New Guide from ClickZ: Digital Political Campaigning 101

For a terrifically detailed look at contemporary online campaigning, be sure to check out the new publication put together by ClickZ’s intrepid political advertising reporter Kate Kaye — Digital Political Campaigning 101 (hmm, wonder where they got the title?) includes chapters by actual, real-live practitioners, including the guys from Chong + Koster and Robert Willington, the digital coordinator for Scott Brown’s victorious campaign.

I have three short pieces as well, looking at list-building, fundraising and campaign websites, but those are relatively settled topics — several of the other articles break new ground, including Josh Koster’s in-depth look at how online advertising actually works for campaigns, with plenty of details about how to structure and target ad buys through the length of a campaign. Likewise with Robert Willington’s extended piece on integrating social media into a campaign, since Brown’s bid for Massachusetts Senate seat provides a dramatic recent example of how organized people-power can contribute to a political victory. Other chapters look at effective online video, getting buy-in for an online communications budget, the Ten Commandments of Campaign Social Media, and much more.

The best part is the price — absolutely free (hey, I wonder where they got that idea?), since all you have to do is provide an email address (list-building!) and you can download your own PDF copy. What a bargain! To demonstrate why you should part with your digital digits, I’ll be posting a few short excerpts from Josh, Robert, John Sample and others over the next few days. But don’t wait for the movie, get the book today.

– cpd