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Strategic Planning for Digital Social Media Political Campaign Management: Rand Paul’s Case
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Acknowledgements
This study has been informed by all the Social Media and Digital Integrated Communication (Digital,
Direct, Interactive Marketing & PR) and by the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication
respective literatures. Additionally, the author has found useful the analysis on the strengths &
weaknesses of the 2016 potential Presidential Candidates (both Democrat & Republicans) provided
through the webpage of the Sabato Crystal Ball’s University of Virginia Centre for Politics
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2016-president/.
Semper Fidelis.
Disclaimer
In this assignment, an effort has been taken to strategise Rand Paul’s (A Republican Presidential
Candidate) digital and Social Media Political Campaign strategy and plan whilst simultaneously
integrating it to correspond as well as to fit to the objectives and general political campaign
management strategic plan of the specific candidate. This exercise proved rather difficult as the
author struggled to find “US political campaigning or political consulting industry standards” in general
and specially to uncover any “US digital, micro targeting and/or social media political campaigning
industry standards” for that matter. Hence, this practical assignment is largely based: A) on reports, or
commentary written in trade publications such as the Campaigns & Elections Magazine, the Politico,
the Hill, Mashable and so on, B) on political campaigning blog posts, C) on published presentations,
case studies and blog posts published either by US professional political consultants or by US political
consulting companies either on their web sites or in Slide Share, D) on Digital Marketing and/ or
Digital Communication Business industry standards, E) on Digital and/ or Advertising Standards by
the IAB, F) On the very few research publications and reports published by Pew Research Center and
from the Graduate School of Political Management of the George Washington University,
As a result, this assignment had great difficulty in identifying the exact budget and budgetary
allocations for Rand Paul’s campaign and thus an estimate or an informed guess has been necessary
to be made based on publicly available (through newspapers or information sites) information on
congressional campaigns as well as on previous primary and normal presidential election campaigns.
Additionally, although there is abundant information available through the Internet and through
professional and academic publications relevant to Measurement and Evaluation of a Digital Business
Campaign, the lack and scarcity of available data regarding the Measurement and Evaluation of a
DSM Political Campaign has forced this assignment to rely basically in adapting the Business Case
example to the Political Ecological Environment through an informed guess.
Finally, due to the fact that Digital & Social Media Political Campaigning seems to be an allencompassing professional function especially in the US thus, encompassing and incorporating the
functions of communication/pr as well as that of digital marketing and that of advertising, which is
resonated to the complexity of the Digital landscape as a conduit and channel through, which both
information is disseminated and influence is attempted to be exerted in Political Campaigns namely
the Social Networking sites, the Internet and email, it was found to be really difficult to decide whether
soft (AMEC, Conclave of SMM Standards) or hard (Social Marketing or Digital Marketing ROI, or
Advertising Metrics) evaluation metrics should be used exclusively especially since all these type of
metrics seem to have been established as standards and promoted with view to the Business or the
Non Profit Sector but not for the Political Communication/Political Campaigning sector per se.
Consequently, it has been decided in the evaluation section to be used a combination of both hard
and soft metrics to evaluate and measure the success of the campaign.
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STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR DIGITAL SOCIAL MEDIA POLITICAL CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT:
RAND PAUL’S CASE
S ECTION 1 - CHALLENGES AND OBJ ECTIVES
1A. CHALLENGES
1B OBJECTIVES
2
0
2
3
4
S ECTION 2 – TECHNIQUES AND REQUIREMENTS
5
2B CRITIQUE
5
2 a) CRITIQUE on official Candidacy Website: randpaul.com & randpaul2016.com5
Valuable content: Paul’s site features views, opinions, statements, positions,
interviews, speeches related to Republican Issues, speech engagements and his vote
track record. This is compelling information that is shared with potential donors,
supporters, family & friends via email.
11
2B PROPOSAL
12
S ECTION 3 – DS M COMMUNICATIONS P LANNING & CAS E
17
3A. INTEGRATED P LANNING
4) APPENDICES
17
20
5) REFERENCES
42
SECTION 1 - Challenges and Objectives
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1a. Challenges
Political Campaign Management General Challenges
General Paul’s Campaign Issues
Challenges
1 Rand Paul target is to come 1st in Iowa & New Hampshire whilst Resonate among Republican Voters as a
2nd in Nevada & 2nd or 3rd in South Carolina Primaries in order to viable alternative to his competitors and as
survive Super Tuesday the Key to the Republican Nomination.
winable against Clinton. Manage to increase
supporting base and mobilise supporters= get
the voters out (who usually do not register) to
register for the primaries.
2 Rand Paul needs to continue making the News & staying in the
spotlight to increase fundraising and simultaneously deepen and
widen his support amongst Republicans. Increase his
Fundraising/donation pool.
Market himself as a promising, best alternative
to Bush, Cruz & Walker.
Emphasize seriousness with Presidential
Profile, Not alienate traditional voters. Appeal
to all the Fiscal Cons or the Libertarians or the
Reaganite faction.
3 Rand Paul to widen & strengthen support base amongst the Persuade them about his leadership & actively
Generations X, Y & the Millenials firstly among Students and Young support his campaign. Secure Young vote for
Americans for Liberty (Republican groups) & 2nd among the the primaries elections.
undecided & Independent. No Rep Pres Cand has more than 8%.
(Harvard opinion poll)
4 Rand Paul's winnability establishment over his competitors. Brand himself as Hillary’s serious contester
Rebrand GOP
without alienating the independents (
Rand Paul’s Digital Political Campaign Communication Challenges
Digital Campaign Issues
Challenges
1
Engage & Interact actively with Republican Potential Voters on
Republican Issues. Relationships Building with potential
voters/supporters, to actively engage them. Mingle Libertarian
& Traditional Republican Agenda.
Actively engaging and interacting with
potential voters to generate advocacy &
user generated content. Deepen & widen
donors’ pool
2
Rand Paul strengthen his support amongst the Generations X, Promote the voting essentiality amongst
Y & the Millenials constituents through tech savy campaign to Young Americans for Liberty & Students
mobilise them.
for Liberty to secure their vote. Deepen &
widen small donors’ pool
3
Rand Paul needs to increase his fundraising donation pool Use Social Media to communicate
through the Internet.
effectively innovative proposals/solutions
upon critical issues. Generate Buzz,
Awareness & favourability among Younger
& older generations. Small & Big Online
Donations
4
Balance out his humorous trolling campaign approach towards Social Media use to counter the
tradeoffs on traditional serious Republican agenda issues
accusations promoting positive results of
his tradeoffs.
5
Rand Paul's winnability establishment over his competitors. Brand himself as Hillary’s serious
Rebrand GOP
contester among Rep without alienating
the independents. Deepen donors’ pool
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1b Objectives
Objectives
Risks
Potential Impact
1 Increase the interaction, engagement, and
support among generations Y & Millenials
via his sites, mobile, apps and Social Media
by 20% to 25 % within 9 months (May 2015
- January 2016).
To increase site visits by 30% to 40%
within 9 months (June 2015- February
2016). Increase registration, donations,
volunteering, & traffic from SM1 to site &
vice versa.
Action: Technical support
and maintenance required.
Integrate & interlink all SM
Accounts to both the
desktop and mobile site.
Inaction: lose competitive
advantage and deter
prospects resulting in
losing the digital campaign
war.
Dedicated passionate,
responsive DSM2 team
required.
Action: Creation of Tablet
& Smart phone Apps
compatible with IOS &
Android
Increase, Donations,
Endorsements,
Engagement, User
Generated (trolling)
Content, Interaction,
Advocacy and calls to
action-mobilisation.
Engage people to
actively reproduce
Trolling Campaign,
U.G.C3 Campaign:
Generating Buzz,
translated to Media
Coverage & Advocacy
2 Continue Successful Trolling Campaign.
Increase User Generated Trolling &
Positive Campaign Content: referrals,
video, etc by 60% during the next 8
months (May 2015-December 2015)
Increase engagement: reposts, retweets,
etc by 60% during the first next 8 months
(May 2015 - December 2015)
Increase Positive Sentiment Twitter
mentions & Facebook comments by 60%
within the next 8 months.
