the press release is dead

... their Facebook ads.  Gee, can you tell anything about my political philosophy from this lineup of ads that appeared on my Facebook page today?

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Earlier tonight, I saw a tweet from @JakeParrillo that referenced a Google Insights result that showed a surge in Google searches for Bill Brady — the upset winner of the Illinois Republican Gubernatorial Primary. Click here to take a look at the chart of that Google Insights report.

But it doesn't end there.

Here is the chart of a Google Insights report on the dead heat matchup between incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn and challenger Dan Hynes.  While Quinn was the eventual winner — only a point separated them, which is basically reflected in that Google Insights report.

And take a look at this ...

In the hard-fought battle for the Democrat U.S. Senate nomination between Alexi Giannoulias and David Hoffman — eventual winner Giannoulias beats out Hoffman on Google search volume, and this Google Insights report reflects the close nature of the race.

And how about the Republican Lt. Governor race?

Upset winner Jason Plummer had a Google surge at the end of the race — forecasting his win last Tuesday.

Could Google Insights be the ultimate election prediction tool (for races in which there is enough search volume to register)? 

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Our client, Jason Plummer, won the Republican Illinois Lt. Governor Primary Election by 4,700 votes -- and had 4,700 Facebook fans.

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As you know, we have a number of political clients.  Hopefully, today is just the beginning for all of them.  It's been a fun (yet tiring) Primary Election season.

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H/T to The Capitol Fax Blog for this one ...

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Sorry for the infrequent posts here over the past two weeks, but our company is firing on all cylinders.  We have a number of political clients, and the Illinois Primary Election is next Tuesday, so it's a busy time of year.

I did want to post briefly on the great tool called Qik. For those of you who don't know, Qik is an app that allows live streaming from your phone.  

I have it on my iPhone and my Droid (seems to work much better on my Droid) and used it to live stream two press conferences this week.  A press conference I live streamed today was run live by Illinois' two most well-read blogs, and the two videos have garnered a combined 1300 viewers.

Pretty impressive.  We're going to it use it a lot more between now and Election Day (and beyond), so stay tuned.

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Upset that only 150 or 200 people have viewed your business' or campaign's online video?  Just think about how many conferences or "chicken dinners" you've addressed where there were only 30 or 40 people in the audience.  

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I had a meeting the other night with a potential client, and during the course of the meeting we came to realize that we both had formerly worked as district directors for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (yes ... "Jerry's Kids").

We got to talking about modern communications tools, and how social networking tools are really based upon the principles that have made the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon such a success.

In fact, the more we discussed it — the more I realized that the Labor Day Telethon is really a great example of why good social media marketing programs work.

First, in social media, businesses who are successful are those who aren't always trying the "hard sell."  Those who put up unique, compelling content in a conversational way are those who see the most success.  So it goes with the Telethon:  people tune in for the entertainment — the singers, dancers, comedians — and then donate money as a secondary action.  So, the "content" brings them in first ... and then they respond to the sales pitch (which, by the way, is done through more compelling content of touching stories of children and families affected by MD.)

Second, the Telethon is based not upon the principle of one-way broadcast communication — but on the principle of interactivity.  You can see the volunteers on TV picking up the phone to take your call.  Your local celebrity holds up a phone, asks you to call, and you do.  The host announces that your local heating and air conditioning company is matching donations for the next two minutes, and so you respond and make your contribution.

Third, there is a sense of community.  While Jerry Lewis does his schtick live from Las Vegas, every region of the country has their own, local segment of the Telethon, broadcast from a local venue in a town nearby.  You know the hosts, you know the sponsors, and you know many of the volunteers answering phones in the background.  In many cases, you know children and families who benefit from the money raised at the Telethon.

Content.  Interactivity.  Community.

These are principles upon which the MDA Labor Day Telethon have been built — and they're the same principles that make businesses and organizations successful in their social media marketing efforts.

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Frank Eliason — who pioneered Comcast's use of social media as a customer service tool — told me earlier today that Comcast has serviced a total of 160,000 people via social networking sites.

More than 50,000 via Twitter.

That's just since February 2008, when he started in this role.

Truly incredible.

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