Online Marketing: Political Blogging & Branding
As we discovered in our most recent blog posts, to be successful as a candidate, councillor – even MP you need a clear and concise elevator pitch and brand.
Now, once elected you have a ready made platform upon which to promote yourself and your brand. But unless you are elected, you’re just another wannabe, hopeful candidate waiting for a seat. So, rather than just hunting down the movers and shakers at places like Conservative Party Conference, how else can you get your name – and brand out there?
Well, political online marketing of course.
Any self respected wannabe PPC will already be on Twitter and Facebook. Good start but no banana. Have you got a website yet? What has it got on it? Does it look like a poor man’s Tory party graveyard or is it active, full of content and ever changing?
I ask this because, unless your websites and online profiles look good, your social media profile can and will have a negative effect on this brand you’re working so hard to perfect. So keep it active and looking good – easiest way to do this is with a blog.
Political Online Marketing – Through Blogging
Updating a blog where your name is mentioned and doing it often should allow you to rank #1 in searches for your name, even if you only update with one small post once a month. Anyone searching for your name will immediately stumble across all the information you’d want them to find—as opposed to all the information you wouldn’t. It’s not yet good enough – but it’s a start!
The above represents the minimum political reward blogging can yield, but I think it can do a whole lot more. The more you put in, the more you get out.
Blogging can boost your personal brand in a number of ways:
- If you blog on your particular field it can help establish you as an expert/authority in the political world on your top subject.
- Blog readers can and will very easily go on to become advocates, deliverers – even voters.
- A good blog can get you within the TotalPolitics Top Bloggers
- A blog allows you to network with other influential political bloggers. You might be able to do favors for them in return for promotion of your own posts.
- Popular bloggers often get interviewed, which provides an opportunity to promote your personal brand to a new audience, especially if you target a specific area (the seat you want to get selected for).
And remember, blogging isn’t just about writing endless amounts of cool, shareable content. Don’t forget about your blog’s About page, your guest posts and your comments – all of which are personal branding opportunities.
If you want to take it further and get visible for things that you are interested in so people who don’t know you can find you, give me a call.
