the NY Times. If you live in a less densely populated area and are running a statewide or local campaign, you can get the same percentage of reach as the largest races with less money. This type of advertising is completely scalable!
You also control what days / hours the ads are displayed and how much you’re willing to bid for each click. You can even pick what sites and what types of sites you’d like your ad to appear on.
Direct Online Marketing™ can set up Google Display Ads to blanket your district within a matter of days, depending on the complexity of the campaign and what creative is provided. If you would like to learn more, please call 800.979.3177 or fill in your information below.
Traditional Google Search Campaigns
In addition to Google Display remnant advertising, many candidates – including both Senators McCain and Obama in the 2008 Presidential election – will also use pay per click advertising on one or more of the following types of keywords:
- Their Own Name. Advertising on your own name allows you to get your talking points out to people looking to research and helps you defend against attacks. Google your name right now and see what people are saying about you. Is the first page filled with only positive links and ads?
- Opponent’s Name(s). Place ads next to your opponent’s name(s) to differentiate yourself and allow your messaging to resonate with voters.
- Hot Topics. Health care, the economy, the environment, state and local issues…reach people researching these topics and explain clearly where you stand on the important issues.
- Election Terms. Be sure you don’t miss out on people researching your election as they look to learn more about the issues and candidates.
According to US News & World Report:
“By Election Day, the average person who Googled [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell was giving the campaign $80. And for every $1 the campaign spent on advertising on the search engine it was making between $25 and $30.”
And just like with Google Display remnant advertising, you can geographically target just to your district and only paying per click, so you’ll get a ton of exposure for free.
If you’re interested in traditional search campaigns, we can help get you up quickly. For a free consultation, call 800.979.3177 or fill in your information below.
Political Facebook Advertising
Facebook is becoming crucial for candidates in all races – even judicial. Here are a few of the ways we can help:
- Facebook Page Set Up. Don’t make the mistake of setting up a profile page and lose out on ways to effectively market your candidate. We can set up the page, optimize it, allow visitors to donate without ever leaving facebook, and set a memorable url.
- Landing Pages. If you’re not creating linkable landing pages with clear calls to action when new people come to your page, you’re missing out on huge opportunities to increase likes, donations, and volunteer requests and share your video message. Every political facebook page needs a landing page.
- Facebook Ads. Whether you’re on a shoestring budget wanting massive voter reach or a large campaign looking for unique opportunities to spread your video message to literally every facebook user in your district, we can develop and manage a solution that’s right for you.
Comment Scrubbing. Are your opponents creating fake profiles to damage your facebook presence? Let us help keep your page clean – and advise you on when you should leave up negative comments, including how to respond to them.- Twitter. It’s not just facebook in many districts. If you’re wanting a presence on twitter or YouTube, let us set it up and advise you on how to use it. We have plenty of time saving tips so you can run messages on multiple social media platforms without going crazy.
If you’re interested in any of the above types of facebook marketing and advertising, let us help. Simply call 800.979.3177 or fill in your information below.
Let Us Help You Raise Funds, Get Your Candidate Elected
Search engines and social media sites like facebook have provided proven results for winning candidates over the most recent election cycles. Results include increased donations, reach, and, ultimately votes. It’s not too late to put the power of Google to work for your campaign. Let us help. Call 800.979.3177 today for a free consultation, or fill out the form below:
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