Interested in learning about digital marketing in political campaigns in Canada? We’ve got a good overview, some historical facts and a quick take on the 5 things you must know!
Digital Marketing & Political Campaigns
Political campaigning is all about engaging with a specific group (voters) and trying to influence the decision-making process. This is akin to for-profit organizations and businesses trying to woo their target audience (customers). How an organization or political campaign does that is the art and science of marketing. Interestingly, both spheres of these human endeavors seem to draw heavily from each other. Political campaigns are known to employ successful marketing strategies and tools from their business counterparts. On the other hand, businesses often learn a thing or two about connecting with the masses from political planners.
So it’s entirely natural that as marketing for businesses transformed in the last decade or two, political campaigns took note. Marketing that uses an electronic device or the internet has been defining the Canadian business landscape for quite some time now.
In 2019, Canadian advertisers spent over $6.35 billion contributing over 60% of the total media spend. This includes everything from online advertising to social media marketing. The rise in digital marketing is a reflection of how the society and how its people communicate has changed. Since politics concerns the public at large, the toolkit which a campaign employs has changed dramatically as well.
Gone are the days when a campaign will only focus on door knocking/canvassing, phone calls, and fundraising events. The first phase of this digital evolution the move to online databases, robocalls and primitive websites.
Today, political campaigns are known to employ a sophisticated suite of software and tech tools. Further, digital efforts are manned by dedicated team of digital marketers, content producers, data, and communication specialists. This is where the expertise of a Digital and Social Media Marketing Agency for Political Campaigns becomes invaluable.
Here are 5 key things you must know about political campaigns and digital marketing in Canada
1. Digital Marketing Has Been Around for A While in Canadian Politics
Many people regard Barack Obama as the pioneer of digital marketing for political campaigns. While he defintely made a big impact, the years leading to 2008 were significant for the digital world. From Facebook’s humble launch in 2004 to the launch of Apple iPhone’s in 2007, the world was getting ready for a revolution. One that changed the way the massess consumed information and connected with each other. Consequently, Canadians played their part in the growth of social media and digital marketing as well. This ensured that political campaigns could no longer afford to ignore the world around them. In the 2008 Federal Election, over 50% of the candidates reportedly had social media profiles. By 2013, Canadians were the most active Facebook users in the world.
As seen in the 2015 and 2019 Federal Elections, digital marketing became the mainstay of the voter outreach and engagement initiatives for political parties. It was no longer ‘an option’ but the key strategic piece in their campaign puzzle. With the onset of the new decade, there’s only one way this bandwagon is headed and that’s forward!
2. Digital Marketing Will Only Grow – Because It Works!
In the 2015 Federal Election, the Liberal Campaign credited digital advertising as the key reason behind their electoral success.
“And digital had the greatest ROI (return on investment) . . . . We focused on it as a strategic advantage.”
Tom Pitfield, the Liberals’ chief digital strategist for the campaign | Toronto Star | Article by Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press, June 20, 2016
With their $8 million on digital vs the $2 million from the Tories, the Liberals leveraged the power of digital media. And that power is the ability to reach and engage with a wide audience in a very cost-effective and measurable manner. This becomes all the more important as campaigning periods get shorter. In the 40 days long 2019 Federal election, the three leading federal parties together spent an eye-popping $10 million on online marketing.
Certainly, the reach and impact of digital marketing will not be limited to Federal elections. Across the country, digital marketing is being deployed by local candidates as well as their provincial counterparts. The ability to test different messaging in real-time, hyper-target the voters based on interests and measure the results accurately are advantages very few other marketing methods provide.
3. Legal Framework Will Continue to Evolve
The Elections Modernization Act (Bill C-76) enacted by the Justin Trudeau Government in Dec 2018 aimed to bring in new spending limits and rules for transparency. Subsequently, it sought to govern the ‘wild wild west’ of online advertising in political campaigns and bring in some ground rules. While the opinions on this legislation vary, it did highlight the rise of social media channels and the impact online advertising can make in our election process.
Moreover, a key aspect of Bill C-76 was the requirement for online media platforms to establish a political advertising registry. Identifying sponsors for online ads as well as tracking advertising funds were key objectives for this registry or online archive. Facebook was the only platform that complied with it in time for the 2019 elections. Google Canada decided not to accept the advertising regulations given a lack of preparation time. Meanwhile, Twitter went a step further and completely banned political advertising from its platform across the world.
As the nature of digital advertising in political campaigns evolves, so will the conversation around control and regulation. Most importantly, these will not only be from government or the public but also from the platforms themselves. Above all, we can be sure that greater transparency and content moderation will be national discussion topics across Canada.
4. Third-party Advertising Will Take Center Stage
Third-party organizations, like unions and private groups, have long been a part of the political landscape in Canada. More than $6 million was spent on electioneering by top 10 third party organizations in the 2015 Federal Elections. Most importantly, third-party organizers have also come to realize the importance of digital marketing and online advertising. From Unifor to Teachers’ union to Ontario Proud, Canadians will see mass-scale digital advertising from third-party organizations.
Bill C-76 allows for over $1 million to be spent in pre-writ periods and about $500,000 in the election period by third-party advertisers. A typical Federal Election campaign will see close to $10 million in total third-party spend and digital advertising will take a lion’s share of that.
5. Technology Advancements Will Dominate
Online databases and e-canvassing has been around for a long time. Whether it’s CIMS for the Conservatives or MiniVAN for Liberals or Dandelion for the NDP, parties use a variety of systems to keep and maintain and grow their voter databases. Global trends in digital marketing have all made inroads into the political landscape. These include Artificial Intelligence, Automated web and email marketing tools, chatbots and more. Parties now use sophisticated web builders and contact managers like NationBuilder to reach and engage voters. Chatbots help answer frequently asked questions from volunteers. AI platforms help select the best images or messaging to use. Twitter trend and conversation analyzers help fine-tune campaign messaging. These are just some of the examples – the list is constantly growing as more and more developers join the fray.
In conclusion, digital marketing and advertising will be continue to be critical success factors for political campaigns to come. As political organizations look to engage effectively with their target audiences, partnering with a Digital and Social Media Marketing Agency for Political Campaigns will become increasingly vital.
Most importantly, anything we missed on? What do you think about digital marketing in Canadian politics? Please comment below!
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