Action: Innovative and
humorous personnel,
humorous and targeted
Tech savy content &
delivery.
Danger: To be viewed as
not serious & not
presidential
Positive increase in
WOM4 interaction,
engagement among
targeted voters.
Identification with the
candidate: Supporters
possibly become
prospective voters:
conversion to Advocacy.
Supporters become
Donors
3 Increase Social Referrals to Rand Paul’s
websites: randpaul.com & randpac.com
by 50% within the next 6 months
Increase website visitors through Adwords
Trolling Campaign & Organic Search and
convert those them into active supporters
by 50% within 6 months.
Inaction: Integration of
social media will be
considerably lower
Increase of conversion of
visitors to become
supporters, endorsers
and widen fundraising
pool. Conversion
youngsters into voters.
4 Increase or maintain News Media
Mentions, Buzz and reports on Rand Paul
in the next 9 months.
(i) To increase news media coverage by
30% within the 7 months
(ii) Increase News Media positive mentions
by 40%, in 4 months.
(iii) To increase News Media positive
coverage by 30%, within the next 4 months
(September 2015-December 2015)
Difficulty in being on two
boats: Responsive to
both traditional & new
generation
simultaneously
Increase appeal and
favorability ratings
among Republicans &
independents.
Convert target groups
into prospective
Republican Primary
voters.
Inaction: Decline in
applications, lower
conversion.
1 SM stands for Social Media
2 DSM stands for Digital Social Media or Digital Social Marketing
3 U.G.C stands for User Generated Content
4 WOM stands for Word of Mouth
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Rand Paul’s Digital Republican Primaries’ Campaign Strategy objectives identified for 2015/16 are 1,
2 and 3
SECTION 2 – Techniques and Requirements
2b Critique
Brand
Rand Paul is a Republican Senator from Kentucky. He has been branded as Unconventional
Republican buffering the Republican establishment and the Tea Party. His brand attracts young
voters/the millennial & the Generation X (Sonies, 2011; Phipps et al., 2010; _ Newman, 2002a;
2002b)
WEBSITE:. Rand Paul organised RandPaul.com site directly connected with all the Social
Media. There all Rand Paul’s tweets appear dynamically & interactively. Rand Paul has 3 more
PAC sites randpac.com & randpac.us rand16.org that interact with his Social Media. Both
should direct traffic to both his social media accounts and towards the randpaul.com. A PAC
created by supporters of Rand Paul1
2 a) CRITIQUE on official Candidacy Website: randpaul.com & randpaul2016.com
ELEMENTS
JUSTIFICATION
Website donation journey:
The home page has a prominent call-to-action:
“Stand with Rand: Join the Movement”!
Space underneath provides amount of total
donations. A slot to put one's email & zip code
to receive newsletter. Right top a prominent
button for donations, directs straight forward to
donation page. Visitors easily navigate the
website without inhibiting online donation
Donation Page enables payments by bitcoin,
PayPal or credit card. Donation buttons are
explicitly shown.
Prominent calls-to-action & buttons repeated in text
and image form generate more responses and
online leads (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012;
p.397 Chaffey and Patron, 2012). Short journey to
donation critical to fundraising effectiveness ((Barko
et al., 2004). Ease surfing the website for Online
Political Citizens or web users (Barko et al.,
2004)Though online political donations can be of
only 2% of the general public they constitute the
24% of the OPC & they usually actively spread the
WOM to others (ibid, p. 9). The donated amount
ranges between 30000$ & 80000$ minimum (Barko
et al., 2004). Online fundraising attracts smaller
donors but helpful (ibid)(Corrado et al., 2010).
Mobile donation journey: The mobile version
of the web site is equally optimised for
donation as the desktop. Its layout is as
above.
Difficulties or really optimised smartphone
customisable apps & site can either inhibit or drive
fundraising for the campaign (Corrado et al., 2010)
(L. Hoffman, 2012; Yaverbaum, 2012; Abrahams
and Bryen, 2015; Kraus, 2015)
Website endorsement journey: Home page
prominently asks visitors to Join. Journey to
endorsements page straight forward without
inhibiting
endorsements.
Endorsements’
interactive map & prominent button-call to
action asking visitors for endorsement. Button
to volunteer & prominent button “add my
endorsement”.
It is critical in US politics & for the endorsement
process the journey to this section of the website to
be straightforward through prominent buttons
consisting of text & image.
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Mobile
endorsement
journey:
The
‘endorsement
button’
is really easily
accessible & prominent in the mobile version.
The mobile version operates as smoothly as
the desktop.
As above.
Critical for political candidate mobile websites to be
easily accessible & operative. Smartphones or
tablets a new trend 50%to get their political
information & to engage with politicians (Rainie,
2015; Cornfield and Rainie, 2003; Rainie, 2013c;
Wallsten, 2010a) 66% use those devices for news
consumption (A. Smith, 2013; Ronsenstiel et al.,
2012; PewResearchCenterJournalismMediaStaff,
2012; Rainie, 2012b; Rainie, Smith, Schlozman,
Brady, and Verba, 2012b; Anderson and Rainie,
2012; Rainie and Anderson, 2012; Rainie, Smith,
Schlozman, Brady, and Verba, 2012a)
Landing page: It features through the
integration of Twitter a headline-slot to see
Rand’s opinions and views & his calls for
action ie: “Defeat the Washington Machine”.
“I need 8 more donors to stay on track”.
Smaller caption slot for registering email
address and zip code. Top left side with
Rand’s Logo and headings direct to Issues,
Rand’s Bio, the Volunteer, the Store and the
News Sections. Just 1 click News Section
straightforward journey. Videos section easily
accessible.
Interactive
map
showing
endorsements. Prominent button-call to action:
to endorse. Section with information for
volunteers. Donate, Like buttons on top right
side.
Web pages that increase brand familiarity, clearly
explain who you are, what you do, where you
operate and what makes you different generate
better responses and online leads(Chaffey and
Ellis-Chadwick, 2012)
The personal message “Defeat the Washington
Machine” seems to resonate with all breeds of
Americans one way or another. Some might identify
it as the Federal state, some others with the big
corporations, the lobbyists & the revolving doors. A
study revealed that such messages can be useful in
helping the candidate to fundraise (Barko et al.,
2004). Rand Paul for President logo enables the
communication of Rand's brand essential for every
US primary & political campaign (Poston, 2013;
Barko, Bassik, Finn, Frenchman, Friedman, Gray,
Jagoda, Kosinski, Shapiro, Tracey, and Winders,
2008a; G. Smith, 2007; IAB, 2012; Lavrakas, 2010)
(Decker and Koster, 2014; Eldredge-Martin and
Ellison, 2014) This might improve conversion rates.
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Social media buttons: Prominent SM Buttons: FB
Like, & Twitter Follow on right top. Click on FB
button directs visitors to like Paul’s FB Account.
Twitter follow button directs to Paul’s Twitter through
login. To interact with either FB or Twitter
respectively & thus interact and respond on Paul’s
views, actions on FB or Twitter, click either on the
right top or bottom of the site. Contrary to interact
with all Rand’s Social Media buttons feature (FB,
Twitter, YouTube, Google+ & Instagram one needs
to click on bottom. This might hinder efforts to sign
up immediately when entering Social Media Sites
due to their position at the btm. YouTube videos
easily accessed through RandPaul.com in the
middle of the page: Latest Videos. Pinterest button
non-existent & not integrated in the site though Paul
has. This inhibits efforts to drive traffic from site to
this SM & vice versa. These Social Media direct
traffic to FB as they are linked. The non-existent
linkage between the site & Pinterest account hinders
efforts to drive traffic to the website. Through FB
Twitter, Google+ YouTube the visitor can access
almost all Rand Paul’s websites as they include link
to it. Rand’s Google+ is directly linked to all his SM.
Rand’s FB has prominent buttons towards his
Twitter account (directing that traffic there) &
prominent buttons for donations & endorsements:
donation journey easy. An unofficial FB page exists
without direct links to his site.
