The Obama Campaign has been a leader in using Social Media to mobilize, fund raise and capture the imaginations of thousands of voters through the United States. The Obama camp has hired facebook co-founder Chris Hughes to spearhead the social media effort, with phenomenal success.
Obama has the most popular Facebook page with 872,195 fans, a Youtube Channel with over 14 million views, 35,500 followers on twitter (and follows just over 35000) and his flikr gallery is stocked with thousands of photo’s from the campaign. His website is a smörgåsbord of new media techniques, from Obama TV to Text Message campaigns, to his own social network . They even recently launched a digg like site Oh boy Obama coined the “Unofficial Obama Think Tank” to involve grass roots ideas. The campaign uses these mediums to rally the troops, raise awareness and creating a huge volunteer base by providing numerous ways for fans to participate in the campaign.
Just take a look at this recent video:
All of these assets were invaluable during the Democratic Primary and will play an even larger role in upcoming presidential election.
So what are the lessons for your business or brand?
Tell a great Story or have a killer Idea - Obama seems to have struck a chord with the dissillusioned voters in the States. His Change we can Believe in mantra along with his stage presence has created a worth while story for fans to follow, believe and become part of. His brand has created a reason for like minded people to interact.
Engage and Empower - The header at Obama.com reads
“I’m asking you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington, I’m asking you to believe in yours”.
An integral part of his story is that voters can make a difference. He follows through on this with the multitude of actions that fans can take to become involved in the movement.
Listen up! - The tools that the Obama campaign uses recognize the need for a two way conversation. His twitter account follows almost everyone that follows it. Comments are enabled and utilized on his You Tube channel and blog. At every step fans are encouraged to contribute, talk and share their thoughts and ideas. Oh Boy Obama is the most recent source to encourage grass roots idea contributions. I think its genius.
Use the Tools - Obama has almost 30 different tools and techniques that fans can use to become involved in the campaign. These are free and easy to access, the most challenging part is actually deciding to use them.
There is no one way to go about integrating Social Media strategies into your business. The important thing is to start looking at where and how they can be used to better connect with customers, their ideas and their money.
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