Social Media Lessons From the GOP Race
Republican presidential candidates have made social media an integral part of their campaign efforts to win the White House in 2012—signing on to various social networks in hopes of reaching key constituents—and marketers can learn a lot by watching the political campaigns at work, according to a study by iContact.
The new study explores how the Republican candidates are using social media to share messages and engage voters, and offers insights and recommendations for businesses that use social media.
Below, findings from iContact's study.
Overall, Facebook is the top social platform among the candidates* studied with the largest volume of fans/followers and engagement levels.**
Interestingly, among the top three contenders—Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul—each has a clear advantage on one of the three major platforms studied, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube:
- Facebook: Mitt Romney leads with 1,287,286 fans, followed by Ron Paul with 696,592 and Newt Gingrich with 225,936. A skilled businessman, Romney also stands out for having a holistically integrated social campaign, according to the study.
- Twitter: Newt Gingrich leads in Twitter firepower, boasting 1,388,204 followers, followed by Mitt Romney with 233,684 and Ron Paul with 164,134.
Gingrich and Romney use Twitter less frequently than other candidates: Each issued 46 original tweets during December, compared with 110 tweets for Ron Paul and 86 for Rick Santorum. - YouTube: Ron Paul leads in YouTube users with 39,664, followed by New Gingrich with 7,593 users, Rick Perry with 3,362, and Mitt Romney with 3,202.
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