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Social sharing buttons provide the ability to spread
content, increase traffic and even aid SEO efforts
(Colwyn, 2014). SM sharing & engagement buttons are
quintessential for any political campaign since they
operate as a WOM (word of mouth) & thus can operate
as multipliers of the candidate’s political & campaign
message(Rosenblatt, 2015c; Ponder, 2015; Effing et al.,
2011; Rosenblatt, 2014c; Kyumin Lee, 2013; K. Peters et
al., 2013; Kaushik, 2009; Angela, 2015; Metzgar and
Maruggi, 2009; Petersen, 2013; Rainie, 2012b).
Further, they operate as successful tools of voter microtargeting & as pools of collecting Big Data on
users/visitors useful for getting the vote out, which in the
end is the end game of any campaign ((A. Smith, 2014b;
Rainie, 2013c; Cornfield and Rainie, 2003; Rainie, 2015;
Barko et al., 2004) (A. Smith, 2009)
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Competition: Ted Cruz’s site His site
https://www.tedcruz.org has a similar outline
and design. Content similar if not identical.
Cruz’s site is simpler than Paul’s. Layout is
less rich & possibly easier. Cruz’s site has a
slight different design with Logo on the top
centre. Prominent donate button stands alone
on the right. On the left top a scroll down
menu allows scrolling towards themes like:
bio, proven record, news feeds, donate,
contact & social media with smaller buttons for
FB, Twitter & YouTube. On main page a
video of Cruz speech & next to it a slot for
visitors to register. Underneath slots to click
upon to either donate, support and receive
news. The Proven Record section with all
Cruz’s political Conservative positions &
stands is thematically divided into four: a)
constitution, b) stronger-safer America, c) lifemarriage family, d) jobs & opportunities. 3 very
big prominent buttons directing to Cruz’s SM.
The logo again underneath & 2 SM info
buttons counting FB likes & Twitter followers.
Cruz’s donation journey is equally easy to that
of Further, Cruz’s site enables donations via a
pdf form, a Google docs form or via email.
Whereas Paul accepts donations via bitcoins
but Ted Cruz’s site does not give that option.
Contrary to Cruz Rand’s site does not
categorise his views & opinions thematically
something, which possibly can confuse visitors
who might want to be informed thematically.
Absence of main video message in Rand’s
website might make his site less attractive.
Rand’s YouTube is linked only to his site,
Ted’s is linked to both his site & all his SM.
Competitor analysis and benchmarking of
competitor use of digital marketing for acquisition
and retention is especially important because of the
dynamic & interactive nature of digital campaigning.
(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012)). In political
campaigning candidates’ website, & microsite
layout, user friendliness, appearance & working
seems to play an essential if not critical role in both
attracting visitors and converting them into
supporters & possibly voters. Especially during the
primaries. Contrary to Ted Cruz, Rand Paul did not
face the challenge of at least of one of the domains
with his brand name to endorse Hillary Clinton as
picture shows whereas others redirect to beach
pictures. (Camia, 2015b; Koplowitz, 2015). These
Ted
Cruz
domains
include
tedcruzforpresident.org,tedcruz2016.com
&
tedcruz2016.org since March 2014. According to
Troy Kavady these domains have been managed in
the end to redirect traffic to the current website
(Camia, 2015a)
SEARCH & Adwords:
ELEMENTS
JUSTIFICATION
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Google Adwords Campaign: Since Google Adwords
are a form of paid search Paul placed adwords to
appear whenever one searched either for Bush/ US
politicians/ political terms. Paul’s website appears on
the top organic results when searching with relevant
keywords. He comes 1st or 2nd depending on the
keywords a) Rand Paul, or randpaul or rand paul
respectively. This campaign proved successful as
through low cost advertising, people were familiarised
with his brand. Paul’s initial Adwords trolling strategy
proved successful as his Adwords appeared on the top
of the page2 and became viral and thus made the news
because he managed to “capture hostage” Jeb Bush’s
campaign
announcement.
Paul’s
candidacy
announcement social media did not create as much
buzz or splash as Ted Cruz because Paul announced
second as reports show. Paul’s announcement was
mentioned 150000 times whereas Ted Cruz’s 450000
(Catanese, 2015b; 2015a)3.
Placing these adwords on the top of the page
Paul could direct traffic & clicks towards both
his sites: randpaul.com & randpac.com
This is the best position to put paid adds as
85% of the consumers click whatever is on the
top (Miller, 2012)Google Adwords are a clever,
cost-effective (Google only requires you to pay
for ads that have been clicked on)(Agranoff,
2013;
GoogleStaff,
2014;
OnlineCandidateTeam,
2014;
Fitzpatrick,
2014;
GoogleCampaignTeam,
2014b;
Caroline, 2011) way of introducing the wouldbe Bush or Huckabee fans to Paul. Ie: 100
people search ‘Jeb Bush,’ and 20 or 30 of
them click on Rand instead,” Stafford said.
“We want people to click on it. “Harris danced:
“Those names seem like people that it would
certainly make sense to advertise on with
targeted messages as the year progresses…
The digital side of the PAC and Rand 2016 will
always be engaging where the news is.”
AdWords to target potential voters is extremely
savvy and potentially much more cost effective
than other campaigning methods ((Glueck,
2015) (Maupin, 2015; Buck, 2012; Lardinois,
2012; Rosenblatt, 2014b)
Social media: Almost all Rand Paul’s interviews,
comments, announcements & views are shared
throughout his SM. The flagships remain Twitter &
Facebook with second Google+ as these tools have
been widely established as appropriate for political
campaigning. SE results strengthen site position. SM
Buzz increase PageRank (Rosenblatt, 2015c; 2015b;
2014b; 2014a; 2014d; 2014c; Sifry, 2014)
SE5 incorporate social signals (Facebook likes,
retweets, Google+ posts) to inform their
search results (Stelzner, 2015) (Stelzner,
2013). SE incorporation of SM signals that
widen search results is widely mentioned as
having significant influence on political
campaigning
(Hackett
et
al.,
2015;
CampaignGrid, 2014a; 2014b; Person and
OConnell, 2011; Eldredge-Martin and Ellison,
2014) (Yamamoto et al., 2013; Almacy et al.,
2012)
ELEMENTS
Metrics: It is impossible to measure how many of the
website or the social media visitors donated or became
volunteers during and immediately after his
announcement because the buzz generated from the
announcement was low. It is impossible to measure
the mentions, positive & negative sentiments generated
by his announcement for the same reason.
JUSTIFICATION
Election viral digital campaigning should be linked
with the campaign objectives to be effective(Harris,
2014). Viral marketing should direct people to a
social network, a blog, or a community in order to
engage with others sharing common interest & with
the candidate (Barko, Bassik, Finn, Frenchman,
Friedman, Gray, Jagoda, Kosinski, Shapiro, Tracey,
and Winders, 2008b; Graf et al., 2006; A. Smith,
2009) (Barko and Wells, 2004; Barko et al., 2004;
Darr, 2009) (Li and Bernoff, 2014). Viral Digital
Campaigning’s purpose is to attract attention to the
candidate and to multiply the strength & appeal of
5 SE stands for Search Engine
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the message and to convert audiences
supporters, endorsers & donors.
Social media accounts: Paul’s official candidacy FB
has 2 million likes with approximately 3 or 4 posts per
day. Paul uses FB to invite visitors to play 3 different
games through which he attempts to discredit & attack,
Obama, the Democrats’ governmental heritage and
Hillary Clinton. The 1st is Obama Game. A quiz
appears asking visitors to answer questions by
choosing who said the quote King George III or
Obama. The 2nd is “State of the Union Fact Check”. Its
purpose is to Obama’s recent State of the Union to his
previous statements. The 3rd game is called “Who said
it: Hillary or Ayatollah?” There are videos of Paul’s
appearances, links to events, a special link “Get your
Gear” redirecting to Paul’s store, link to his book, to
calls to action, donation, endorsement, volunteering,
etc. Both the FB & the Twitter pushed content is pithy,
visual memes, images & games reflecting Harris’
innovative strategies.
into
Tracking is crucial to measuring the Return on
the Candidate of a successful SM campaign
((Orsburn, 2011; D. L. Hoffman and Fodor,
2010; L. Hoffman, 2012).
