Clinton vs. Trump: Two Candidates, Two Very Different Digital Strategies

Digital marketing helps mold the opinions of your audience, and who wants to mold opinions of an audience more than U.S. politicians? The Presidential Election cycle is in full swing, and YourStory recently outlined the ways digital marketing could help decide the outcome.Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign was the first time the United States experienced a massive digital marketing blitz. According to Entrepreneur, Obama's campaign YouTube videos logged more than 14.5 million hours during the election cycle, which compared to television ads is a vastly more affordable alternative. With this fact in mind, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have pushed their digital marketing strategies into overdrive.Emails: a cornerstone of any strategyEmail campaigns are the cornerstone of any digital marketing strategy, and when it comes to Clinton and Trump, it’s no different.Clinton’s digital marketing team approaches their email campaign with a very friendly and personal touch, commonly referring to recipients as “friends”. Meanwhile, Trump’s email marketing campaign has recorded impressive engagement rates. The Republican candidate’s email list of more than 500,000 individuals currently boasts an open rate of 26%, which means he leaves an impression on approximately 130,000 people with every email.Social media: two candidates, two strategiesBoth Clinton and Trump have unyielding social media followings, but their approaches are vastly different.Hillary Clinton is a significant force on LinkedIn and often posts long-form content addressing issues, stances, and policies. Comparatively, Donald Trump utilizes Twitter to its maximum potential with more than 11 million followers (compared to Clinton’s 8.4 million) and has tweeted more than 33,000 times (compared to Clinton’s 7,500 tweets).Tried but true: TV adsDespite the massive push by both candidates to have commanding digital campaigns - love it or hate it - TV political ads are still a crucial part of any presidential run. However, television requires a serious chunk of change. As such, this is why both Clinton and Trump paid early attention to their positions online. Now that they’re both firmly established, they can focus their time (and money) on TV ads. Can't wait...