ABSTRACT

Online campaigns can be envisioned in three dimensions. One-dimensional strategies are about broadcasting a one-way campaign message, with tight language control, to voters. Two-dimensional strategies are about building a transactional or two-way relationship with voters—getting them to register to vote, for example. And three-dimensional strategies unleash the social masses, with communication flowing to and from the campaign, as well as in any direction between and among voters. In a world where the power of the people is enabled by digital and mobile networks, campaigns have to adjust how they view their supporters. Campaigns should use social media to reach wider audiences, engage supporters across the country, monitor what people are saying about their candidate, and share their views and policy plans. A constituent relations management (CRM) system allows campaigns to track and cross-reference information about supporters, integrating everything from contact information to attendance at events, to donations, to what e-mails people open and what web pages they visit.