Paul’s recent FB Insights reveal that he has
lost the buzz momentum for the time being as
there is a 44% fall in new page likes compared
to the previous week. It can be explained since
both Hillary & Rubio announced their
candidacies. Contrary Paul’s Twitter continues
to have momentum.
SM Accounts & particularly FB is very useful
tool
for
any
campaign
to
collect
psychographic, demographic, attitude &
behavioural data that are useful in tailoring
election online display & targeted advertising t
(Barko, Bassik, Finn, Frenchman, Friedman,
Gray, Jagoda, Kosinski, Shapiro, Tracey, and
Winders, 2008b).
EMAIL: Email marketing is amongst the essential mix of tools Rand Paul’s digital communication
campaign uses. Its importance lies in achieving all campaign goals: a) engagement, b) interaction, c)
donations, e) volunteering, f) mobilisation. Michael Gilbert suggests: “Repeat after me: ‘E-mail is more
important than my Web site!’” ((Barko and Wells, 2004; p.18 Barko et al., 2004). Some further
elements are explored below
ELEMENTS
Email database: Visitors of Paul’s sites are
asked to sign up to emails & newsletters updates
asking them their email & zip code. This is a
standard procedure in US elections and the best
way to collect Big Data relevant & useful for the
digital campaign. Thus higher levels of
fundraising, engagement and mobilisation can be
achieved. Email database enables the 2 most
important election campaign functions: a)
fundraise again and again, b) mobilisation
JUSTIFICATION
Contact data is the type of data collected in email
marketing (Colwyn, 2014). Contact Data is what is
collected through email campaigns & is critical of the
success of the campaign (Barko and Wells, 2004; A.
Smith, 2009; Cornfield and Rainie, 2003). As IPDI
2004 research revealed a good e-mail list is the
greatest fundraising resource ((Barko et al., 2004).
Collection of accurate big data is essential as it can
improve campaign management (Housley et al.,
2014; van Rijmenam, 2013; Gurbaskh, 2013; 2015;
Chahal, 2015; Abse, 2012; Shen, 2013; Sudhahar,
Veltri, and Cristianini, 2015a; Anderson and Rainie,
2012). In 2004 presidential primaries showed that
email spread the influentials’ influence on Americans
that 87% of them had signed up to receive e-mail
and 66 %t of them had forwarded e-mail to others.
The Key is if you give your online sup- porters
something clever, humorous or compelling to
forward, and they will do it!
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Valuable content: Paul’s site features views, opinions,
statements, positions, interviews, speeches related to
Republican Issues, speech engagements and his vote
track record. This is compelling information that is
shared with potential donors, supporters, family &
friends via email.
Smart, relevant, & compelling email content
can widely benefit the campaign as email
campaigns can be fully trackable by the
candidate’s war room: who opened, clicked, or
forwarded it etc. This allows campaigns to
collect useful wealthy data (IABNETSTAFF,
2012; Glushko, 2008; IAB, 2012; Becker,
2014; Jeremy, 2008; Office, 2012; van
Rijmenam, 2013; CampaignGrid, 2014a;
Gurbaskh, 2015).The whole point of viral
marketing is to create an e-mail buzz, which
will drive the candidate’s fundraising or
endorsement message(Barko and Wells,
2004)
SOCIAL Media & Digital Trolling PreCampaign:
ELEMENTS
Social Media Trolling: Paul’s trolling hashtags are:
#HillarysLosers
after
her
announcement
,#thingstorunfrom referring to Hillary, Bush & Romney’s
potential pres. candidacies, #StandwithRand. Equally
he joked about Bush’s friendship with Romney. Paul
tweeted 250 Tweets till June that generated buzz &
mentions. He fell short in 150 Tweets from Bush &.
That led him to have high engagement through Twitter
by users. Engagement is specially high among the
Millennials, Generation X & Generation Y; who until
now scarcely registered to vote.
JUSTIFICATION
Sarcasm & humour makes good election viral
trolling. Kreis (BARNARD and KREISS, 2013;
Kreiss, 2014; Bello, 2012) argues that Obama often
used that strategy in 2012, “ it is social media; it can
be snarky & humorous in ways other genres of
political discourse don’t allow for”(Glueck, 2015;
Samuelsohn, 2014). Using trolling to get attention is
“a step to the right direction” Betsy Hoover Obama’s
2012 digital organiser suggested (ibid). Viral Digital
Campaigning’s purpose is to attract attention and
brand the candidate” and into the news cycle Harris
reveals Politico (Glueck, 2015). Paul succeeded to
convert audiences into supporters, endorsers &
donors through trolling. Potential dangers: a)
alienate less tech-savy voters and b) to tire one’s
audience (Topaz and Schreckinger, 2015; Cheney,
2015; J. W. Peters, 2015; EditorialStaff, 2015;
Chalfant, 2015; Dugan, 2015; Lindsay, 2015;
Beinart, 2014; BallotpediaStaff, 2015; Nuzzi, 2015;
Watson, 2015; Goldman, 2015; Samuelsohn, 2015;
Spiering, 2015b; Roller, 2015; Sullivan, 2015;
Maupin, 2015; Boyd, 2014; Saenz, 2015; Sherfinski,
2014; Bartlett, 2015; Carlson, 2015; Spiering, 2015a;
Rothkopf, 2015; Green, 2015)
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Metrics: Tweet: “@HillaryClinton travels she's going to
need a separate plane just for all her baggage.
http://www.libertynothillary.com/“ got 450 favorites &
422 retweets. Tweet asserting that Hillary is the
personification of a Washington Machine received 938
favorites & 1.4ks. Paul posted more than 100 videos
and received almost 62,000 views. His positive
messages such as “Defend against enemies who
attack America”, “Its about time to limit the terms of
Congress” & “The Washington Machine that gobbles
up our freedoms must be stopped” received
respectively, 1,5-4,2 & 3,4k creating thus high hype &
buzz.
12
Tracking is crucial to measuring the Return on
Candidate of a successful social media
campaign (Orsburn, 2011). Most hashtags &
posts are small and pithy with visual memes or
videos or links to both Paul’s websites, FB &
YouTube. This enables the campaign to direct
traffic towards all its mediums & possibly
manage conversion.
2b PROPOSAL
The set targets are predominantly conversion & acquisition led. This proposal aims to improve both
campaign websites and to optimise further the mobile website with further improvements. The second
aim is to integrate further Rand Paul’s Social Media with the websites and to interconnect them with
each other as well in order to direct traffic from one another thus facilitating further conversion rates.
Additionally, the aim is to strengthen Digital and Display Political Advertising along the different Social
Media Platforms tackle Objective 2.
SUGGESTIONS
RATIONALE
Website:
The usability design of a donation page
Rand Paul’s websites integration with Instagram can greatly affect the number of donations.
and Pininterest to enable the candidate to Fundraising research(Corrado et al., 2010;
interact and engage further. Ease and flexible Fluskey, 2013; Beckel, 2014) indicated that
site journey, facilitate search. More accessible donation page conversion rates on a
thematic categorisation. Objectives 1 & 2.
fundraising campaign vary had a variance
To enable the above theme categories should from the best to the worst performing of
be more clear-cut in the home page.
30% (2011). A 30% improvement of
Directly link through clear buttons with conversion rates – or even half of that Instagram,
Pininterest
and
randpac.com could make a significant difference in
website. Improve SM connectivity and terms of cost per acquisition online(Rao,
integration to the website. These changes can 2010; Bartz et al., 2012)
maximise SEO functionality and thus Search
Engine results(Lieb, 2011; eMarketer, 2012;
Econsultancy, 2015; Friedlein, 2014; Ratcliff,
2014) (Anderson and Rainie, 2012; Rainie,
2013a;
Rainie
and
Anderson,
2012;
GooglePoliticsElectionsTeam, 2013; Kent et al.,
2011; Shen, 2013; Burby and Brown, 2006;
Chaffey and Patron, 2012; BrandwatchStaff,
2013; Madsen, 2015).
Use Google Analytics to track them
Personalisation: Freely available tools such as Grasping one’s audience is quintessential
cookies to be used to monitor better visitor for any DSM campaign as personalisation
usage and analytics. It will help to monitor attracts visitors. Personalisation can
donation,
endorsement
and
volunteering identify the visitor with the content thus
registration behaviour through site CMS.
making conversion easy (Lieb, 2011;
Pulizzi and Barry, 2014).
