Digital Strategists Archives - Social Media and Politics

#177: Political Influencers in the 2024 US Election and Beyond, with Ryan Davis

December 15, 2024

Ryan Davis, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at People First, guests for a debrief on content creators in the 2024 US election. We discuss content creator strategies between the two parties, how influencers have become professionalized, and what this means for communications and elections going forward.

Advertising, authenticity, and power flows are constantly in flux in this environment, and the very conceptions of old and new media are being challenged. A space to watch!

Check out People First’s Substack to keep in the loop, and Ryan’s Travel Podcast just for fun 🙂

#173: Micro-Influencer Marketing for Political Campaigns, with Ryan Davis

April 21, 2024

Ryan Davis, Co-Founder of People First, discusses how “micro-influencers” or “micro-creators” are being used in political campaigns. We discuss the benefits of using micro-influencers for engagement, as well as how they can be used to target specific blocks of voters. Ryan also shares how these creators can inform the political strategy of campaigns through panels and focus groups, and how the comments to creators’ content can reveal themes and sentiments important for the campaign.

Here’s a list of resources on micro-influencers written by Ryan and People First:

White paper on micro-influencers

2024 election guide on micro-influencers

In-and-outs of influencer outreach

An overview of influencer trends

#171: Wikipedia Public Relations for Politics, Brands, and Crisis Communication, with Rhiannon Ruff

March 24, 2024

Rhiannon Ruff, Wikipedia Expert and Founding Partner at Lumino, discusses how politicians and brands can effectively manage their Wikipedia presence. We discuss why Wikipedia is important for Google Search and AI like ChatGPT, and how the tone, norms, and editors of Wikipedia make editing your own page difficult. Rhi shares her tips on how to manage a Wikipedia page in the right way, and why that’s crucial for politicians and political parties.

Here’s a list of links discussed in the episode:

Rhi’s book on Wikipedia and Crisis Communications

Rhi’s column on Why Wikipedia can be a PR Problem for Political Campaigns

Stanford Internet Observatory Report on Wikipedia and Elections in British Columbia

A bit more on the infamous Alan MacMasters!

#161: Connecting Social Media Influencers with Political Campaigns, with Zach Fang

June 18, 2023

Zach Fang, Head of Sales and Business Development at Vocal Media, shares how the start-up is building a database of social media influencers to connect with political campaigns and organizations. We discuss what makes TikTok influencers a different type of political advertising and how their costs stack up to traditional broadcast and social media. Zach also shares what’s happening with influencers on Twitch, Discord, and YouTube shorts, and how influencers may turn from awareness raising to organizing.

Here’s a link to the study mentioned in the episode.

#156: Digital Political Advertising Beyond Social Media, with Megan Clasen

January 8, 2023

Megan Clasen, Partner at Gambit Strategies, shares her insights into digital political advertising for persuasion and mobilization. We discuss the role of social media ads relative to CTV and OTT advertising, as well as how political ads compete with corporate brands for inventory on these services. Megan also shares her experiences with Facebook’s ad ‘blackout’ period during the 2020 campaign and how the Biden campaign responded to countering Trump’s advertisements. …And much more!

#153: Data-driven Campaigning with Polling and Focus Groups in American Politics, with Zac McCrary

October 29, 2022

Zac McCrary, Partner at Impact Research and host of the Pro Politics podcast, shares his insights on how American campaigns leverage polling and focus groups to craft a winning message. We discuss the upcoming 2022 US midterm elections, the (still) dominant role of television in political advertising, how social media fits into the picture, and how smart phones have changed polling into a multimodal endeavor.

#145: Political Tech Incubators in American Digital Campaigning, with Eric Wilson

May 29, 2022

Eric Wilson, Managing Partner at Startup Caucus and Host of The Business of Politics Show, discusses political tech incubators and their emerging role in US digital campaigning. We chat about how the Republican and Democratic Party need different tech solutions for different campaigning styles, the need for start-up campaigning firms, and the potential impact of Web3 on future political campaigns.

Here’s the link to Eric’s blog post on Web3.

Subscribe to The Business of Politics Show!

#135: Digital Political Communication and Social Media Campaigning in Germany, with Juri Schnöller

November 14, 2021

Juri Schnöller, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Cosmonauts & Kings, discusses the latest trends in German digital political communication. We chat about the role of digital political consultants in Germany, the important role of messenger apps like Signal and Telegram, and how social media influencers are impacting coronavirus communication. We also compare how features of the German electoral rules, political culture, and media system work to shape German digital campaigning.

Extra links:

Public Arena Playbook: Juri’s Handbook for Digital Political Communication

Civical: A Social Media Management Software for Politics

#131: Digital Ads for Registering and Mobilizing Black and Latinx Voters, with Tatenda Musapatike

August 15, 2021

Tatenda Musapatike, Founder and CEO of the Voter Formation Project, shares her insights on using social media to mobilize non-white voters. In her prior role at Acronym, Tatenda led the Expand the Electorate project, which used digital ads to register and mobilize Black and Latinx voters in 8 target states. In this episode, we discuss the results of Tatenda’s work in the 2020 US election, the racial biases in data and targeting technologies, and how gender differences between Black voters might be overcome in future electoral cycles.

Here’s the case study from the Expand the Electorate project and more detailed white paper (requires email sign-up) – definitely worth a read!