Mediaboss Marketing

RICHMOND, Va. While still behind Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) in the latest polls, Republican senatorial candidate Ed Gillespie has gained a larger following on social media than the incumbent. Gillespie was leading the Democratic incumbent in terms of Facebook LIKES as of Friday.

The challenger also led by more than 25,000 followers on Twitter over Warner. Libertarian candidate Richard Sarvis was head-to-head with Warner on Facebook and led him on Twitter.

Candidates reliance exclusively on direct mail and on TV just doesnt play these days, said David Saunders, president of the marketing agency Madison+Main. He believes that older forms of political marketing are being pushed by the wayside in favor of social media usage and that campaign efforts need to adjust to the current times.

Younger audiences and more politically engaged audiences are having discussions in real time on social networks, Saunders said.

One of the things we make sure to do is that were not just broadcasting our message on social media, were asking other people to share and spread it as part of our grassroots effort, said Eric Wilson, digital director for Gillespies campaign. I think social media is a necessity. Its one of those platforms that theres so many people engaging on it, that you have to meet voters where they are.

The Gillespie campaign even met one in person as a result of an organized Twitter engagement session.

We did a Twitter takeover of the College Republican National Committee account, where for about a half hour we took questions from college students and young adults across the country, Wilson said. One person tweeted them asking for a pre-file form and within 45 minutes one of Gillespies field staffers met the voter at home to collect the form.

Thats an interaction that would not have been possible without listening very carefully to what people are saying about us on social media, and integrating responsiveness with digital communication throughout our campaign, Wilson said.

But Saunders also praised Sen. Warners social media efforts, whose campaign did not respond to an interview requests for this story. Saunders said that he applauds the efforts of Warner tweeting from the senate chambers and that he followed people back on Twitter. On the other hand, he said the campaign of former gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli in 2013 was terrible at using social media.

Literally it was just a feed of political sentiment over and over, saying the same thing every single day. It really didnt do them any good, because they were preaching to the choir, which the far-right fringe of the [Republican] party, Saunders said. Social media is really meant to engage everyone, and thats where candidates can win. Candidates dont win unless they win the middle. Social media is a way to engage the middle.

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Behind in the polls, Gillespie leads Warner on Facebook, Twitter