Social media buttons MOBILE: Mobile site Electoral Campaigns demand to develop
optimization to meet Objective 1 (i)
smart apps & to interconnect SM with
Integrate and connect through the mobile site websites to have a robust presence and
both Instagram and Pininterest. To develop or attract voters. (A. Smith, 2014a; 2013; 2009;
mobile applications for iPad, iPhone and Android C. Smith, 2013; Mitchell et al., 2015; Ellis,
to meet the growing trend showing that a 2012;
increasingly people access news and political PewResearchCenterJournalismMediaStaff,
information through tablets and smartphones (A. 2012; Rainie, Smith, Schlozman, Brady, and
Smith, 2014a; Mitchell and Page, 2014; Ellis, Verba, 2012b; Rainie, 2013c; Rainie and
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2012; A. Smith, 2014b; Rainie, 2012b; 2013c;
Rainie, Smith, Schlozman, Brady, and Verba,
2012b; A. Smith, 2009; Purcell, 2012; Rainie,
2011; 2012c; RevolutionmessagingStaff, 2012;
Bosomworth, 2015; Lafrance, 2012)
13
Anderson, 2012; Purcell, 2012; Rainie, 2011;
RevolutionmessagingStaff, 2012;
Bosomworth, 2015; Lafrance, 2012).
SUGGESTIONS
Key phrase analysis: Use Keywords and key
phrases repositioning the site to attract targeted
constituent segments/publics by analysing possible
search phrases SE visitors use, through web
analytics. SEO promotes a campaign since it
delivers relevant content in search listings, inciting
users to click on them (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick,
2012; Chaffey and Patron, 2012; Díaz et al.,
2013).SEO: Optimizing SEO will be advantageous to
Objective 1: number of visitors and helping
conversion. Daily refresh of headline attractions to
trigger interest of past, continuous and future
visitors. 7% of traffic comes from Organic search
engines whereas the 93% comes from paid ads
RATIONALE
External links are of high importance as
ranking factors for SEO campaigns
influencing
thus PPC.
PageRank
increases Google publicity dynamics
(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012;
Chaffey and Patron, 2012; Berry, 2006;
Banerjee et al., 2013).
46% is a direct traffic, 9,5% from referrals, 18,8
is Search Engines traffic 23,4% from SM, 2,26 from
mail & 0,67 from Display(Semrush, 2015b; 2015d;
SemRushStaff, 2015a; 2015b) (Chaffey and EllisChadwick, 2012; Chaffey and Patron, 2012) (Miller,
2012; Stephens et al., 2014; Sudhahar, Veltri, and
Cristianini, 2015b)traffic.
Social media: Daily SM updates will inspire more
unique visits and clicks.
SM have elevated to ranking factors
(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012).
PAID SEARCH: Paid search marketing is quintessential due to the fact that SEO cannot guarantee
top scores in organic search chart. It is a long-term way to move upwards but it is a low cost strategy
that in the end yields positive effects in PPC as well (2014):
SUGGESTIONS
Pay-Per-Click (PPC): PAID SEARCH
Google Adwords– Objectives 1, 2 and 4 will be
facilitated and will help the campaign to get the
maximum of Return on the Candidate. To use PPC
to boost candidate visibility thus maximising SEO 6
through terms and searches relevant to Rand Paul
and his presidential campaign website. To plan
and execute a tech savy display ad campaign
targeting young republican voters responding on
issues relevant to them. To implement a keyword
phrase adword trolling campaign in order Paul’s
website to appear in the top ranks. Risks to
consider with the implementation of SEO
processes mainly derive from the time and
resources necessary to achieve success since
Google algorithms for PageRanks are continually
changed.(ryan, 2009; Ryan, 2014).
RATIONALE
The Scope is to appear at the top 5 SEO results
in the presidential candidate arena for Paul to
be lucky of a click because the organic search
results usually appear in the bottom
(Econsultancy, 2015; Friedlein, 2014; Miller,
2012; Rosenblatt, 2014b; Baker, 2007).
6 SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation
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ADVERTISING : Tailored to facilitate Objective
2
To create online and display ad campaign using
behavioural and geo targeting tools to be
transmitted via Facebook, YouTube, Google Plus
targeting especially registered republicans and
young voters in particular.
SOCIAL:
SUGGESTIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA: Paid Ads & Analytics to
target Objective 2 audience, and will also aid
Objective 1.To run a paid advertising
campaign on Facebook specifically targeting
under 40 (Objective 2). Facebook has been
prioritised as a quintessential tool for the
primary political campaign as previous
elections revealed. 4
To raise visitability rate as well as both the
interaction and engagement respective rates
it is critical to tweet at least 6 per day and to
post to Facebook 6 times per day as well to
engage his audiences and to compete with
Ted Cruz.
Monitoring and listening: : Demographic
data collection through tools FB Insights,
Twitter Analytics & Google Trends as well as
through paid SM Monitoring platforms the
campaign can Through these tools, Paul’s
team could congregate information and
monitor interaction and engagement and
measure sentiment (BrandwatchStaff, 2013;
Murdough, 2012)
Viral marketing: Paul needs to exploit his
successful trolling campaign against his
opponents by making it viral
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The Google for Elections toolkit has been widely
used in all previous election campaigns with
high level of success with relatively low cost
(Hartwig, 2013; Fitzpatrick, 2014; 2012b;
2012d)
RATIONALE
FB Display and online advertising and video
advertising captivating campaigning that raises
visibility of the campaign can engage campaign
followers and inspire them to interact and
advocate through UGC (Dhar and Chang, 2009;
Solutions, 2012; gregv, 2008; Sifry, 2012;
Millington, 2015; Plevriti, 2014) (Fitzpatrick,
2012c; 2012a; 2012d; A. Smith, 2014b;
PewResearchCenterJournalismMediaStaff, 2012;
Rosenblatt, 2014a; 2014b; 2015a; 2015c; 2014d;
2014c; 2015d; Rainie, Smith, Schlozman, Brady,
and Verba, 2012a; 2012b)
SM monitoring, listening and sentiment
analysis through feedback can help the
candidate to evaluate the success and the
impact of his campaign and adapt accordingly.
(BrandwatchStaff, 2013; Murdough, 2010;
2012; Zhu and Zhao, 2013; Boies, 2012;
Golbeck and Hansen, 2014)
Tracking & Monitoring viral campaigns are key
in guaranteeing its effectiveness (Chaffey and
Ellis-Chadwick, 2012; BrandwatchStaff, 2013;
Boies, 2012; Paarlberg, 2015; Collister et al.,
2013; Whatley, 2011; Prabowo and Thelwall,
2009)
Influencers: Rand’s campaign needs to
If candidates can get & have the support of
identify Republican friendly leaning
social media influencers who would engage
activists, journalists, pundits (influencers)
and advocate their ideas on their behalf
to actively promote and multiply the
through social networks this can have the dual
virality and the spread of his message.
effect of enabling candidates to reach more
Influencers’ support & endorsement is
people through their social graph and
useful in elections (Li and Bernoff, 2014;
simultaneously to improve their ranking
Graf and Darr, 2004)
(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012; Chaffey
and Patron, 2012; BrandwatchStaff, 2013;
Graf and Darr, 2004)
In SM engagement lies the danger of falling within opponents spawn negative & aggressive
WOM campaign. Discussions need to be Monitored & rebuttals to be issued where necessary
to control the agenda.
EMAIL: Email in an effective digital marketing tool without requiring special software, and their
turnover could be easily measured & monitored. In Elections, email strategies have been really
helpful for recruiting supporters, donations and to get the vote out. Thus, the ROC upon this
strategy is high.
SUGGESTIONS
RATIONALE
EMAIL & Email Database: Email is a Email could be characterised as an effective
targeting tool to reach the publics & uses communication platform of great importance in
information from the campaign & the website political digital campaigns. Therefore Paul’s
databases to facilitate Objectives 1, 2, 3 and attention towards email strategy will result in
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to get out the vote. Personalised emails
targeting registered people with Paul’s sites
& registered Republicans or Independents
(Hopkins, 2009). Emails will be sent to
increase Campaign site CTR ((Chaffey and
Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Tailor unique emails
in response to residency area, state.
