With an election call around the corner for May, Canadians are going to be inundated with a first–the use of social media by candidates vying for parliament seats.
In the span of 2 years the rise of social media tools, most notably Facebook and Twitter, make them ideal platforms to engage voters effective.
The use of these tools, however, must be guided with a poignant strategy.
Politicians, and businesses for that matter, should be very aware that their primary voting demographics are in fact users of social media tools. Twitter, for example, is widely used by a demographic that’s over 25 with the majority of users over the age of 30.
Sounds like voters to me.
Social media also permits unprecedented access to voters–specific to regions as well. Rather than leveraging your message nationally, social media can literally put you in the bedroom.
Whereas traditional media blasts out to everyone, social media will be just that–social. It permits access to a target demographic, and if they chose to engage with you, you’ll have a platform to literally send your message into, as I’ve said, the bedroom, or anywhere people take their phones.
That’s incredible potential, potential that cannot be ignored by candidates.
Don’t be like the unnamed Calgary alderman who flippantly remarked that he wouldn’t never social media (barely uses email) so long as he could “help it”. He’ll be gone in the next election for sure.
An effective social media campaign can literally win you a seat in parliament. Both new voters and old use the tool, so you’ll have a chance to leverage your supporters by quickly accumulating a tribe, but you’ll also be able to engage those on the fence with new effectiveness.
Social media is changing the world, and that includes elections. The candidates who ignore social media will in all likelihood lose their seat (or lose a chance to gain a seat).
You can be a part and initiate change, or you can sit by the wayside as the world twirls around you.