Barack Obama - How to Connect on The Internet

by Scott Porter, Managing Partner MarketBuilders

Barack Obama has redefined the landscape of American politics. The impact of Obama's current campaign for the U.S. Presidency cannot be overstated and may be one of the true 'defining' moments in American political history.

Currently leading in the race for delegates, a significant number of Americans are now convinced Barack Obama is the best choice to be the next President of the United States.

So, how has a junior Senator from Illinois achieved such an incredible ground swell of support during the past year? The short answer is Barack Obama has deployed a formidable political campaign, anchored by his remarkable ability to connect with people from all backgrounds - and from all parts of the country.

No doubt, Senator Obama is a skilled communicator and has proven himself to be one of the great speakers of our time - first demonstrating his ability to connect with a national audience at the 2004 National Democratic Convention where he made an impression that still lingers.

What else sets Obama's campaign apart? I don't want to underestimate Obama's ability to impact potential voters with his speaking ability, but he's only one guy! He can only be in one place at a time as far as I know. Ah, but we have the tube you say, and Obama's television ads have obviously been effective. But, we have to consider the fact the tube costs money, big money - and Obama's got it and getting more every day. This is the interesting part of the story. Sure, Barack Obama has received sizeable donations from wealthy supporters, Corporations and Special Interests, but not as much as the Clinton Machine has raised in this way.

Barack Obama made US political history in January by raising a staggering $32 million in contributions, the largest amount ever reported in such a short time. Barack and his team beat the Clinton Machine like a drum - with Hillary raising only about $13.5M.

What's going on? Where are the contributions coming from?

In short, the Barack Obama team has the best Internet Marketing strategy ever deployed by a political candidate - with deference to Ron Paul's amazing Internet success.

Actually, there are many similarities between the two candidates' strategies - both make (or made) excellent use of Social Media Marketing, submitting new posts daily on the major social media sites like Digg, Technorati, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, etc., and both make excellent use of their blogs to communicate their message, to attract more supporters, and most importantly, to raise a significant amount of campaign contributions.

Although starting slowly on the Internet, in the past six months, Barack Obama's team has been early and aggressive online, making use of YouTube, MySpace, and Google AdWords - to communicate his message of change and to counter campaign attacks, like one lunatic who actually suggested he is Muslim!

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