Optimise Smartphone & Tablet email
opening for users. = Increase responses by
63% (Tancer, 2014) (A. Smith, 2014b; 2009;
Cornfield and Rainie, 2003; Barko et al.,
2004). Maximise pol interaction, engagement
& advocacy. FB & Twitter buttons to included
in emails.
Email tracking: To track the online
performance of email recipients thus acquire
valuable
data
regarding
forecasting
donations. This could be achieved through
Google Analytics by tagging links in
emails(Colwyn, 2014; Bosomworth, 2015).
Call-to-actions: Exact strategy & punctuality
to materialise call-to-action email
information.
Content: Careful design of packaged info
regarding main issues, themes of Rand’s
Campaign to maintain recipients interest.
increasing the voting pool.
(PewResearchCenterJournalismMediaStaff,
2012; A. Smith, 2013; 2014a; Rainie, 2013b;
2012b; A. Smith, 2009; Rainie, 2013c; 2012a;
Rainie, Smith, Schlozman, Brady, and Verba,
2012b). Considering the wide use of smartphones
& tablets for political information it is wise to
invest on optimising emails through those devices
as in that way Paul can communicate his views &
simultaneously pitch for more small online
donations(Graf et al., 2006)
By tracking the email recipients & segmenting
them according to their behaviour in target groups
it would be achievable to forecast donations by
specific movements towards each group.(ryan,
2009; Ryan, 2014).
Potential voters reached by emails are the main
focus of DSM Campaigners to foresee blooming
voting results.
Content suitable to DSM Campaign aims
ensuring recipients interest & stimulation.
Packaged in a punchy way (ryan, 2009; Pulizzi
and Barry, 2014; Lieb, 2011; Dhar and Chang,
2009).
2 c) CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
(Critical success factors are ranked in order of importance with #1 being the most important).
CSF RANK
RISKS IF NOT ACHIEVED
GENERAL
1.Dedicated, Tech Savy, passionate,
Engaging Digital Campaign Team
Failure of all objectives as the DSM
plan cannot be implemented.
2. Maintaining & enhancing the current
by Harris DSM team
Change of the team could prove
disastrous.
3. Integrated messaging, promotion,
marketing interactive & engaging
content, through all digital marketing &
communication channels.
Digital platforms will be working
independently, causing inconsistent
brand messaging & creating obstacles
to the interaction with users and in the
conversion of social media users into
donors or endorsers. If platforms not
integrated: site visitors will face
difficulties engaging the candidate SM.
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4. Continual monitoring through a variety
of tools, platforms and models Social
Marketing
ROI,
AMEC
Model’s
Advocacy, Social Media Monitoring &
Sentiment Analysis etc.)
Failure of tracking & monitoring digital
presence, that generates buzz,
interaction, which delivers consistent,
engaging
messages
results
in
communication & persuasion failure.
5. Continual engagement & ad campaign
through Paid Ads, Paid SE Trolling
Campaign & SM SR when users type
keywords to get high Search results.
Essential Paul to continue commenting
on all candidates. Proper determination
of keywords and key phrases requires a
high level of skill and knowledge in the
industry and search marketing.
Campaign is successful in directing a
portion of SE users into Paul’s
website. Converting portion of them
into
active
supporters:
Donors,
Endorsers etc. (citation). If strategy
abandoned
Paul
stops
gaining
supporters by associating himself
through paid campaign with the other
Candidates. The sites will stop
appearing on top SE positions: low
traffic levels: impacting donations,
endorsements, potentially volunteering
OBJECTIVE 1
1. Digital Campaign Systems, CRM,
CMS, Social Media Management,
Social Media Monitoring platforms,
Geo targeting tools/apps in place to
support and make the DSM team’s
job more effective & easy.
2. Maintaining the sites
3. Creative Ad Platforms & Software
If systems faulty/ unavailable more
personnel
is
needed
making
procedure more time consuming, &
less effective endangering targeting
groups effectively. Interaction with the
candidate less efficient inhibiting
engagement & advocacy. Absence of
tools costs earned & owned media
attention.
OBJECTIVE 2
2. Access to monthly metric reports,
analytics, Social Media Monitoring Buzz
and sentiment analysis reports.
Without Measurement tools Paul’s
Team cannot monitor continually all
stages of the campaign, evaluate its
impact. Campaign cannot be adapted
or adjusted.
3. Content relevant, catchy & engaging
to Republicans and on SM. Content that
distinguishes Paul from traditional
Republicans. Such content can generate
Advocacy
for
Paul’s
presidential
candidacy among voters.
Small Donors will not engage with
sites through any DSM channel if the
content is not deemed relevant &
engaging to them. SM Users will not
endorse or advocate, comment or will
reproduce Paul’s content if less
engaging or humorous. SM users will
not create content in response and in
line with the campaign.
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SECTION 3 – DSM Communications Planning & Case
3a. Integrated Planning
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Return on the Candidate will be calculated according to the ROI model because it has been
decided that the Return on Investment for Rand Paul since the major issue is to increase the
donation pool and increase donations to have enough funds for the campaign since in US when
candidates run out of funds they have to withdraw from the race. Thus, Rand Paul’s return on
investment is 4,928 % as he has spent $1.012000 and with that budget he managed to gain small
and online donations of the amount of the $6.000000. The major objective in any US political
campaign is to increase online and small donation pool as both online & small donations have
proved from both the 2008 & 2012 Presidential Elections that play a major role in the success of an
election campaign. The Obama case has proved that acquisition, retain and conversion through
visits, engagement & advocacy of potential voters increase the chances of converting these people
into donors.
In this Assignment’ s body are not counted for the page limit:
a) Cover Page
b) Acknowledgements & Disclaimer
c) Table of Contents
d) Appendices
e) Reference list
f) Bibliography.
For this Assignment Papers3 app for Mac (Student Edition) has been used for
both the in text citations, the Reference List & the Bibliography. Papersapp for
Mac is available online via: http://www.papersapp.com/mac/
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4) Appendices
4 a) LEESBURG GRID
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LEESBURG GRID: Message Development and TEXT
What You say about You
What You Say about Your Opponent
libertarian, against state/Federal interference, for limiting
the state favouring the rights of the states vs the federal,
cut federal spending, balanced budget, no subsidies for
corporations or banks, no bailout for corporations or banks,
bailout of banks or corporations destroyed democracy, free
market competition, Against Internet taxation, cut taxes,
Against Censoring Internet: Against PIPA, SOPA, Patriot
Act is what the Founding Fathers Feared. Cut Corporate
tax to create jobs, Life begins at conception, transportation
Security Administration is a testament to Islamic terrorist's
success, ISIS is terrorism but no clear threat to US
interests: Against intervention unless critical/clear threat to
US interests. War on Terror justifies eliminating Terrorists
but no Nation Building. Roll Back from Afganistan. Against
over militarisation of Foreign Policy. Lift Cuba Embargo it
has not worked. Engage Friends & Foes to dialogue,
Proponent of Free Trade Foreign/International Policy.
Against New Regulations on Trade & Environmental
Issues derived from Int. Treaties. Trade, etc have no effect
on Environment. Lover of Liberty. Reform Immigration
Laws/Statuses. Illegal Immigrants are not bad. Immigrants
are Assets!!! Voted For Spending Cuts, Voted Against
Corp Subsidies, Voted against bailout, Voted against
Internet Taxation, PIPA, SOPA. Record of Actions
Following promises. Cut Relative Defence Spending, Limit
Foreign Aid, Upholding constitution is primary to the fight
against Terrorism. Stop Foreign Aid to Countries/People
who hate us. Not Isolationist but favours Dialogue &
Realism in IR. Against NAFTA Superstate, Against UN
inhibiting US Sovereignty. Anti-Establisment Libertarian.
socially permissive, fiscally cautious. LGTB people's rights
should not be canonised by the Government. Criminal
Justice Reform Record to correct Criminal Justice Paul has
extended his message of liberty to legislation that would
reform prisons, restore voting rights and welfare benefits to
ex-felons, and legalize medical marijuana
neo-conservative
FP,
traditionalist
GOP,
social
conservative, unwinable against other candidates or
Hillary, lacks sympathy of the young Millenials, Generation
X & of common people. Will not change the GOP, AntiEstablishment Social Con Libertarian. Hawkish but neoconservative FP gives ammunition to US foes. Supports
unsustainable economically & politically & damaging to US
FP, Presenting himself as Reaganesque & Reagan's FP
heir because he lacks his own FP views, ideas or agenda.
holding himself as paragon in the mold of Reagan. Will
Split the Republicans. Ted is Tea Party Extreme. Ted allies
with warmongering faction. Ted forced the government
shutdown. Plays the religious card. Anti-Minority, AntiLGTB right stance. Record of fighting against LGTB rights.
