- From NYTimes.com: The '08 Campaign: Sea Change for Politics as We Know It
- From Educational Marketing Group: Simple Web Bits from the Campaign - Interactivity
- From .eduGuru: Comparing the Obama and McCain emails
Regardless of your political affiliation, one has to respect the amazing spectacle that was Obama's online marketing machine. What I take away is how Obama seamlessly incorporated all facets of Web 2.0--website, email, text messaging, video, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.--to create a shared vision among supporters, organize grassroots efforts and reach pockets of untapped constituents.
His campaign resided in a web-centric universe; even going so far as to announce his vice presidential pick directly to supporters via text message, in advance of a traditional press conference. And therein lies the point.
Obama's campaign is a defining moment for us as web communicators because he proved the power of self-identification over anonymity.
Voters could learn something about Obama through traditional media (online and off) or by lurking anonymously on various websites, but to truly be "in the know," you had to first belong.
Obama wasn't shy about asking for your email and other identifying information upfront. It was virtually a requirement to gain access to his website--which was the hub of his entire marketing campaign.
In return, you became part of the cause. You were invited to do more...
...told about campaign stops in your area...
...and given first notice on special news and insights...
...in short, you were valued.
For years many of us, myself included, warned against requiring visitors to self-identify too soon for fear it would turn them off and they would leave our websites, never to return. I'm sure there were many visitors to barackobama.com who didn't sign up and left.
However, even for those with only a remote curiosity who took a chance and did sign-up, the value received seemed to outweigh the price of giving up your email address, name and where you lived. There might be a lesson in that for us in higher ed.
The reality, whether we choose to accept it, is that certain constituent groups only really matter to our institutions--prospective students, parents, current students, alumni, donors, faculty and staff. And among these groups, some people care about us more than others. That is true whether we know them or not.
Yet on our websites, we stop short of finding out who these people are right away; and, I contend, do little to prove how truly valuable they are to us over the life of the relationship.
His campaign resided in a web-centric universe; even going so far as to announce his vice presidential pick directly to supporters via text message, in advance of a traditional press conference. And therein lies the point.
Obama's campaign is a defining moment for us as web communicators because he proved the power of self-identification over anonymity.
Voters could learn something about Obama through traditional media (online and off) or by lurking anonymously on various websites, but to truly be "in the know," you had to first belong.
Obama wasn't shy about asking for your email and other identifying information upfront. It was virtually a requirement to gain access to his website--which was the hub of his entire marketing campaign.
In return, you became part of the cause. You were invited to do more...
...told about campaign stops in your area......and given first notice on special news and insights......in short, you were valued.For years many of us, myself included, warned against requiring visitors to self-identify too soon for fear it would turn them off and they would leave our websites, never to return. I'm sure there were many visitors to barackobama.com who didn't sign up and left.
However, even for those with only a remote curiosity who took a chance and did sign-up, the value received seemed to outweigh the price of giving up your email address, name and where you lived. There might be a lesson in that for us in higher ed.
The reality, whether we choose to accept it, is that certain constituent groups only really matter to our institutions--prospective students, parents, current students, alumni, donors, faculty and staff. And among these groups, some people care about us more than others. That is true whether we know them or not.
Yet on our websites, we stop short of finding out who these people are right away; and, I contend, do little to prove how truly valuable they are to us over the life of the relationship.
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