Advertising for a Presidential Campaign

With the entrance of the digital age there have been many changes to the way we live our lives. One of the more obvious changes is how advertising, marketing and even presidential campaigning have evolved. In the 1900s, and prior to the internet, there were three ways to broadcast your message to the public: TV, newspapers and radio. But today if you want to effectively reach your consumers, or constituents, it often takes an advertising agency from Utah or elsewhere in the country to design your campaign.    

Although President Barack Obama has a private marketing team rather than an ad agency, they ran a very web-savvy marketing campaign during his two runs for president. He has opted for less press conferences and traditional journalist interviews during his time as president, instead relying on social media and more informal online interviews and appearances, which appeal to younger voters. This also allows the content generated by his team to last, allowing people from Utah to the East Coast to find it long after its original air date. 

He has posted music videos on YouTube and hosted question and answer sessions on Reddit in an effort to draw attention to his work, particularly the Affordable Care Act. Many current presidential candidates are using more of their budget for digital marketing. This is an especially good strategy because the tech-savvy Millennial generation is one of the largest voting-age groups. 

As most people who work at an ad agency will tell you, one fairly obvious advertising opportunity for presidential candidates is YouTube. By using YouTube, candidates can create their own video content with much less expense than traditional media. Whether running ads before videos on YouTube or posting interviews with Internet celebrities, YouTube allows candidates to specifically target their audience. 

Another platform that is seeing more use from presidential candidates is Twitter. Candidates often run their own account as a more personal means of communication. Twitter also allows people to target their ads based on geography, such as targeting individual states like Utah or Texas.

Today, campaigning for president is a massive marketing undertaking and often includes extensive planning. Being savvy with social media and the Web can mean the difference between winning and losing for the candidate. The amount of customization, targeting and just the massive amount of marketing that needs to be done on the Web during a campaign requires the supervision of an experienced advertising agency—especially when you consider that candidates are trying to reach voters in every state from Utah to the East Coast. 

Ryan Muir writes for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. He writes for many other clients as well. Follow on Twitter.