Romney supporters edge out Obama's on social media

BANGALORE, INDIA: Despite his reputation as a pioneer of social media campaigning, United States President Barack Obama may be influencing fewer voters through the 21st Century technology than his Republican rival Mitt Romney, according to new research undertaken by media agency, Mindshare.

On back of a tough week for Romney, when he slipped in the polls following Hurricane Sandy, the results of the survey might provide some good news for the Presidential hopeful.

While television continues to be the dominant news resource for following the election and Hurricane Sandy and the fallout from it, Mindshare's research reveals that Republicans are more likely to use new media, including Facebook and Twitter, and are also more likely to follow election news on their mobile phone.

Importantly, word of mouth was found to be more important for influencing swing voters than decided voters, so this increased inclination towards social media activity by Republicans is significant.

Mindshare Global Head of Digital, Scott Sorokin, said, "With only hours to go until the election, President Obama still has work to do if he is to gain influence through social media channels. He has significantly more followers than Mitt Romney, but if Republican voters are more active on social media as our survey suggests, they're more likely to be engaging with undecided voters via social media channels and that could be vital on election day."

"President Obama is seen as a trailblazer, when it comes to reaching voters via new channels. Mindshare's research, however, paints a more complex picture of the new media campaign landscape."

Mindshare, which uses its unique understanding of human behaviour, data and technology to challenge conventional thinking and build brands in a complex media world, also established that Republican voters tend to be from wealthier demographics than their Democrat counterparts.

Whilst newspapers remain an important source of information and analysis, slightly more Americans are following the presidential election and Hurricane Sandy via video coverage on their computer than by reading the national newspapers, showing an appetite for up-to-the-minute news as opposed to daily updates at this important time.

Mindshare's research also underlines the fact that e-mails from candidates and newspaper ads have minimal impact on influencing voters.

Sorokin added, "Digital campaigning is here to stay and with the lines between television and social media becoming ever more blurred, using insights and data to target your audiences becomes an increasingly valuable tool in order to spend marketing budgets efficiently."

©CIOL Bureau