Five Reasons Political Candidates Need Sentiment Analysis to Win in November
My colleague, Todd Herman, of the Republican National Committee said it best:
“Polls are like watching animals in a zoo. You can obtain perfect specimens, observe them from every angle, but then you wonder why they aren’t mating. Sentiment Analysis is like watching those animals in their natural habitat.”
I think we all have a lot to learn from this statement.
Polls are important, but as you’re developing a social media strategy, consider what sentiment analysis can do for you to win in November.
1. Track virtually real-time opinions in traditional and social media about what people are saying about YOU and your opponent.
By watching trends over time, you’ll know soon whether your education policy or your courtesy in the face of mudslinging is giving you an edge. In fact, good scoring techniques allow you to see which terms associated with your name are giving you that edge.
2. Understand that there is more to Sentiment Analysis than a “positive-negative-neutral” score. The more granular the scoring, the better the opportunity to shore up a campaign against negativity or to capitalize on an opportunity. Granularity matters. Would you rather know that people have a positive opinion about you? Or that last night it was +.61 and this afternoon it is +.42. Both are still positive scores. But now you know there might be a problem.
3. Is there a believability gap between traditional and social media? Does the press hate you and love your opponent?
Do the social media measurements trend the same way? Knowing the answers to these questions will tell you if you should be buying more ads, talking to reporters, kissing babies or… maybe even keeping your day job.
4. Have you discovered something you want to share?
Syndication of charts comparing and contrasting you and your opponent, specific issues, and social media or traditional media is now possible! You can email a chart, publish it on a web page or on Facebook, or send it off to the Twittersphere.
5. Mobilize your volunteers: What issues do they care about?
You do support those issues, right? Now your volunteers can champion you and their pet causes through these social media sharing tools and be part of a viral marketing campaign for you, all the while generating publicity for your campaign.
These tools are free. Just go to http://tinyurl.com/sentimetrix-elections
and register for a new account to get started. Type in the name of a politician and toggle between blogs and news or both to see what’s news. You may want to start with “Obama” as there is more data and issues about him than anyone. Then click on any of the “ancillary” issues on the left to see how those issues are trending.
Laurel Earhart is Vice President of Business Development at SentiMetrix and is the former Director of Business Development of the News and Politics channel at America Online, Inc.
