Pundits have been predicting that the midterm election cycle this fall will boost the coffers of local radio and TV stations. There’s another sector that will witness increased advertising  as well – online media. Experts are pointing to the online strategies employed by both President Barrack Obama and new Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown as evidence that a well-planned online media campaign leads to success.

Pete Snyder, CEO of New Media Strategies, told Advertising Age that “We’re seeing in the neighborhood of [a] 20% to almost 30% increase over past years. That’s incredible growth.”

A report published by Borrell Associates earlier this year indicates that online media spending by political campaigns will reach $44 million which is only 1% of total political ad spending this year. Further, Borell doesn’t expect online spending by politicians to surpass $100 million until 2012.

But campaign managers are looking for ways to use the Web most effectively. Strategies will include:

“Google bomb” – Buying up search words and terms

Meta tagging – Improving organic search results

Facebook – Purchasing display ads on social networks

E-mail – Using traditional e-mail to reach voters who need motivation to get to the polling booth

If some  campaigns are spending nearly 1/3^rd of their ad budgets on online media, the shift represents a big change in strategy as candidates try to encourage supportive voters to influence friends and family members. But according to Edmund Lee, writing for Advertising Age, TV is still the most expensive, most trusted, perhaps most effective media tool.

[Sources: Lee, Edmund. “Politicians Pony Up for Paid Online Ad Plans.” Advertising Age. 9 Aug. 2010. Web. 24 Aug. 2010; Kaplan, David. Borrell: Political Online Ad Spend Will Be Local. Paidcontent.org. 5 Feb. 2010. Web. 25 Aug. 2010]

Charitable organizations have long been accustomed to sending out direct mail to recruit funds from existing and new donors.  Historically, this approach has yielded about a 1% response rate and often the responder can be counted on the give again and again. Additionally, the approach has worked well for cultivating loyalty with members of the Mature generation. To prepare for the future, should nonprofits be adjusting their fundraising strategies?

This question was raised by Convio and Edge Research during a recent study which found that giving varies significantly by age group. Currently, annual giving by individual consumers breaks out as follows:

• Matures $1,066
• Boomers $901
• Gen X $796
• Gen Y $341

The method of giving varies by age as well. According to the study, the most common method of giving funds for each age group is:

• Matures – Check by mail 77%
• Boomers – Check by mail 54% (closely followed by store checkout donation at 52%)
• Gen X – Checkout donation 57%
• Gen Y – Checkout donation 48%

For now, Matures, Boomers  and Gen X members get most of their information from their top charity through direct mail. But Gen Y members say that Web sites and e-mail/newsletters are their primary information sources.

Analysts found that while direct mail remains a strong channel for soliciting and accepting funds, they suggest that non-profit organizations begin using other channels such as social networks and text messaging.  This change in strategy will prepare non-profits to court younger consumers for donations for the long term. Not surprisingly, the study results show that “[t]he younger the donor, the greater the number of ways they give.”

The advent of e-commerce has increased the difficulty of tracking return on investment (ROI) on solicitation of funds.  ROI information is as important to nonprofits as it is to other businesses and analysts believe that measurement tools will be forthcoming. For now, nonprofits need to operate in multiple channels to make it easy for donors to receive requests and send in donations.

[Source: The Next Generation of American Giving. Convio. Edge Research. March 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2010]

When it comes to promoting their products, pharmaceutical firms are required to be more careful than the typical marketer. A traditional print advertisement is often accompanied by an entire page of compressed text that details possible side effects that might result from taking medications. Pharmaceutical companies are currently in negotiations with the FDA about how they might be able to use social media while still meeting legal requirements.  A big area of discussion is how to deliver the text regarding side effects through a format such as Twitter. One possible solution being reviewed is the concept of providing a link from any site to another page that displays the required data about the drug.

In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies are using unique social media approaches to reach out to consumers. In some cases, pharma companies are sponsoring a social media site that is dedicated to a specific disease their product is designed to treat. For example, Gilead sponsors a site called Gilead B Here which addresses the topic of Hepatitis B and targets younger Asian Americans.  Gilead turned off the comments section on its YouTube and Facebook efforts to avoid appearing as though they were promoting their specific drug Viread.   ‘We’re launching a disease awareness educational campaign that includes X, Y and Z and our website, live educational events and media outreach,” says the product manager.

Thus, the social media tactics used sound a lot like a traditional website. However, because the sites are attached to the YouTube and Facebook channels, they should be more effective than websites in reaching the targeted consumer groups.

Other manufacturers are launching unbranded sites dedicated to disease information and supporting the sites with printed materials that they distribute in physician offices or with traditional advertising. Some of these manufacturers are allowing the more traditional commenting features on their social media sites but they are careful in their approach to disseminating information.

Pharma companies are also interested in using Twitter. Companies such as Shire, maintain a one-way communication system. The company sends out tweets but does not accept comments.   Carl Desmond, creative director and partner at Awaken Interactive  says “it’s very tempting to want to follow [patients], but obviously the tweets would appear in the feed and that’s not something we’d be able to monitor and get approved.”

For now, pharma companies have just begun their foray into social media. As they are able to get additional permissions from the FDA, these marketing efforts should grow and evolve over time.

[Source: Comer, Ben. Patient Marketing Report: Friending Social Media, Medical Marketing and Media, 1.15.2010]

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Centers. The following are the predicted Top 5 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming year:

• There is a large market for age-specific treatment centers, particularly for senior citizens.
• In 2008, 20.8 million persons (8.3% of the population aged 12 or older) needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem but did not receive treatment at a specialty substance abuse facility, which represents a large potential market for these services.
• Many centers are focusing on alternative and holistic treatments.
• Lack of funding and space is a big challenge to this industry.
• Many adults wait to seek treatment for addiction issues: Adults who abuse alcohol typically wait nine years before seeking treatment, while those with drug addictions wait approximately six years.

The Industry Marketing Insights report for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Centers is available on Ad-ology.com (Research Store) for $295 USD with local market data for any U.S. market.

[Source: Ad-ology Research. September 24, 2009.]