Tomorrow is an important election day around the country.  Political parties will be holding primaries and selecting their respective candidates for the upcoming November elections and we’re expected to do our part by 1) Knowing something about the candidates and 2) Showing up at the polls.

Speaking of candidates…

Is there a candidate anywhere in the United States who is not using social media?  I know here in our area I’m getting slammed with information by candidates running for every office from the US Senate to our City Council.  Many of these candidates have become very familiar with social media and have created followers, friends, fans, and connections that will serve them for years and elections to come.  Some of the candidates out there are just getting their feet wet with social media – and it shows.  They are getting blown out in the polls.

So…here is my take on it…

When you are talking about primaries – the candidates generally agree on most major issues – very few policy debates – so how do you decide?  Experience?  Looks?  Communication skills?  Well – it seems with the way they are using it – the guy or gal who has the best social media campaign might expect to be having a victory celebration tomorrow night while the others pack up and figure out how this Twitter and FaceBook thing worked against them as much as it did for them.

Political advantages of a good social media campaign – and why candidates are using it:

1) Transparency – What you see is what you get.  People LOVE this.

2) Engagement – Find out what the constitutes REALLY want you to do.

3) Run HIGHLY targeted FaceBook ads – They pay huge dividends.

4) It’s cheap.

5) Build an Army.  You can have supporters campaigning for you from their living room and bedroom.  It’s crazy.

So the political landscape is changing even more today than it was during the 2008 election cycle – and so it will be for 2010 in November.  Political advisers and candidates are calling on social media companies more and more to help them become effective speaking to and engaging their audience at this personal level.  Voters not only expect it – they DEMAND it.

It’s going to be interesting tomorrow to see how the results line up with the social media efforts.

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