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E-Communications Play Role in 2008 Campaign, 6% contribute online


They may play an important role, but to get over the threshold of what will interest me enough to open the stuff in my inbox that comes from the campaigns? There are several tips I would give.

First, the research, from the Center for Media Research:

a new PEW study reported by Aaron Smith and Lee Rainie, “The Internet and the 2008 Election,” shows that a record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others.

In addition, says the memo report, three online activities have become especially prominent as the presidential primary campaigns have progressed:

  • 35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos, triple that in the 2004 race
  • 10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved. Two-thirds of internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of these use social networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns
  • 6% of Americans have made political contributions online, compared with 2% who did that during the entire 2004 campaign [emphasis mine]

Here’s the Pew study.  But the Center for Media Research post has some good graphs and other info (I’m playing beat the clock between shlepping, finishing up the Carnival and my first workout session to get my back back to…something better than it is).

Let me remind you of something Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern said to my in early 2006:

…we spoke about many topics, including blogs, bloggers and blogging.

If he were in a position akin to that of a media placement advisor for a corporation, but doing so for a politician, what percentage of a budget did he think blogs would get?

Zero. Unequivocally.

Did he think Paul Hackett or Howard Dean would say the same?

No direct answer, but we talked about how Hackett’s juggernaut experience in the Ohio 2nd race and Dean’s fundraising successes aren’t really parallel to the question I asked, but do represent the burgeoning use of a media that Redfern agreed was in its infancy and as such, not really a known quantity yet.

He stated at least a couple of times his belief that in 4-6-8 years, the story re: blogs may very well be entirely different.

So, we’re now two years from that time, not 4, 6 or 8.  But I still feel ready to ask Chairman Redfern: are we beyond the “Zero. Unequivocally” stage yet?

Well, what is 6% of all political contributions?  If candidates raise $200 million total between them, that’s $12 million? And how much ad money from the campaigns did it take to raise that $12 million? What was the ROI?

Certainly doesn’t sound like nothing, especially if you don’t have the $12 million.

I haven’t looked yet but if anyone has ideas of what have campaigns spent to get money, let me know.  I think I read a couple of months ago that the proportion is still miniscule for online advertising, but is that including this notion of e-mail communication?

And what if anything has the ODP spent to raise more? I know I get an awful lot of e-mails asking me for money, including from the ODP.  That must cost someone something.

Yeah, I think we’re past the unequivocal zero.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:45 am July 2nd, 2008 in Blogging, Business, Campaigning, Democrats, Elections, Marketing, Media, Ohio, Politics, Research, Tech, Tools, WH2008 

Comments

One Response to “E-Communications Play Role in 2008 Campaign, 6% contribute online”

  1. 1 Brad Cromes on July 2nd, 2008 4:30 pm

    Do we know what percentage of total campaign dollars raised came from those 6%? That’s a stat I’m really interested in…

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