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Candidates: Message goes online: Impact of e-mail, Web ads clicks with campaigns(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 14--On the Internet, you can buy books and CDs, find new houses and used cars, search for tickets, mortgages, hotels, even that Robin Yount rookie card to complete your collection. Little wonder then that political candidates increasingly are selling their campaigns online, through highly targeted e-mails and ads on Web sites and blogs. That advertising, from simple click-here links to sophisticated video spots, could help transform politics, according to analysts and observers. The ads are cheaper than a 30-second spot on TV, or even a 60-second one on radio. And, if placed properly, they can more directly hit their target audience. They also catch that audience at the computer, which means viewers can immediately seek more information -- including opposing views and analysis. Although such advertising is expected to play a more prominent role in campaigns this fall, it is still an area campaigns are learning to master. "It took 20 years for people to figure out how to make a good TV ad, and probably 100 years for a good newspaper ad to be understood," said Henry Copeland, founder of BlogAds.com, which matches advertisers with bloggers. "We're still kind of in the laboratory stage." In 2004, presidential candidates -- notably Democrat Howard Dean -- figured out how to use the Internet to create a network of supporters and to raise a ton of money. This political cycle, headlined in Wisconsin by a race for governor, could help elevate the use of the Internet to reach undecided voters. Medium still in infancy Still, many caution, TV and radio ads will continue to be the dominant means of candidate communication. "The Internet is pervasive and important," said Jim Margolis of the Washington, D.C.-based firm GMMB, the media consultant for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. "But we shouldn't go so far in our estimation of it that we give it a significance beyond the role it is really playing." He declined to talk about any plans for using the Internet that Team Doyle may have. But the campaign is doing what has become standard: candidate blog; e-mail notifications; multimedia feature on its Web site; even encouraging backers to electronically send letters to the editor to various newspapers. He noted that campaigns must do a cost-benefit analysis of such efforts and fit them into their broader campaign strategy. Likewise, the campaign of Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mark Green is reviewing how best to use the Internet, and whether ads should be part of the mix. "It is a different animal," said Green campaign manger Mark Graul. "You can do different things on the Internet. You're not constrained to 30 seconds or 60 seconds. You can do two minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes, 10 seconds. You can be more creative with what you do." So far, Internet ads have taken a variety of forms. They can be ones that are posted on the most popular political blogs, something that Copeland's BlogAds firm specializes in -- for all blogs, not just political ones. Similarly, the ads can appear on high-traffic local Web sites, typically with a link that sends the viewer to the campaign's page -- or even to a special page or another ad to pull the viewer to the candidate's Web site. For years, campaigns have posted their TV and radio ads online. The technology, however, now more readily allows ads to be e-mailed to prospective voters. And some are creating ads strictly for the Internet, which can generate more media coverage and discussion than actual clicks to the see the ad. U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, for instance, created a modest stir with his recent 70-second ad titled "W" that was posted on the Web site for his Progressive Patriots Fund. Before that, Feingold -- the Wisconsin Democrat who is openly weighing a presidential bid -- used the site to get visitors to vote on which candidates should get money from the fund for their campaigns. He also used Web ads to direct traffic to his site, including an online "listening session." "Blog ads and online ads are a good tool to help us get our message out," said Trevor Miller, a Feingold aide who works for the fund. "They're usually unique." Miller declined to release the number of hits to the site but said there was "a pretty significant increase in visits" after the posting of the "W" ad, which takes President Bush to task for the domestic spying program. In some ways, the ads allow candidates to be more sophisticated in who they reach and how they reach them. In others, particularly low-turnout contests, they can mostly be used to build name recognition. A winning strategy In an April race for Milwaukee County Circuit Court, victorious Jane Carroll ran limited ads on radio and in newspapers, but did no TV. Instead, she had an ad prominently featured for days on the Journal Sentinel Web page, as well as OnMilwaukee.com. Similarly, when it came to mailing invitations to fund-raisers and communicating with supporters, Carroll said, most was done by e-mail -- with backers encouraged to forward it to friends and family. "We could just write a newsletter and hit send," Carroll said. "With the (JSOnline ad), we had 500 to 600 people a day clicking to our Web site." If anything, advances in technology have made Internet ads easier to watch. With more computer owners having high-speed hookups, audio and video are much easier to broadcast. According to Copeland, the founder of BlogAds, about 5% of the total spent on advertising nationwide goes to online. He said, however, that about 50% of the average media consumption comes in time spent online. "That's why candidates and everybody else have woken up to say, 'My Lord, we need to get active online,' " he said. When advertisers move online, though, they find new factors to deal with, ones dictated by the nature of the Internet. "With TV, you have a captive audience there for 30 seconds," Copeland said. "You may change the channel, but you largely have their attention." With Internet advertising, the computer user may be online for many reasons -- and has thousands of choices to click on. The user may not be online to look for political information but to check a sports score or stock price. A TV viewer is, well, watching TV. What's more, Copeland said, the computer user may be savvier or better informed than the average voter. That person could click to the sponsoring candidate's site to learn more. Or he or she could click to the opponent's site or seek out a neutral site for more analysis of the matter. In addition, one may see a TV ad a dozen times in a week but click on an Internet ad only once. Thus, Internet ads may be sharper, or brighter and more attention-grabbing. "It can't be pablum," Copeland said. "And you can't simply take a print ad and resize it, or just post a TV ad online." |