New York: Despite a combined total of $2.5B 1 spent on fundraising and
campaigning for the 2012 Presidential election, the Obama and Romney campaigns
have both failed to seize a staggering number of online messaging opportunities,
according to a new study released by digital and direct interactive agency
Rosetta.
The study reveals a number of key insights for marketers by
showing where the Presidential campaigns have been effective and where they
have missed good opportunities to reach potential voters through paid and
organic search and earned media.
Key findings from Rosetta's study of the two campaigns'
vastly different digital strategies include:
- Overall exposure for important topics from both campaigns has been remarkably low within search engines. Neither candidate has good brand presence for "Budget," "Jobs," "Economy," or "Taxes on Wealthy."
- Both campaigns demonstrate the importance of "Reputation Management" within search engine results pages by bidding on the other's brand terms. Governor Romney's campaign has bid on the Obama brand 35+% of the time, while President Obama's campaign has bid on the Romney brand only 17% of the time. However, President Obama's campaign shows stronger owned media by providing multiple pro-Obama content choices.
- President Obama has nearly five times the total number of impressions of Display Advertising ad units during 2012, but Mitt Romney is closing the gap during Q3 and early Q4 with a more aggressive strategy.
- The Obama campaign is much more invested than the Romney campaign in the mobile search environment, both at the national and swing state level.
- President Obama has the most exposure in paid and owned search engine listings and display for Foreign Policy terms (37+%).
- Governor Romney has most exposure in paid and owned search engine listings and display for Vice President terms (58+%). Interestingly, his campaign has no presence for healthcare-related terms.
"We were shocked to see an extraordinary amount of
'Paid Search white space' for a variety of issues that have been central to
both Presidential campaigns," said Jason Tabeling, Partner, Search and
Media at Rosetta."
He added, "Both
Presidential campaigns would have benefitted from a deeper analysis of how best
to reach potential voters through digital media, and our research reveals some
important lessons for the campaigns – and also for marketers – on the
importance of an effective digital strategy."