Not so fast...
I looked over the “Case Study: Zero to over $338,000 in 18 days using a volunteer website and blogs” and I’m not sure the results are as encouraging as we’re all taking them…
Rather, I think it is very likely that they were so successful because Daily Kos all ready had a heavy traffic website and extremely active blog up and running. It seams to me (it is also mentioned in Emi and Phil’s book in chapter 11) that in order for the blog and website to be an effective fundraising tool it has to be preceded with strong base supporters. Or have traditional campaign tactics such as direct mail, TV ads, or radio spots pave the way before hand… Will the internet ever stand alone as a campaign strategy? Or will it always be a complimentary feature? What about at the local level – do you think the internet’s role increases or decreases?
I think the community and public forum structure of the internet implies that it would be an ideal campaign tool, especially because it is comparatively very inexpensive. The only problem I foresee in any campaign is that there is just SO MUCH out there on the WWW… getting people to your website and keeping them there long enough to have some kind of effect or influence on them will always be tricky.
3 Comments:
It depends on your locality, but I think the internet could potentially be used as the best organizing tool for a local race. Particularly to reach rural voters, I think that the internet is a great outreach. Most of the times, rural voters are ignored by canvassing because they live in hard to reach areas. Direct mail pieces with the website information on them could be a great way to target these voters.
And no, I doubt the internet will ever stand by itself to reach people. As long as people have home addresses, I think that direct mail will be the way to go.
To be honest with you I do not think there is one single important component of any campaign. Instead, all components work together to form a cohesive unit. In that respect I do not think we need to question whether or not the Internet will be a stand alone figure in a campaign. I do however strongly believe that it will become more of a centerpiece as we advance technologically. However, I do not think the Internet will be the be all and end all. Television, radio and direct mail will all continue as will signage and bumper stickers. They all go together to form a unit which all encapsulates a campaign.
You raise an interesting point about the need to bring people to a blog for it to be an effective fund raising tool. How do you do that?
One problem I see is that blogs like to sail closer to the wind with their use of bad language and more outrageous topics and opinion than a campaign ever could. For every person this may inspire to give, the risk is that it may put off other people coming to the blog rather than a campaign who may not give at all.
Managing that balance is going to prove tricky for campaigns relying on blogs like Kos to bring in the dollars.
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