Now that all of the madness is over and the election is out of our control, it is time to pick up and move on. For the last year and half we have been completely inundated with political ads and rhetoric. Campaigning for the 2012 presidential election officially starts on November 5th 2008.
One of the last papers I wrote for my political science major was about the effect of the Internet on future elections (including this one). My argument was that the Internet leveled the playing field and would continue to spread videos and political messages even though election laws forbid certain campaigning the day of election.
I think the return on investment of an online video is far greater than that of a paid ad placement on one of the major networks. I talked about a video called Keating Economics released by the Obama campaign about McCain’s ties to Mr. Keating and the S & L scandal. The video was mini-documentary style and garnered 1.7 million views on YouTube. As far as I can tell, the Obama campaign is out the production and website costs. My guess is a couple grand.
I am also sure that the page more than paid for itself by all the donations buttons scattered about. So, technically I am sure the site netted a profit for the Obama campaign as well as shaped opinions about John McCain.
Could websites and YouTube videos be the future of marketing and advertising?
I think it is pretty obvious that the Internet and all online components have a significant effect on the future of marketing and advertising. Now with social networks, emails, newsletters, SEO, internet marketing, videos, Meetup groups and on and on, you can effectively build residual traffic and income for a tiny investment.
People are looking for ideas and other people that are just like them. When they find their community or “tribe” they feel at home and are comfortable. The key is to realize that you can’t just create a community or tribe and expect people to jump on board. They want truth, passion, excitement, entertainment, gossip and whatever else they might be into. If you can attempt to create something like that out of thin air without the full conviction or passion behind it, you’ll be called out and will most likely crash and burn.
Thankfully, starting ideas online is a lot cheaper than starting them offline where overhead costs can run very high. 13 years ago Matt Drudge of Drudgereport.com started posting up-to-date news articles he found online. He runs a single page website that received just under 800,000,000 page views last month. His site is now the 6th most visited news website. He makes his money from ad placements and with 800 million views a month, I am sure he is doing pretty well.
What we online have known for a while and what those outside of the Internet are learning is how effective advertising online can be. When your message has a clear purpose and contains relevant information to your tribe, the message will spread to millions in a very short time, like drudgereport.com or a YouTube video.
It amazes me that every segment of the evening news isn’t broken up and uploaded online to easily distribute like a YouTube video. You would think they would want people to spread their content and video far and wide. Who knows, maybe they would even get views from different countries and states who simply like what they have to offer. Not to mention they could embed advertising into the videos to boost revenue.
How about newspapers allowing their readers to write and add commentary to their online web pages? A news collaborative that builds upon itself like a mini Wikipedia. Simple measures like flagging inappropriate articles and comments could allow discussion to continue without the direct influence of the company or organization. The future involves catering to your readers and subscribers needs to enable them to share and take part in the activities surrounding your community (tribe). If they like what you have to offer they will stay. If they really like it they will share. Be an enabler to your community.
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Tags: Advertising, Elections, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Ideas, McCain, Obama, Politics, Unconventional Marketing, YouTube
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Marketing Ideas: Post-Political Elections and the Future of Advertising and Marketing: Now that all of .. http://tinyurl.com/5fm2l2
great post…forget newspapers, they are so far in denial that they are as an institution incapable of real change. It will take new ownership from outside of that industry to save the brand.
@Jeff, thanks, I to agree that newspapers are way behind the curve on this. It is almost painful to watch knowing how they will eventually die a slow and agonizing death. They could create a transition period from the print to Internet but most are unwilling to attempt such things no matter how cheap it would be.
I can't remember the last time I paid for and read a newspaper from front to back. Most of the articles are so predictable and boring.
Newspapers are a dying medium. With the internet, blackberries etc.. I don't have to wait until the next day to read about a news worthy event as it is most likely online already.
What I find interesting about conventional marketing (TV, billboard print etc.. ) is how a lot of their end goal is to drive you to the advertisers website for "more information" or incentive offers.
The internet was used widely in our last Canadian election. Every candidate had their own website with videos and articles. They web addresses were posted on every sign.
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That was a good post with good ideas. The sole reason I can see the news outlets not offering the news in chunks online is their ad revenue. Would they want to risk alienating their current TV advertisers if viewing figures dropped because more sought their news online? I don't know but of course, the advertisers could do it both ways. Some news channels do offer video more and more now – the Weather Channel for example. The option's side by side in their lead news items and you can choose Article or Video.
@stores open on thanksgiving, Although I have bought a few papers over the last couple of years it is mostly for the local news and views. National news is usually digested a couple hours after it happens and I normally look over it in the paper.
@Driveway Sealing, I agree that it is funny how all of these different advertising mediums try to get you to a website vs people finding a website then going or doing…whatever.
@Salwa, I think the technology is there to monetize videos like google and youtube now showing ads. I just don't think most of these media outlets thing it is profitable or fully understand the potential of one video going viral.