3 Favorite Technologies Politicians Use to Connect With Voters

Technology is everywhere. Coincidentally, that is exactly where every political candidate wants to be. With the 24/7 news cycle and social media leading the charge, technology has become one of the most important aspects of election season. The lead-up to any election is a tense time for the candidates, and for their supporters. With public arguments being had about different philosophies, ideologies, and platforms, it’s important to understand how today’s candidates handle technology while on the campaign trail.

Here is how some of the most noteworthy campaigns utilize technology to push their message, and their candidate into the mind's eye of potential voters.

Social Media
Social media has become some of the most important technologies used for the modern campaign, and the world as a whole. As seen from the Arab spring protests, it can even topple governments, push ideologies to the forefront, and provide the once unengaged electorate a voice about what topics are most important. It has completely changed the way people view elections.

Campaigns start on social media. Once a candidate assembles the team he or she will use to try to win an election (or re-election), it is then about polling interest and, ultimately, broadcasting their platform out to their constituency. One of the best methods politicians and their staffs have at their disposal is to utilize the interconnected world we live in to their benefit. Political discussions are some of the most divisive (and engaging) on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and forums like Reddit.

By campaigning using social networks, candidates are able to get their core platform out and keep up with trending issues when they are politically advantageous, providing the candidates, and the campaign as a whole, a popular outlet in which to communicate to their supporters (and detractors). Many media institutions will pick up these updates, allowing viewers and listeners to get real-time updates about what is going on with the candidate and their camp.

The Smartphone
To today’s would-be politician and his or her staff, the smartphone is one of the most indispensable tools. Not only is there a lot of hand-wringing going on, there are people in the field trying to convince would-be voters to choose a particular candidate. As a result, you have many people calling in, updating the candidates with tips and other information that the candidates and their handlers use to schedule events, create policy platforms, and make the appearances that are important for the candidate to make in order to get his or her message across to the constituency.

Nowadays, with events moving in and out of the public consciousness quickly, candidates can win and lose favor from day-to-day. The utilization of applications that integrate with smartphone technology to push notifications to users is a total game-changer for many campaigns. In fact, some campaigns have tabbed developers to create their own campaign mobile app, where supporters can browse merchandise used to fund the campaign or simply just recent news from the campaign trail. The use of smartphones also provides campaigns with targets for marketing initiatives aimed at increasing the likelihood that their candidate is recognized for his or her contributions and views on certain issues that are most important to their various constituencies.

The Cloud
No matter how local the election is, there are still many miles between constituents. For larger elections, especially, there could be the breadth of a province, a state, or a nation to consider. With this in mind, campaigns are beginning to institute cloud platforms to meet their needs. One major benefit of the cloud platform is that it is existentially scalable and can be implemented quickly. In fact, many secure cloud platforms are as simple to use as entering a password, making them the perfect solution for a campaign that may need to add or subtract users based on its success.

Another benefit that cloud computing provides is that it is easy to budget. Since most cloud platforms are billed monthly, it is great for a campaign that needs to raise money in order to meet their financial responsibilities. For whatever reason, some candidates decide to throw in the towel and put their support behind another candidate, and the cloud platform can be just discontinued, wasting less money.

Finally, the collaborative nature of a campaign is well documented. Cloud computing; specifically a hosted Software as a Service offering, allows for dynamic collaboration. Users can work on projects together better than ever before through a cloud platform. Since users can use the apps from anywhere on nearly every device, it makes for an efficient alternative to traditional computing solutions.

These technology solutions aren’t just used by haughty campaigns, they are used by businesses from all over the world to help drive progress forward. At Horne & Benik, we provide managed services and other IT services to facilitate positive change for businesses like yours. Call us today at (603) 499-4400 to learn more.