Mandate Media

Forbes: How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:33:16 +0000

Every time you go shopping, you share intimate details about your consumption patterns with retailers. And many of those retailers are studying those details to figure out what you like, what you need, and which coupons are most likely to make you happy. Target, for example, has figured out how ...

Ad Age: Twitter Opens Up Self-Serve Ad Platform to 10,000 Small Businesses

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Twitter is rolling out the self-serve ad platform it's been testing to 10,000 small and midsize businesses next month through a partnership with American Express, in a bid to broaden its revenue streams. ... CEO Dick Costolo noted that opening up the self-serve platform is a key development for Twitter ...

Frog Loop: Seven Tips to Write the Best Email Appeals

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:04:28 +0000

Email is a numbers game. With competition for attention becoming more of a challenge every day, paying attention to the details and best practices matters more and more. Here are a few key tips from Samuel Mesquita, an expert email copy writer who spent years at ActionAid in the UK.

Social Media Today: Why Twitter Isn't Working For You

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:03:30 +0000

You gave in. You set up a twitter account for your business and have been posting religiously for the past few months. You start to notice that all your hard work does not seem to be paying off. Your followers are not growing and you are not getting any extra ...

The Atlantic: The Most Surprising Thing About How People Use Facebook

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:44:51 +0000

We all know that people are using Facebook every day for keeping up with their friends -- sharing pictures, statuses, and little finds from across the Internet. But it turns out that for the most hardcore Facebook users, the platform is more than social -- it's political.

BarackObama.com: Obama's $3 asks net $40 average donation

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:00:00 +0000

We often ask people for $3 because we believe as many people as possible should take ownership of the political process. It's easy to understand why that might not compute to the guy doing a lot of the selling for a party bought and sold by special interests. Since we ...

TechCrunch: Study: Facebook Pages Shouldn’t Post More Than 1x Every 3 hours

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:17:18 +0000

This new finding from a study by Facebook Page analytics company EdgeRank Checker could help Page owners avoid cutting short the lifetimes of their posts and overshadowing them with new content.

Social Media Today: The Social Spark: Strategies to Increase Social Engagement

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:17:17 +0000

Engagement with your audience is one of great advantages of social media marketing, but creating meaningfuland advantageous conversations is as much an art as it is a science. Engagement increases brand loyalty and public conversations can serve as free advertising.

Grist: McDonald’s discovers social media can backfire when people hate you

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:49:43 +0000

When McDonald’s tried to launch the #McDStories Twitter campaign, they clearly envisioned a bunch of fond memories from Big Mac lovers, interspersed with behind-the-scenes glimpses into the McDonald’s “food”-making process.

Social Media Today: Sharing on Social Networks – How Often is Too Often?

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:17:17 +0000

Researchers from the Westchester University of Pennsylvania dig into how often we think is the right number or frequency to share content on Social networks, like Facebook, provide news and information on our business to our online friends.

John Tree: The Story of United Flight 448

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:01:42 +0000

You never know what can happen in a campaign. One of our clients, John Tree (running for Congress in IL-10), was on a flight from Washington to Chicago - returning from serving his reserve duty at the Pentagon, when the flight attendants asked for his help with an unruly passenger.

Ben DuPree joins Mandate Media team

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:47:03 +0000

Here's a hearty welcome to the newest member of Mandate Media's team, Ben DuPree. He'll be working here as a political strategist and communications consultant - using online strategies to help our clients change the world.

Ben DuPree is a veteran of Oregon progressive and Democratic politics. His background is in campaign communications, political public relations, and online advocacy.

Ben has worked with many successful candidates, individuals, and organizations, including U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, Oregon State Representative Brian Clem, Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Oregon's State Senate Democrats, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters.

In his spare time Ben enjoys Portland's many farmers' markets, riding his road bike, working in his garden, and everything else Oregon has to offer. He and his wife Mele Sax-Barnett live in Northeast Portland.

More research: TV ads slipping, online ads surging.

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:53:25 +0000

SAY Media conducted a bipartisan study to best understand how the changing media landscape may impact a campaign’s ability to effectively and efficiently reach voters in the upcoming election. And the results are a no-brainer for those of us working at the intersection of politics and technology. A few highlights…

Almost 40% of all voters have a DVR at home. And when they’re watching TV this way, they aren’t watching commercials. Nearly 90% are skipping ads regularly when watching time-shifted programming.
36% of 18-44 year-olds and 15% of adults 45 and older are watching less live TV than they were a year ago.
2 out of 5 voters will NOT have watched live TV in the past week.

