With Facebook announcing its Places geo-networking service – and with it, countless opportunities for social networking gone terribly wrong – it’s tempting to keep the discussion going about how campaigns can use location-based networks. But it’s worth noting that using these networks and applications is part of a much bigger strategy – reaching voters on their mobile phone.
A friend who runs a political text message contact/mobile marketing technology shop recently pointed out that only a handful of the top targeted Senate races have texting strategies. This is amazing considering how direct and effective the mobile phone is in terms of reaching someone:
Scott Goodstein ran Obama’s mobile communications campaign operations. He said, “262 million Americans are using mobile phones. That’s roughly 84% of the total population… It’s the only device that’s truly with people for 15 to 24 hours a day.”
Another plus: mobile is a spam-free zone. One has to opt-in to receive texts, and a whopping 92% of text messages are read by the recipient.
Location-based engagement and smartphone apps are great, but at the end of the day they are part of a bigger picture: getting into that little gizmo that just about everyone carries around almost every waking hour.
Jim Eltringham 