Bloomberg Campaign: Social Media Case Study

We’re enjoying a rare break in between sessions at a Starbucks on the corner of 36th/Madison. So far we’ve attended some great sessions and have used livestream to catch up on the one’s we couldn’t make due to conflicts. Lots to soak in.

By far, the highlight of the week (so far) has been Jonah Seiger’s review of Michael Bloomberg’s successful social media campaign of 2009. Jonah, founder of Connections Media, was generous in his presentation, sharing loads of insights most folks in his shoes would keep close to their chest.

Want to know what makes a Facebook Widget rock? Read on.

The Who Rocks Facebook with Name that Riff

I’m not a big fan of the majority of available widgets, apps, and games that bombard Facebook.  Most are garbage in my opinion, and do nothing other than clutter your profile or page.

The problem is many of these widgets were built with the old school marketing mentality of “if we build it, they will come.’”

The truth is, Facebook widgets fail for the following reasons...

This is probably the worst video of the 2010 election cycle and we're only 1 month into the year. What's next?

Carly Fiorina Releases Trippy 'Demon Sheep' Ad [Video]

California senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina (R) has released a highly unusual attack ad featuring a red-eyed man in a mixed sheep-wolf outfit crawling on all fours in a meadow. There's also lightning. Somewhere in there is a message about opponent Tom Cambpell and fiscal conservatism. Skip to 2:25 if you just want to see the glowy eyes.

Grab insight on the video and a synopsis of the aftermath from TechPresident.

Social Media & Young Adults

Two Pew Internet Project surveys of teens and adults reveal a decline in blogging among teens and young adults and a modest rise among adults 30 and older. Even as blogging declines among those under 30, wireless connectivity continues to rise in this age group, as does social network use. Teens ages 12-17 do not use Twitter in large numbers, though high school-aged girls show the greatest enthusiasm for the application.

(H/T @MelissaTweets)

FL-SEN: The Hug that Triggered a Bomb

You know what they say these days: it's not enough to just hold a money bomb. You gotta have a theme. Scott Brown used "Red Invades Blue." Florida Republican Marco Rubio, running against Gov. Charlie Crist in their party's primary for the open Senate seat, is getting a bit more creative -- and timely -- with it.

Lots of good tech tips to share with you this morning.

First, we begin with a look at the web traffic stats for two campaigns from Advocacy 2.0. First, Scott Brown's incredible spike in the final days of the race.

And a statistical look at the race for California Governor.

Behind the Scenes of the Brown Money Bomb

One of the things I love about political campaigns is how fast they move.  In the case of Scott Brown’s US Senate campaign, things could not have moved faster- or come together so unexpectedly (and so well).

How to Make Your Press Statements Twitter Friendly

Twitter, I think, will eventually change the way candidates and organizations disseminate information.

But we’ve got a long way to go.  Case in point, I just received this quote from the NRSC on Beau Biden’s decision not to run for senate.  Read it, and then I will comment on the problems with it...

And for a post that's sure to ruffle some feathers...

Combatting the Hype: 76% Don't Access the Mobile Internet

A host of reasons conspire against the general population in whether or not they use a cell phone - smart or otherwise - to use the Internet. According to research by UK-based Essential Research, 76% of mobile phone users don't use their mobile to access the Internet, and there are several barriers keeping them from doing so, whether actual or perceived.

The study, which focused on 2,000 people over the age of 16 living in the UK, found, among other things, that only 10% of mobile phone owners access the Internet on a daily basis. How can this be and why?

Why Twitter Wants to Know Where You Are

Ever since the introduction of the location-aware tweet, we’ve been curious as to why Twitter wants to know where we are. The release of Local Trends holds the key to unlock that answer.

Now more than ever, where you are is more important than what you’re doing. So as location-sharing is poised to be the breakout technology trend of 2010, the Local Trends feature points us to look towards the future of local services brought to you by Twitter, made possible by the location-aware tweet.

In fact, we’ve actually been gifted with quite a few clues when it comes to Twitter’s local agenda. Here we’ll look at the milestones on Twitter’s path to conquer local and use those pieces to fill in the bigger puzzle.

How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page 'Fans'

A compelling, active Facebook fan page should be an integral part of your marketing plans. With its 350 million users and average daily session time of 25 minutes, Facebook provides an exceptional opportunity for visibility, Google indexing, live search ability, and fan engagement—whether you’re a solopreneur, a large brand or anywhere in between.

How Companies Should Avoid Overdirecting Social Media

Social media can fail at companies that like to over-control everything. Smart companies are paving the roads and providing the traffic lights, but not trying to drive the car.

It is definitely a delicate balance to instigate social media with proper checks and balances without squelching the viral and creative nature of it. A few ideas for companies who want to make social media work without stifling its flame

UPDATE Dec. 17; 9:56 AM: Ron Paul broke another record - hauling in $6M in 24 hours.

The Boston Globe is reporting that Ron Paul's loyal supporters have triggered their second "Money Bomb," and have already pulled in over $2M (as of 10:30 AM EST).

Hoping to detonate what they call a "money bomb," the supporters started fundraising at midnight Saturday and have already raised $2 million as of about 10:30 a.m. today, more than at this point on Nov. 5, according to figures they posted online. They hope to collect a total of $10 million by midnight Sunday.

Of note, Ron Paul's fourth quarter total has exceeded $15M (his goal was $12M).

As readers of this space will recall, I caught up with Paul at the YouTube/CNN Debate and asked him about the "Money Bomb" and Paul told us this day would be coming soon.

Paul predicted that this "money bomb" would be bigger and better then the first. It appears that it's on track to do just that.