What does this mean for you? While TV advertising is still the most important tool in the campaign toolbox, it’s clear that a move towards online advertising is the way to go.

It’s time to at least start talking about the importance of online advertising and what a few targeted dollars can do to raise the profile of you, your candidate, or your organization.

The variety of ways you can use those advertising dollars online is skyrocketing. You can target specific audiences and show them ads with text-only ads, text and images or video based on keyword targeting or placements.

A recent study by Anzalone Liszt Research found that while internet viewing time is lower in comparison to TV viewing time, online viewing is growing. Video ads are increasingly important with 53% of internet traffic in the last year coming from video uploads and downloads.

During the 2010 election cycle we placed over $330,000 worth of online ads for our clients on Google, Facebook and targeted blogs and media outlets, generating over 345 million ad impressions. Got questions? We’ve got answers.

Governors, Senators, and Members of Congress blocked on .xxx registry

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:00:00 +0000

On Tuesday, we noted the emergence of the new .xxx domain - and tried to allay worries that folks need to jump in and immediately reserve their domains on that new space.

But in poking around a bit more, we discovered a fascinating thing: The names of sitting U.S. Senators, Representatives, and state Governors have been blocked from registration at .xxx. (As has every former president.) In other words, even if you wanted to reserve, say, JoeLieberman.xxx - well, you can't.

The ICM Registry - which controls .xxx - announced last month that they'd taken off the market thousands of domain names that match the first and last name of celebrities, politicians, and international organizations. Quoted in the UK's Guardian newspaper, ICM CEO Stuart Lawley said:

"The reason we banned the celebrities' names was because it's very difficult for them to trademark their names. We didn't want to have the embarrassment of AngelinaJolie.xxx coming up at the launch of the new domain."

But they've refused thus far to release that list. We've been testing a large number of names, and so far, every single one - except that of Congressman Mark Amodei (elected just last month in NV-2) - has been blocked.

You can see for yourself. Just visit the ICM Registry's WHOIS page and enter in a possible domain.

If it responds "Not Found", that domain will be available when general registration opens in November. But if it responds "Reserved by ICM Registry", then it's off the market.

But, wait! What about state legislators, down-ballot state officials, local officials, and candidates? Have no fear, the ICM Registry also has a general rule against swiping names. Again, Lawley:

"There's a prohibition on anyone registering a first or last name that doesn't belong to them," he said.

So, really. Don't panic.

What?! Do you really have to reserve a .xxx domain?

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:59:57 +0000

Yes, you've read that right. We're talking about the porn industry here - never thought we'd need to post on this!

We've gotten some questions about the industry's new domain, .xxx. As you can probably guess, this is a domain created for adult-only content.

But, before it goes live, there is a pre-launch “sunrise” period for federal trademark owners outside the adult entertainment industry to secure .xxx domain names. Then on November 8, the adult industry will have access to buy up domain names. We've gotten questions from a few folks wondering if they should buy a .xxx domain to make sure their domain remains out of the hands of the adult industry.

Don't panic.

Before you run off to to buy .xxx domain names, consider this: Is there any reason why anyone would go to, say, JonesForCongress.xxx by accident? There are hundreds of country codes and custom suffixes, like .md, .tm, .tv, .name, .info, etc? Other than making sure you've got .org and .com, we don't recommend grabbing all these variations.

After all, people aren't randomly guessing at domain names like they used to. Most folks just go to Google, type in a search and let Google figure out it out for them.

So, save yourself some money. Don't sweat the .xxx thing. (And besides, what does it say to your supporters if you did reserve a .xxx? Not sure that's a message you want to send, right?)

Facebook: profiles, pages, and groups, oh my!

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:51:37 +0000

Yes, Facebook is important to your campaign. But should you use your personal profile? How about creating a page or a group? So let's explain...

There are three kinds of entities on Facebook: Profiles, Pages, and Groups.

Profiles

Profiles are for humans. Every human has one and only one profile. Every Profile represents exactly one human. They require real identities, but have robust privacy options. They can comment anywhere on Facebook and on other sites that use Facebook authentication. All relationships are two-way opt-in. (You're my friend, I'm your friend.)

They're capped at 5000 friends (because no one has more than 5000 friends). And they cannot be advertised or integrated with an outside website.

Here is the personal Profile of our president, Kari Chisholm.

Pages

Pages are for products, organizations, celebrities, and politicians. They are the official and public representation of those entities on Facebook. Multiple people can be authorized to administer them. They have no privacy settings. They can comment on their own Page and on other Pages (but not on Profiles).

