How are the Presidential campaigns using email and what can marketers learn from their tactics?
Silverpop, a digital marketing provider, says the results of a study comparing the email marketing tactics of President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, based on emails received during a three-month period ending July 5, examines how the candidates are using email marketing to engage their supporters.
According to Silverpop’s research, the candidates are neck and neck in terms of email frequency and donation requests. Each campaign sent 47 donation requests during the review period, with donation requests included in 76 percent of Romney’s emails and 68 percent of Obama’s.
When it came to other areas, there were noticeable differences. Other highlights from the analysis included:
- Obama used first-name personalization much more frequently than Romney, greeting recipients by their first names 98 percent of the time (as compared to only 8.5 percent for Romney).
- Romney, however, did use Obama’s name in his emails nearly half of the time, while Obama only referred to his competitor by name in one of every four emails.
- When it came to responding to the healthcare decision, Romney responded more quickly and more blatantly used the situation as a fundraising opportunity.
- Each candidate used multiple “from names” in an effort to have his emails stand out in the inbox. In each case, the majority of emails (57 percent) were sent from a campaign staffer.
Lessons for marketers
“Email is an incredibly powerful marketing tool that clearly stands out in its ability to deliver timely, personal, and relevant messaging that can be directly linked to a specific call to action,” said Loren McDonald, Silverpop’s vice president of industry relations.
“It wasn’t surprising to see both candidates using the channel in similar ways. As Election Day approaches, we would expect to see an increase in frequency and, if they are paying attention to best practices, also an increase in integration with social media campaigns and in the level of segmentation and targeting to different audiences based on specifics such as engagement levels and geographic locations.”
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Tags: Barrack Obama, call to action, email marketing, engagement levels, Mitt Romney, Presidential campaign, Silverpop