No views on corporate tax or corporate behavior. Avoids to
speak about drug trafficking. Too Conservative to win
against Hillarry. No position on Internet Censorship. Ted
has supported companies on Intellectual Property Theft &
then Lied. Untrustworthy. Ted against criminal system
reform. Ted too religious. Old Guard Disenhanced from
Young People's needs. Unable to promote cross-partisan
cooperation and engage Democrats on critical issues
Too soft on National Security, Flip-Flopper: Not to be
Trusted: Changes views on FP every time, controversial
views, too soft on immigration, Non Reaganesque, too soft
on Iran-ISIS. Too soft on Drugs: Believes it is a state right.
Ran is a Media Establishment Darling so no AntiEstablishment. Rand Cannot Unite the Party. Rand cannot
attract both Religious, Con & libertarian voters. Rand will
threaten US world leadership. Not Presidential: No
Gravitas. Too dovish. New wave Republican not resonates
with the base. Rand alienates conservative Tea Party
Grassroots base Too soft on Immigration. Supported
Liberal Policies opposed by Conservative Grassroots Base
I'm despised by GOP establishment, but so was Reagan.
Reaganesque, Reagan's views. Unite the Party. Principled
politician. Hold my views never betray them. Trustworthy
actions & promises. Against Internet Taxes. Strong
Conservative Credentials: voting record. US should remain
the leader of the Free world, Anti Establishment
Conservative. Tea Party Grassroots representative. Tough
on Illegal Immigration. Securing our borders. Strong Voting
Record on all Conservative Issues. Not Media Favourite.
True Conservative Values. Opposed all Liberal State
interference Initiatives
Rand Paul
Ted Cruz
What Your Opponent says about You
What Your Opponent says about Himself
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4 b) SWAT ANALYSIS
Internal
Attribut
es of
the
Organiz
ation
External
Attribut
es in
the
Environ
ment
HELPFUL TO YOUR
CAMPAIGN OR PROJECT
HURTFUL TO YOUR
CAMPAIGN OR PROJECT
Libertarian, Resonates with Young Voters, Support from
Students of Liberty & Young Americans for Liberty.
Support from Millenials & Generation X. Reform GOP,
Reform Republicans, High Fundrasing, Strong Support in
Kentaky, Iowa, Modern Views, Able to coordinate crosspartisan cooperation, Momentum in Social/New Media
through Digital Campaign, Momentum in Mainstream
Media, Strong Successful Digital Campaign Team (Track
Record), Strong in Polls Anti-Establishment record,
Innovative Political & Policy Ideas, Strong Brand with
Libertarians, Independents & Moderates. Own Views on
Most Issues, Interactivity of all Websites & Interaction
with Most Social Media Accounts. Calls to Action,
Support, & Fundrasing. Strongholds in Kentucky, Iowa
etc. Successful Agressive, Attack, Passive(Humorous)
Trolling Campaign: very high Buzz in both New/Social &
Traditional Media: Most times made headlines, likes,
followers, comments etc. Cannot fit into any Ideological
box. Can reach Affrican Americans. High exposure to the
media. Reformer. Extremely sussesful use of Adwords
Changing Completely FP views, Viewed as lesser
Conservative,
Does
not
convice
Social
Conservatives,
Christian
Right
&
Neo
Conservatives: Not viewed as Christian Believer,
Previous FP opinions established him as dovish &
soft on National Issues. New FP views as Flipp
Floper, Cannot fit into any Ideological box. Not
clearly conservative record. High Exposure to the
Media. Can reach to African Americans allienates
southern republican voters. Dovish compared to
Hillary Clinton.
Digital Strategy to persuade & mobilise Young
Republicans to participate & vote in the primaries.
Highlight weaknesses of his contesters, generate through
trolling buzz & Social Media support: increase his
fundraising base. Make the News: Set the Agenda.
Rebrand the Republican Party & the GOP. Through
Trolling & Digital Campaign to strengthen his association
with the Millenials & Generation X & African Americans.
Target primary voters & mobilise them more effectively
using Obama's model.
Flip Flopper, Too dovish-soft on FP issues
alienates many Republican Factions. Not viewed
as strong Christian Value Believer alienates
Social Conservatives & Christian Right. Views on
LGTB rights alienate both Christian Right & LGTB.
Comments on LGTB alienate Con Voters &
throughs the ball to the Liberal/Democrat Camp.
Mobilising
Young
Republicans
threatens
Republican all faction establishment: Can lead
establishment to endorse opponents. Strong
Digital Trolling Campaign can result in being
viewed as less Presidential, with less Gravitas &
troll: Less Serious Candidate & as avoiding to
address issues. Alienate older voters
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4 c) Rand Paul’s Website Layout, Donation, & Endorsement
Journeys
Land Page
- Twitter
scrolling
Landing Page:
Showing Total
Donated
Amount.
Paul’s Landing
Page showing
Social Media
Buttons &
Donate at the
Right Top of
the Page
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Paul’s
Landing
Page
showing
campaign
events &
Volunteer
registration
Rand Paul’s
Desktop Site
Donation
Journey
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Paul’s
Endorsement
Journey &
Endorsement
Map
Rand On the
Issues & His
Latest Videos
Section
25
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News & Social
Section of Rand
Paul for
President
RandPaul.com
FB Journey
RandPaul.com
Twitter Journey
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RandPaul.com
Show your
Support
RandPaul.com
Volunteer signin
page
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Bottom of Rand
Paul.com site
where all social
media accounts
are displayed
Rand Paul’s
PAC site landing
Page
Rand Paul’s
PAC site SM
insight
information
displayed
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Rand Paul’s
PAC site
donation
Journey
Rand Paul’s
PAC website
btm page
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Rand Paul’s
mobile site
landing page
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Mobile Site’s
Donation button
& Registration
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Rand Paul’s
Landing page on
the issues &
News
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Paul’s Mobile
site’s Donation
Start page
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Paul’s Mobile
Site Donation
Journey
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Rand Paul’s
Mobile site
scrolling menu
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Rand Paul
mobile site’s
Endorsement
Journey
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Rand Paul’s
mobile site
Volunteer
section
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Rand Paul’s
mobile site
volunteer
journey
4d) Pictures Showing Rand Paul’s Google search
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4e) Rand Paul’s Team’s Trolling
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Rand Paul’s Google Adwords campaign consisting of associating his brand name to antiestablishment issues such as fighting the surveillance act and to anything and anyone such as Jeb
Bush connected with the 2016 presidential race in order to take advantage of anything associated
with the Presidential election seems successful as Rand Paul appears amongst the first results in any
such Google search. It has been established that 30% of the people who search for any republican
presidential candidate divert for their primary scope and visit Paul’s website due to his trolling and
adword campaign. Paul’s organic traffic is supported by his anti-establishment and humorous brand.
Hence this strategy should further continue.
4 j) Ted Cruz’s tedcruz.org & Rand Paul’s randpaul.com site comparison
4 k) Ted Cruz’s tedcruz.org & Rand Paul’s randpaul.com mobile site comparison
The following chart is based on analysis of data found via SEMrush website (SemRushStaff, 2015c;
Semrush, 2015a; 2015b; 2015c; 2015d; SemRushStaff, 2015b; 2015d)
Monthly Organic Search
Traffic (estimated by
SEMrush 10 June 2015
*9)
randpac.com
tedcruz.org
randpaul.com
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
S OCIAL MEDIA
Market himself as a promising, viable alternative to Bush, Cruz & Walker. Not to be seen as nonPresidential, or not serious. Not alienate traditional voters & stay continually within the News Cycle
without tiring. Appeal to all the Fiscal Cons or the Libertarians or the Reaganite faction. Ensure
communication methods are created to integrate consistent offline and online communications.
