With the presidential election coming soon, presidential candidates are aiming towards reaching all voters through every promotional means. Not only are they embracing the traditional commercial advertising, but President Barack Obama, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney are also incorporating online marketing as well.
The Obama campaign has targeted potential voters by purchasing Google ad space next to searches such as “Obama bracket, Obama birthday, and Warren Buffett.” Not only is the technique providing President Obama with an advantage such as increases in small donations, but it is also very costly. According to Farnam, the Obama campaign has spent approximately $12.3 million on Internet advertising; which totals to more than his television, radio, and telemarketing promotions. Romney and Santorum also bought ad space next to search results.
The same way companies target a specific demographic is the same way the presidential candidates are promoting to online users. With the millions of online users daily, the candidates’ advertisements are likely to appear at least once throughout one’s Internet activity.
Farnam, T. (2012, April 6). Obama Has Aggressive Internet Strategy to Woo Supporters. Retrieved April 8, 2012, from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-has-aggressive-internet-strategy-to-woo-supporters/2012/04/06/gIQAavB2zS_story.html
Looks like the Obama team has done their homework! LOL
ReplyDeleteUsing online ad to target voters is a great idea. Let's just hope some of these voters actually get off the computer and go out and vote!
Yes they sure have. It would be great is the voters actually did go and vote. It would make a difference with just one extra vote.
ReplyDeleteWow it is very interesting to me that the Obama campaign has bought ad space next to those searches in Google, I never thought about that. I guess even just seeing a small square advertisement on Google saying "Vote Obama 2012", even though we might not pay alot of attention to it and just go on about our search, could still remind alot of people and get his name out there even more. I find it interesting how online advertising has changed the face of political campaining since the internet has been invented.
ReplyDeleteI am just hoping may be some day we will vote through the internet.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been a good idea and time saver.
Every form of advertising is being at used to get the presidential candidates name out. I think it's good that they are doing that because they are not only reaching voters through the radio and on television, but online. For those who don't spend time on television or listen to the radio, this gives Internet users a chance to see what the candidates are doing. I hardly watch television so seeing an ad campaign online will kind of give me a better view of what these particular candidates have to offer. That sounds like a pretty good idea to be able to vote online. With new technology these days, they should at least come up with that because it would be more convenient for those who work and go to school on the certain day that voting takes place. People wouldn't have to take off work for a while to vote and it would save people and company's time and money.
ReplyDeleteI have seen the Obama campaign advertisements myself, on YouTube and it seems as if they are really pushing themselves with online advertising. Almost 50% of the videos I have watched on YouTube have played 30 second advertisements on the video that cannot be skipped either. Today I watched an advertisement about Obama's energy renewal plan that he would like to work on; it is very interesting to advertise this way because you end up having to watch the advertisement and can learn something in the process. I personally think this is a very effective way to advertise.
ReplyDeleteI also keep seeing Obama campaign commercials on Hulu plus while watching videos. They are effective because like Maryam said, you have to watch them so you see what they are advertising. But on the other hand, no matter what side you are on, they are so annoying! I am sick of seeing them every 10 minutes and the same commercial every single time it comes on. While its informational, its annoying and redundant!
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to see how much presidential candidates are spending on online advertising. It is very smart to do so. So much time is spent online by Americans it would be a huge disadvantage to neglect this field of advertising. I also think it would be interesting to see who they are trying to target and how they are doing. In other words, if the particular candidate is targeting the young female voter, what websites are they buying advertising space through.
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