‘…some mistakenly use social media platforms as just a virtual billboard, posting content
so followers can see but not really thinking about how their content can make people get away from their keyboard and move.’
LAST week, I had the pleasure of attending a webinar hosted by the newest social media strategy agency in the Philippines, The Bureau PH. The discussion centered around crafting a winning digital campaign and is quite timely seeing as we are heading into the 2022 national elections. Mr. Gregor Poynton was the guest speaker for the webinar, and the panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Donald Lim, COO of Udenna Corporation. Mr. Dindo Manhit of Strabase, Mishy Co of Peg Social Media and Marketing Director of the Bureau PH, and myself sat as reactors to Mr. Poynton’s presentation.
Mr. Poynton shared a lot of useful points from his experience in many campaigns in the United States and United Kingdom; at one point, he was part of Blue State Digital, a digital strategy and technology firm that was instrumental in former US President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. The international and local experience shared among the members of the panel made for a very lively discussion, to say the least.
One particular point made by Poynton struck me the most: “Digital is everyone’s job.” This rings very true, though those in the campaign circles still need to grasp this fully. It’s not a surprise that most campaign veterans (especially those of the elder generations) tend to approach social media gingerly, in most instances leaving it to the younger ones to navigate. After all, social media as another pillar of Philippine elections (equal to the traditional air and ground campaigns) did not really pick up until 2016. It was (somewhat woefully) a general agreement that the recognition of the importance of digital in traditional elections tends to be uneven from candidate to candidate.
Studying the past national campaigns will also give insight on how social media was used in those periods: for example, in 2010, the early days of Facebook saw presidential candidates and their campaigns marking milestones such as follower count. Slowly, this gave way to other milestones such as reach, views, and engagement. Yes, the goal posts for success on social media keep moving, and so must campaigns if they want to stay above the noise.
Those entrusted by their candidates to craft and execute a winning social media strategy, in most cases, need to elbow their way to get a seat at the big table to participate in making big decisions, and not just as an afterthought (“Post niyo nga ito.”) Tied to this is Poynton’s second major point: “Make everything you are already doing social.” He emphasized that “social” in this context means building communities and not just being present on social media and using technology; it means doing things that will build relationships with and engage your audience, going beyond the usual metric of likes and shares. Quite an important point to make, seeing that some mistakenly use social media platforms as just a virtual billboard, posting content so followers can see but not really thinking about how their content can make people get away from their keyboard and move.
While campaigns can make great strides with a properly executed digital strategy, those present emphasized that social media alone does not win campaigns. It must be executed in sync and in tandem with other weapons in a campaign’s arsenal, such as a sound political strategy, real volunteer engagement, and last but not the least, a message that resonates with a wider swathe of voters. In other words, it must be a successful marriage of the ground and air war, where digital is not relegated to the kiddie table and just expected to post and upload content for documentation.
You can still catch the discussion on The Bureau PH’s Facebook page. Many thanks to The Bureau PH and Mishy Co for the chance to sit and chat with fellow travelers.
