The strategy to become an MP

Digital marketing expert Vassilis Tsidimas analyzes in newsbeast.gr the new trends and how the communication game has changed

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Citizens will go to the polls today to announce their verdict in these early parliamentary elections on July 7, which were effectively challenged by the result of the European elections of May.

So the cube was thrown after a strong political period, during which the parties and the individual candidates gave their fight to the media and the streets of the cities, in order to convince the citizens for the correctness of their proposals and their effectiveness.

But in the background election campaign There were some people and staffs who helped and organized the movements of politicians and tried to create what we call "image", the image of our candidates and parties.

So what are the strategies of the so-called communicators and specialists marketing and how is a campaign going today?

"Social media paved the way for political communication"

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Vassilis Tsidimas, Social Media Strategist and founder of 360 MTS MARKETING AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, was asked to answer our question.

Mr. Tsidimas spoke to us about the new roads that are being opened in an election campaign with the use of new technologies.

"It's not just roads, it's boulevards! The possibilities they offer us are unlimited. Whether we can utilize them depends on the creativity of the design team, the communication and the willingness of the advertiser to implement or adopt these ways of communication. Now we bring the candidate face to face with the voter, we talk to him at home, at work, in the cafeteria, on the beach, everywhere. New technologies enhance the role of print, either by using QR as a means of navigating candidates' websites and social media accounts, or by using augmented reality (AR) enabling us to project audiovisual content on them .

Year after year, educating the public on our new digital media offers us the opportunity to reach almost all age groups through them.

Social networks - websites - emails - newsletters - sms is a chain that must be connected to each other and function as a river of flow and dissemination of the candidates' messages, where one complements the other and gives feedback.

In our country the public has the greatest penetration Facebook, Instagram and Youtube in contrast to the outside that includes Twitter in communication design. Depending on the social network that the candidate chooses to use, he should use the corresponding messages as well as the corresponding type of content (videos, photos, graphics). A total presence in all 3 networks is very important and absolutely necessary, although in our country unfortunately the use of Youtube is usually applied only by the parties and by a few candidates.

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In addition to offering us the opportunity to address a large audience en masse, social networks enable us to immediately perceive the impact of our messages, as the voter can interact with them (like), comment and share it. In this way, we can immediately evaluate our strategy and take the necessary steps to improve it.

Finally, I could not miss the usefulness of Google ads such as the display of campaign messages with banners on the network of its partners, as well as video messages on Youtube».

- Is an election campaign less expensive today?

"The cost depends on the willingness of the candidate to implement or not all the necessary actions.

In addition to new forms of digital communication, such as Social Networks, there are also traditional forms of communication which are particularly expensive, e.g. the sending of leaflets and ballots by mail, the sending of sms and telephone calls through call centers as well as the events in places for speeches - discussions - meetings with voters. In general, the costs of these services have fallen, but overall if we include the new costs for their promotion on digital media and social networks, the cost has not been reduced as many want to believe.

Of course, if the candidate decides to move only digitally, then he can get some benefit in his pocket, but a complete election campaign requires combining digital with traditional forms of communication.

Another dimension that I would like to put in this issue is the area in which the candidate goes down. The cost of its promotion varies depending on the competition that exists in each region. From our clientele data it appears that the cost of advertising one candidate in social networks it is twice or even three times in the big urban centers in relation to the province ".

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- What is the targeting of the people who make the communication and what is the agenda of the campaign?

"There are other needs and those that are applied in practice in an election campaign. This is mainly because either there is not enough time for planning and implementation, or the corresponding "education" and budget from the candidates. "We go fast so that as many people as possible see us" we usually hear from the candidates.

At the same time the last ones electoral confrontations had few but particularly critical political stakes on which the agenda focused. Drachma or euro, new - old were the central dilemmas used by politicians in a highly polarized atmosphere. So as you can see the level of issues was not very wide in contrast to the election campaigns from 1994 to 2009 marginally.

In general, we move on 2 levels in the subject matter. In political and personal content. Once we find the key messages, we try to process them and visualize them according to the characteristics of each social group we want to address.

Targeting must be specific and multilevel. We must direct the messages to all age groups keeping in mind their particular characteristics, such as income, marital status, unemployed - employees, public - private employees as well as their place of residence.

We could invest in one-dimensional targeting only if we know in advance that a single target group can secure our election and we have limitations in available time and budget but it is not appropriate.

In practice, unfortunately, the above are not applied exactly for the reasons I mentioned at the beginning, but mainly due to the absence of political programs - positions - speech by politicians and political education - culture by the voters ".

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- Is the role of the people who formulate the communication strategy upgraded?

"In recent years, mainly through the growing influence of social networks, the role of the people who formulate the communication strategy has been upgraded somewhat, but especially the tactics that must be applied in the digital media.

There are very few cases where candidates give due value to the services of communicators.

Many candidates do not even know the means they will use, so they do not understand the usefulness of the actions proposed or it takes a long time to understand and adopt them, and in a short election period like the one we are going through, time is short and rolls instantaneously.

Not to mention the cases we hear from the candidates "my cousin and children told me this, that and that…" about how they should be presented on social networks.

In addition, in order to be able to implement a design correctly and fully, it takes time to experiment, optimize, utilize the feedback, and familiarize the audience with the new ways of promoting the candidates.

You can not show up with 'super stories' and 5 posts a day for 20 days on an account that you had inactive for 4 years or wait for the new candidates to interact with your audience with political posts on their profiles that in previous years you had taught them more personal content. It takes months to build a house. In 20 days you only manage to set up a hut.

In a level parties Beyond the parties in power (and there with reservations) we do not observe communicative actions with substance. Simple reminders that we exist are most of their actions. "

The political discourse of the parties today tends to be assimilated and the great differences of the past on an ideological level are not observed. Does this make communication difficult? In other words, should ways of placing policies be invented, since the great ideological references and distances are disappearing?

"Advertising is vital but the primary thing is its message. As I mentioned, the stakes of the previous elections did not allow for the implementation of extensive and multidimensional advertising campaigns. This of course helps the candidate and the parties but not society.

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In practice, all the parties that have ruled in recent years have followed the same direction in their policy at the central level and today we see reduced reflexes and a willingness of voters to interact in the political messages we communicate. Even hard-line party audiences have shrunk, a sign of the absence of a different political discourse.

"Apart from this objective fact, a communicator can always find ways to differentiate the image of a candidate or a party from its competitors, and this depends on his experience, political criteria and certainly his abilities."

Success tips

If a government is not formed and the country is led to repeat elections or for the next four years, what would you advise the candidates?

1) Choose the right mix in communication. To use the new ways of communication - digital but also traditional.

2) To properly allocate their resources. Use your budget where it should be (target groups) and in the way required (in).

3) Do not shoot your audience. You do not need many posts on Social Networks. With 4 per week you will be elected. At 4 a day you will lose your friends too.

4) The wise children cook before they are hungry. You will need time and effort to be able to get the expected results. It is not a solution to activate your accounts 20 days before the elections.

5) Work with a professional. Social media is not a hobby and you should not listen to your friends and relatives. Trust a specialist.

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