Thousands of companies demand a social media presence in order to enhance their brand. There is one area they could learn from where the Internet is already having a huge impact – politics.
Since Barack Obama embraced social networking as one of the core foundations of his 2008 Presidential campaign, the medium has been championed as the great new form of political engagement. It’s not difficult to see why.
Social networks such as Twitter offer politicians a unique opportunity to interact with their electorate on a mutually fair platform on a regular basis. For example, UK politicians like Kerry McCarthy MP, Dan Hannan MEP and even John Prescott MP have seen the virtues of social media in creating a dialogue with their constituents.
Blogging, too, has become a growing political force. A brief look at services such as Social Media Affairs, which catalogues political blogs, demonstrates the growing list of increasingly influential voices online, such as Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes.
Social media has also emphatically demonstrated how it can bring cohesion to a social movement. Whether it has been to tell a company that what it’s doing is wrong, to protest against someone’s actions, or even to protest against Governments, platforms such as Twitter have provided ‘average Joe’ with a phenomenal vehicle for uniting behind a common cause.
Obama has more than 2.7 million followers on Twitter, while the use of his website, MyBarackObama.com, to organise support is well documented. It helped to cement his placement as a grassroots candidate during his 2008 election, as well as encouraging individuals to become directly involved in Obama’s campaign.
It’s a point that brands should take note of. The level of engagement that enveloped Obama’s supporters provided them with an investment in the campaign and as such they went that extra mile, providing millions of fundraising dollars and eventually elevating Obama to the White House.
By engaging with their customers, brands could build a similarly loyal group of advocates who they can rely upon to champion their brand which, in the current competitive economic climate, could be vital to a company’s survival.
