Monumental shifts are occurring today amongst marketers in their use of digital (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) against traditional media (i.e. posters, print, flyers, newspapers, television, radio). This beckons the question: Does digital media help in advancing the political process?
Without a doubt, digital media played an important role in securing the victory of President Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. Stated in a Forbe's article, the Obama campaign's "Digital First" strategy, architected by David Plouffe, pioneered new ways of reaching and mobilising voters based on a differentiated strategy. This approach contrasted with the Republican campaign largely built around reaching voters through traditional media.
Unlike then presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Barack Obama targeted specific or cultural groups of audiences such as young adults, the LGBT community, African-Americans and Latin Americans. Through digital media, President Obama was able to merge different cultural groups together in purpose of a single goal: vote for him.
In fact, Republican 2016 presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has very much mastered Twitter as a effective tool in political promotion. Zac Moffatt says, "He's used social media to replace the traditional apparatus of a political campaign [...] Trump is living on this medium." In a nutshell, digital media is a powerful tool for political candidates to reach their supporters and gauge voters' interests.
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| (Image Source: thewrap.com) |
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