All relationships are one-way opt-in. (I'm a fan of Lady Gaga. She doesn't know I exist.) There is no cap on the number of fans or "likes". They can be advertised and integrated with an outside website, and you can't email your fans.

Here is Congressman Peter DeFazio's politician Page and his government official Page.

Groups

Groups are informal groups of people, typically because they share an interest. Groups can be open, closed (invite-only, but visible), or secret (invite-only and hidden). They are opt-out (i.e. you can add all your friends to a group you create, without their consent; though they will be notified and can opt-out.) Groups cannot speak for themselves.

By default, Groups send an email notifying members of every post in the Group. They can be unlimited in size, though some features (like group chat) disappear after 200 members join. They can be advertised.

Here is the group page for a bunch of people who like to talk about Portland beer.

Wanna read more? Here are some additional resources about profiles, pages and groups and how to choose which is best for your organization. Or check out Facebook's blog.

No, don't auto-post your blog or Twitter to your Facebook

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:30:00 +0000

We get asked all the time: How can I automatically post everything from my website/blog to my Facebook page? The answer: It's easy, but don't.

We get asked all the time: How can I automatically post everything from my website/blog to my Facebook page?

The answer: It's easy, but don't.

Why not? Because Facebook's algorithm punishes status updates generated by automated systems. Not only that, but you're almost certainly going to be posting headlines - rather than witty, insightful, thoughts that intrigue people enough to click, like, and comment.

Over at WPMU, one blogger actually tracked this effect when she changed her Facebook posting from automated to manual:

From 20th February to 20th March we received 435 visits from Facebook. From 20th March to 20th April we received 3252 visits from Facebook. That’s an increase of 647.59%!

So what changed? We didn’t see a sudden rise in the people who “Like” us on Facebook. We haven’t changed our regularly posting pattens. What we did, and what you can do too, was turn off autoposting to Facebook.

And, by the way, the same applies to Twitter. Don't feed your Twitter to your Facebook page.

We recommend producing content for Facebook and Twitter that's written for those two very different cultural environments. But if you must automate, feed your Facebook to your Twitter, not the other way around. (But don't forget Twitter's 140 character limit!)

Mandate Mail: Sending your emails just got easier

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:13:22 +0000

Next time you send a campaign using our email broadcasting tool, Mandate Mail, you'll find that the sending process has changed a bit. It's now even easier to send your campaigns.

(click to view larger)

The new "Send" screen combines what was formerly a three-step process into one easy-to-follow page. You'll review and set the mailing's sender name and email address and determine the audience for your mailing all in one step.

When you're ready to send, a quick review of the details in the new "Mailing Summary" column will reassure you that the critical elements of your mailing are all in order, and will show you the number of subscribers your email will be sent to.

Once you're ready, just click "send your mailing now" and your mailing will be sent immediately, or "schedule your mailing" and your email will be sent at the time you indicate.

Note: If you don't see the new interface, try clearing your browser cache or doing a hard-refresh on your browser.

If you have any trouble with the new interface, or have any questions, feel free to drop us a note!

Happy sending!

Who's on Twitter?

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:28:36 +0000

No doubt you can connect to lots of Americans on Twitter, but who will you be reaching out to?

Twitter isn't just for young people. People from ages 30-49 are nearly as likely to use it as 18-29 year olds.

One of the most interesting findings is that African Americans and Latinos are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as whites.

Pew Research breaks it down for us further.

Twitter should suspend NRSC twitter privileges

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:44:16 +0000

The NRSC should have its tweeting privileges suspended by Twitter. They faked a quote from President Obama and retweeted it - and it wasn't an accident or an intern-gone-awry. It was deliberate, and it violates Twitter's rules.

There's a controversy brewing. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out the following tweet:

Of course, that isn't a legit tweet from @BarackObama. In essence, they've faked up a quote from the President of the United States and passed it off as if it were real.

The link takes people to a completely blank page. But the domain name was registered by the NRSC - and if you go there, you'll get tagged for future ads from the NRSC.

In other words, this was a deliberate plan - not an accident or little stunt by some social media intern.

It's crystal clear what should happen next. Twitter should suspend the NRSC's account on Twitter. Their rules are clear:

Impersonation: You may not impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others

That's precisely what they've done -- and they've done it to the President of the United States; they've done it as a deliberate strategy; and they've done in order to market their organization to unwitting recipients of the tweet.

Here's what you can do: Join the Act.ly campaign calling on Twitter to suspend the NRSC from their system. Just tweet it!

(Hat tip to Baratunde Thurston)