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Ok, I know what you're thinking: this month's eNewsletter is about politics. It's not. It's about email marketing and the powerful impact it is having on our current presidential race.
In a recent TIME magazine article, author Karen Tumulty diagnosed some of the issues Hillary is having gaining traction among democrats, including raising money. She explains, “something had happened to fund-raising that Team Clinton didn't fully grasp: the Internet.” She further clarifies how email marketing made a difference in the two main Democratic presidential fundraising campaigns:
For a decade or more, the Clintons set the standard for political fund-raising in the Democratic Party, and nearly all Bill's old donors had re-upped for Hillary's bid. Her 2006 Senate campaign had raised an astonishing $51.6 million against token opposition, in what everyone assumed was merely a dry run for a far bigger contest. Though Clinton's totals from working the shrimp-cocktail circuit remained impressive by every historic measure, her donors were typically big-check writers. And once they had ponied up the $2,300 allowed by law, they were forbidden to give more. The once bottomless Clinton well was drying up.
Obama relied instead on a different model: the 800,000-plus people who had signed up on his website and could continue sending money his way $5, $10 and $50 at a time. (The campaign has raised more than $100 million online, better than half its total.) Meanwhile, the Clintons were forced to tap the $100 million - plus fortune they had acquired since he left the White House - first for $5 million in January to make it to Super Tuesday and then $6.4 million to get her through Indiana and North Carolina.
The email marketing strategy being used by Obama's team is effective because:
- It allows a greater variety of people to participate.
- The candidate's online presence appeals to a sense of “community.”
- The email donation requests often ask for a modest commitment; everyone has $5 they can give up!
Campaign fundraising shows Obama's team is capitalizing on the immediate and ongoing impact of email. These are ground breaking lessons that smart marketers will use on future campaigns. How can you apply this lesson to your marketing model?
We will be keeping an eye on all the presidential candidate's efforts over the next few months to see how they continue to use eMarketing innovations! Cheers,
Johnathan Crawford
414.727.2440 ext. 101
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Just the stats please: According to information from Email Data Source, Obama for America sent recipients 15 e-mail messages between April 28 and May 7, while Clinton's camp pushed out 10 messages in that period. McCain's campaign
sent out 5.
Click Z Campaign ‘08 states, May 16th:
Obama for America is going one step further with their email marketing. The Senator's campaign is asking diehards via email to trek to Oregon and knock on doors. The grassroots-minded campaign also used email to push residents of Illinois to get out and vote.
While the Democratic contenders battle for votes and dollars, Republican John McCain has wrapped his fundraising message subtly in issue-focused email messages promising healthcare reform and conservative judge appointments.
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