Obama Online – More than Social Media

With the launch of Change.gov, commentary on Obama’s social media strategy and success have been made here, here and here. Yup, here too. Some are even calling Obama and the government integration of new media tools through Change.gov the Digital New Deal while others wonder about the extension of the Obama brand and community – post election.

*******

Social media is awesome. Grand. Influential. Amazing. In my professional role working with government agencies, I must admit that my first reaction to Change.gov was, “Sweet, I can’t wait for this priority on social media to trickle down among other government agencies. Man, that would make our job so much easier.” Or, would it?

Because now, instead of talking about why to do it, the opportunity to implement may [hopefully] increase, meaning we must show results. And, Obama set the bar high.

Granted, Obama’s campaign is an amazing case study that aided in achieving an important end objective – getting Obama elected. However, Obama’s online success is due to more than social media.

• Obama’s campaign was newsworthy as according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism. This encourage the public to be interested and engaged. The study found that:

“Overall, the presidential campaign filled 54% of the newshole as measured by PEJ’s News Coverage Index from Oct. 27-Nov. 2. That represents a slight uptick from the previous two weeks when the election was at 52% (Oct. 20-26) and 51% (Oct. 13-19). The race for the White House was the dominant story in all five media sectors, most notably in cable, where it accounted for 84% of the airtime studied, and on the radio airwaves, at 65%.”

• Obama created the Obama-brand. If you work in government, you may understand some of the government’s sensitivity to the word brand. And from the outside, how the public might react to the government branding or marketing itself. (Hence, the whole debate back when to transition from health communications to health marketing.) However, the Obama-brand has become widely accepted and adapted while maintaining a consistent message to diverse audiences across a range of platforms.

• The number of resources available. Obama’s fundraising numbers were out of the roof. Not every project is as fortunate. This is why highlighting and emphasizing ROI is important and critical.

• Obama was the first, and it was sexy. Being the first is always advantageous. In the government 2.0 sector, Obama led the way in showing how to leverage a comprehensive social media plan to create an online presence that connected with the overall program’s mission. Not only did he do it, but he made it sexy by implementing creative elements that encouraged not only online users, but also online ambassadors.

• Obama and his team understood the essence of social media online and off line. This is the biggest one I think. Obama’s message tapped into the cornerstone of social media – help me, help you, help me, empower America. Did you get lost in that? Web 2.0 is about the conversation and Obama is encouraging conversation with him and among each other. The Change.gov Web site communicates it best:

“Share your vision for what America can be, where President-Elect Obama should lead this country. Where should we start together?”

He took the essence of social media tools and made it his mantra. He is change, but he needs you to help create that change. You want change, but you need him to lead that change. Brilliant.

In your opinion, what other factors outside of social media helped mold Obama’s online success?

Liked what you read? Feel free to share with others:

An Afternoon Conversation Calls Me Back

I’m starting another series. Apparently, I like series. But I think readers do to, because it helps you know what kind of content to predict. Or, so Seth Godin tells us.

Today, I was fortunate enough to connect with one of SocialButterfly’s consistent readers at the Ad Council. I want to thank him through this blog as the conversation inspired me to start this new series: Social Marketing Classic Campaigns.

A month now into my ‘official’ new full-time role at work, I have slightly gotten a bit side-tracked in my enthusiasm for social media, that the true ‘social marketing’ aspect of my blog has been lacking. Thus, to complement the Social Media Highlight series I have, I’m starting this new one.

This afternoon’s conversation reminded me of what I think would be a DREAM job –> having the ability to brand social marketing, to further the field, to expand its practices and applications, to share its tool belt with those across industries and across nations, and to inspire more SocialButterflies…so to speak. =) But this can’t be accomplished alone, and we all play our part.

Thus, stay tuned as every other week I am going to showcase a classic social marketing campaign, and highlight movements in the field. Through this, I hope to elaborate on social marketing’s theory using real-world examples. As, I also realized this afternoon, that I’ve been focusing a lot on the promotional efforts of social marketing, which is a trend of the field and not just myself. Thus, I hope to highlight some really great campaigns.

It might be a small step towards the dream, but small steps can end up coving a large distance! If you have some ideas on some you’d like to see featured, feel free to post a note. Until then, social marketers unite!

What’s Your Favorite Earth Day Logo? Google? Yahoo? YouTube? and others join in!

Today was an exciting day off- and on-line. In celebration of Earth Day, many company’s changed their company logo. Which was your favorite?

Ask.com

Search Engine RoundTable

AOL.com

Google

Cre8asite Forums

Yahoo (Original is in Flash)

Kentucky.gov

Other’s that had Earth Day logos that I couldn’t get to upload during my mini-break in thesis writing include: MSN, the BBC and YouTube’s.

What ones have I missed and what ones are your favorites?

Cheers!

Social Marketing vs. Social Change Marketing

In an earlier post, I clarified how social marketing differentiates itself from social media marketing. Now, I am asking for your thoughts on how the term social marketing relates to the term social change marketing.

 

Social marketing, as we’ve discussed, has decades of theoretical history and practice. It is a term constantly evolving and defining itself. However, the field also faces a challenge: branding itself…especially since the onset of social media marketing.

Reading through social marketing texts and journals, the terms – social change, marketing for social change, and social change marketing are making increasing appearances, so I am curious on others’ thought about how the two terms relate.

A good summary of the two concepts, including how they relate to commercial marketing, is found in Dr. Stephen Dann’s slideshow titled:

“Social change marketing in the age of direct benefit marketing – where to from here?”

In this presentation, Dann asks the question: Where to from here? which provides information on how social marketing has grown and compares to commercial marketing and what this may mean for the future. Other signs of the concept of social change’s relationship to social marketing dates back to Prof. Alan Andreason’s book: Marketing Social Change. So, there is a history. On the web, Craig Lefebvre’s blog is titled On Social Marketing and Social Change, suggesting the relationship.

Thus, I am curious on your thoughts about the terms/concepts of social marketing versus social change marketing:

• Can social marketing be renamed social change marketing?
• Or, is social marketing one component of social change?
• Or, is social marketing one piece of social change marketing? What’s the difference? Is there a difference?

It may seem like a matter of scrabble to some, but these discussions really engage me, and I hope the enthusiasm sparks interest as I think the relationship between the two terms is continuing to develop and will becoming increasingly important as we work to brand social marketing. =)