Twitter*
679.235
Span
studied
4 months
6-8 / day
25%
16%
30%
20%
9%
Facebook
2.062.099
4 months
9-11/ day
32%
15%
25%
22%
6%
Pinterest
Google +
256
460.223
5 months
3 855 pins
2,3-4 / day7
15%
-
34%
-
-
75%
8%
8%
8%
-
Instagram
YouTube
38.600
58.025
4 months
5 months
13%
6%
6%
38%
-
-
-
-
-
860, 32 /post
9.000views / post
Flipboard
5.360
-
1-3 / week
5/ week
Campaign
Posts
13%
100%
-
-
-
-
4.000 readers, 315 followers
Followers
Posts
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Average Engagement
1660,225 /post
600, 400/post
230 
45,16,22 /post
Caption: (1) Promoting Rand Paul’s views, policies proposals (2) Announce events - (3)
Trolling Opponents Campaign - (4) Communicating on Issues - (5) Publish inspiring pictures & videos
from Rand Paul’s events & speaking Engagements  = likes -  = shares -  = comments Analysis
realized online between (26/02/2015-17/06/2015)
7
Paul Team posting in Google + varies in quantity and frequency depending on whether there is
something to say of importance. Thus one can see that there are some days where Paul’s team posts
3 or 4 times per day, some others 2 or 3 times and some days that do not post anything.
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1
Most of these PAC sites have a responsive design and are optimised for mobile devices. It also
follows Econsultancy’s best practices in mobile optimisation such as no horizontal scrolling, no use of
Flash and less images (Ratcliff, 2014). All these PAC sites seem useful as they inform visitors of
Rand’s positions. Rand PACus in particular is an interesting microsite part of the randpac.com whose
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purpose is just to call visitors to action, mobilisation etc by asking visitors to sign Rand’s petitions or
Rand’s specific positions. The various positions are attached as videos.
2
His contesters do not appear in the first page results at all. His flagship Social Media Accounts
Facebook & Twitter appears either on the 1st page or on the 2nd. His competitors for the Republican
nomination appear only on the right side of the webpage underneath his big picture with the caption “
people
who
searched
for
Rand
Paul
searched
for…”
(GoogleTrends,
2015;
GooglePublicSectorElectionsLabTeam,
2011;
GoogleCampaignTeam,
2014a;
GooglePoliticsElectionsTeam, 2014; GooglePublicSectorElectionsLabTeam, 2010). This is important
as a study revealed that “53% of Organic Search Clicks Go to First Link” (Miller, 2012). A Google
study revealed that 18% of organic clicks go to the #1 position, 10% of organic clicks go to the #2
position. In the end of the Google search page come suggestions of relevant searches with the
keyword Rand Paul. Further, a new research from complete.com revealed that the best position to put
paid advertisements even through Google Adwords is either on the top of Google search engine or on
the bottom and not on the right. According to this study 24% of the advertisers appear on the top and
15% on the bottom of Google search engine page whereas the majority 61% appear on the right. As
this study shows this strategy is not working as 85% of the consumers click on the top, 2 % on the
bottom and 13% on the right (Miller, 2012).
3 Further, studies reveal that Paul’s announcement was by far less discussed and mentioned through
social media compared to others. However this study by Facebook has not distinguished the positive
from the negative mentions thus inhibiting a qualitative appraisal of both Rand Paul’s & Ted Cruz
respective announcements (Nichols, L., 2015), (Andrews, N., & Tau, B., 2015). Similarly that his
efforts to roll back some of his positions to gain the support of the traditionals has rather damaged his
campaign (Catanese, 2015b). Paul employees an interesting social media campaign strategy towards
his opponents. He uses Trolling both aggressive/attack & passive trolling. Aggressive trolling is used
to undermine his opponents by highlighting their inconsistencies, their mistakes, the possible gap
between words & deeds & their fallacies. Rand Paul tried to do that several times against Hillary
pointing out her inability to distinguish between her personal email & the official email account.
“For Team Paul, this passive-aggressive trolling campaign is the equivalent of lurking in the back of
the room during your opponent’s debate prep and pelting them with spitballs. The ads have a dual
purpose. First, they allow Paul to siphon off attention from whichever potential candidate is making
news. Second, they allow his campaign to underscore the weaknesses of other candidates by
highlighting Paul’s strengths. With a verbal wink, Paul’s senior adviser Doug Stafford said they had
chosen this method of pre-campaign campaigning “mostly because we like to amuse ourselves.” But
he added that the tactic ensured all “relevant” topics in the world of politics were back to the world of
Paul. “It’s sort of our way of inserting Rand in what people are talking about,” he said. Put simply, it’s
a way for Paul to be part of a conversation without contributing anything other than his
presence.”(Nuzzi, 2015). Webwise, Paul regularly trolls his 2016 rivals with snarky & humorous
tweets and gimmicky hashtags (#StandwithRand #thingstorunfrom #hillaryslosers)(Samuelsohn,
2015).
Rand Paul started this trolling digital campaign earlier than announcing his Republican Candidacy. He
started it as early as in December 2014. The purpose of this campaign has been to brand Rand Paul
as a promising, winnable & fresh alternative to the old & tiresome brand of the traditional Republican
Presidential Nominee as Vincent Harris stated in a Politico interview.
In a humorous manner he
trolled Jeb Bush & Hillary Clinton suggesting that they are conspiring, he charged Marco Rubio of
wanting to “build a moat” around Cuba and humorously joked that Bush & Romney have exchanged
friendship & charm bracelets (ibid). Rand Paul has a massive digital team as his adviser Doug
Stafford admitted in an interview with Politico (ibid). Paul’s aim is to establish himself as a different
brand of Republican more tech savvy who reaches to new constituents such as younger generations
who until now do not register to vote.
This whole trolling campaign originates naturally not from Paul’s official candidacy website
randpaul.com but instead from the “political arm” & “war room arm” of his campaign that is his Political
Action Committee randpac.com headed by the renown digital political strategist Vincent Harris.
Rand Paul is the only Republican candidate that has the most aggressive Twitter feed and an account
that discharges a steady steam of snarky, rapid responses & gimmicks as political pundits admit
(Samuelsohn, 2015; Topaz and Schreckinger, 2015). This seems to reflect a broader digital strategy
to run a tech-savvy ‘crowd-sourced’ (J. W. Peters, 2015; Lindsay, 2015; Devaney, 2014; Spiering,
2015b; Bartlett, 2015)presidential campaign in general. Its principle is that digital communication is
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the first messaging priority and that digital messages need to be edgy to cut through the clutter. As
Doug Statfford admits Paul has more than a dozen digital staffers who operate his Twitter and
another dozen for his Facebook. Paul’s effort is to continually engage both publics & his opponents.
His up to now campaign shows that creativity is an inextricable part of his digital strategy. As Vincent
Harris admitted in an interview with Politico: “the senator “himself believes that content online needs
to be unique, needs to be delivered not in long, paragraph form, but in pithy, visual memes and
images and games. And if you look at the type of content the senator’s organization has been pushing
out over the last two months, you see that’s reflected.” (Bartlett, 2015; Glueck, 2015; Samuelsohn,
2015)
The focus which the Obama 2012 campaign as well as Ted Cruz’s, Rand Paul’s and the Tea Party’s
respective congressional and senate campaigns and midterm campaigns have revealed that it is the
best campaign tool to ensure, high interaction, engagement, advocacy with the publics and secondly
as the top medium through which user generated advocacy and engagement is generated during
elections. Further, Facebook has been prioritised as crucial since both studies (Fowler et al., 2011;
Bond et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2015) conducted by Facebook itself as well as University researches
and professional accounts (Ghazala, 2012; Housholder and LaMarre, 2014; Paderes, 2013; Wallsten,
2010b)reveal that Facebook’s geo targeting tools and Facebook elections buttons have greatly
contributed in getting out the vote during the last several elections.
4
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