I attended the DC Ad Club’s event on how the Obama campaign used social media to truly change the way America participates in politics. Andrew Noyes, a reporter for Congress Daily, had some intriguing insights as an outsider covering the use of the media. I think he had the best perspective on the whole campaign because he was not part of the push, but followed it intensely. Andrew followed the campaign from campaigning for the presidency through the transition team through to the white house ongoing communication to the public.
The main approach seemed to be getting the Obama brand to infiltrate every communication channel possible, and to constantly be integrating with its audience. While there were some technical challenges during different segments of the campaign—there was freedom to make decisions quickly and use all forms of technology during the campaign, but the white house places specific rules and processes around what they can do/who they can outsource to—their team (led by Chris Hughes) of over 80 people on the web team stayed consistent.
Some of the highlights include:

• A large mobile component. Phones have mass audience penetration and have high engagement. People read txt messages within 15 minutes of receipt and have a 60-90% open rate. They also usually respond within 60 min. Source: Jeff the third speaker (sorry Jeff, missed your last name)
• Using the website as a hub, including mentions in speeches and off-the-cuff remarks
• Blogging by the team, supporters, and the candidate
• Lots of web video (my sister-in-law sent me a YouTube video back in 2006)
• This got the younger generation that isn’t watching traditional TV as much
• Facebook and MySpace pages
• iPhone app that let you organize your address book by battleground state and call them if you saw their state was losing ground. And ringtones of course.
• Txt message VP announcement (this was huge)
• Change.gov provided “your seat at the table” which allowed everyone to see which lobbying groups were meeting with the transition team and what they talked about. All searchable and categorized.
• The Citizen’s Briefing Book explained Obama’s position on topics and had over 800 people providing feedback. Andrew wonders what was done with this feedback, as do I
• A common theme was “connect…inspire”. Very appropriate for social media.

Having this kind of reach translated to record-breaking fundraising from individual donors. 3 million donors giving an average of $95 each. They didn’t stop at virtual networking though; they also created synergy in person by fostering the idea of having house parties in your neighborhood around campaign ideas. Volunteer supporters could get a phone list in their state and make calls for support on behalf of the campaign.
Some things to remember:

1. The “product” was good. President Obama was/is a great brand with a lot of natural personal magnetism
2. The topic was hot. Not only was the election the talk-of–the-town in America, but the world was watching too.
3. The message was clear. Change.
4. Online communication tools were an integral part of the dialogue. Visit the site to show your support…twitter your thoughts as we’re talking…txt HOPE to ###.