The Michigan Republican primary is today, and while there’s no Democratic primary to speak of (with Kos is imploring Dems to vote for Rommney), we haven’t heard have any significant Republican web strategy to get out the vote. After Iowa and New Hampshire, we were treated with story after story about how Barack Obama and eventually Hillary Clinton used Facebook and social media to good effect. But few stories have mentioned Republican efforts outside of Ron Paul. Even Mike Huckabee, who’s been tight friends with the blogosphere, has been absent when it comes to online organizing and targeting. If we’re missing something, please let us know.I think I am admittedly too close to this one, but I do not understand why campaigns continue to starve their investments in web strategy. This isn't like other communication channels, where one dollar in = one dollar / one vote out. The effectiveness of TV advertising is relatively stable, give or take based on the message conveyed. Field operations are typically beholden to the dollars available as well. Online communication, however, can be exponential in its effectiveness, when the right formula is discovered. Though the mark of what makes for a successful online formula, its power remains.
As the nut is cracked (and it will be cracked this cycle), one dollar in = exponential dollars out. The upward limit is unknown at this point. Looking at some of the successes so far (MoveOn's campaign against Beacon, the Pink Ribbon campaign, among many others) , the opportunity is vivid. And yet resources remain focused elsewhere... Is change really that difficult?
No comments:
Post a Comment