The old model: focus on putting out a lot of “stuff” (TV ads, direct mail, radio, etc.) and hoping enough people to see it to make a difference.

The new model: utilizing modern communications tools with a focus on engaging your audience and getting them to interact with you.

Today’s New York Times has a great story about how the GOP Presidential candidates (whether you like them or not) are using modern communications tools not only to get their message out (eyeballs), but also to engage activists to work on their behalf:

This quote from the Iowa Republican Party Chair says it all:

“There is no more powerful endorsement than the one from someone you know and trust, whether it is a Facebook post or a knock on the door from your neighbor,” said Matthew N. Strawn, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa.

If you’re using your social media efforts simply to attract eyeballs to your stuff — you’re missing the boat. Start engaging your audience to act on your behalf.

As usually happens on these types of panels, there are some who like to take the discussion toward a debate of whether or not online engagement can fully replace traditional engagement tools (TV, radio, direct mail, “on the ground” grassroots, etc.)

While I think there are some cases in which online engagement can replace some of the traditional tools (especially in small or under-funded campaigns), the fact is that the media “pie” hasn’t gotten smaller — it’s just being divided up into smaller pieces.

There are more people watching video and getting their news online, and less people getting it off the television. Television viewership itself has become more fragmented, as broadcast news has taken a dip while cable news has risen. Radio is struggling in several markets, and I’ve heard some consultants tell me it’s harder to reach voters cost-effectively through direct mail.

Let me be clear: I think broadcast media and direct mail are effective.

But … putting all your eggs in one media basket in this age of increasing media fragmentation is a mistake.

Can campaigns win solely focusing on broadcast media and/or direct mail? Yes (for now.)

They are, however, missing a huge opportunity to truly engage voters online. Perhaps by engaging them online (more cost-effectively) they can actually spend less money on the traditional tools, with greater results.

… Our 2011 WebAward for the launch of the Congressional Civil Justice Caucus Academy Web site.  It’s one of the many great clients for which we are honored to work.

You can learn more about the award here.

The site was recognized for excelling in the categories of ensign, innovation, content, technology, copywriting and ease of use.

Congrats to the Academy on this award, and thank you for allowing us to be a part of your team. Thanks also to Integrated Web Marketing which, as always, was a great strategic partner on this project.

I’m not only talking about the presidential candidates — I’m talking about campaigns at the state and local levels, as well.

Many of these campaigns have Web sites, but are they truly using this early time to start a conversation with voters?

Sadly, most of them are not, and they’re missing the opportunity provided by modern media tools: that is, to start a conversation with voters in their districts as soon as possible.

Many campaigns are still stuck in the old “broadcast” mentality of campaigns. They’ll wait until the final month or so of the campaign to start flooding mailboxes with direct mail, and hitting the airwaves with advertisements. Some of them might even send out a few emails in the final weeks, or even put up some inexpensive Facebook ads.

We’re not saying those tactics are bad. We’re just saying that these candidates are missing a huge opportunity.

Why wait until a few weeks before Election Day to start touching voters when you can start engaging them now? A real, two-way discussion. Identifying supporters and activists who will help you recruit additional supporters and activists. The effective and integrated tools of modern communications media provide us the opportunity to not only cost-effectively have a discussion with voters between ASAP and Election Day — but to get many (hundreds, thousands, millions?) of these voters to raise their hands, recruit their friends, engage and mobilize.

In short: you’ll not only be communicating your message, you will involve a mass of your voters in an ongoing conversation, identify your advocates among these voters, and then mobilize these advocates to take action.

Why would you wait until the end of the campaign, when you can start the conversation now?

Google+ is still officially in “beta” right now, but they’ve started opening up the invite process. According to this Wall Street Journal report, the service has garnered 18 million users in its first three weeks.

I was fortunate enough to get an invite early on and be one of the first wave of users to join Google+.  It’s growth has been terrific.  When people ask me “what it is,” I tell them it’s a service that combines the best aspects of Twitter and Facebook to create a social media service that truly values conversation.

That being said — social media tools are what you make of them.  If you’re a politician or political organization that has been fortunate enough to snag an invite to Google+, please read on. While the service is still in its infancy, we try to provide some pointers on how to get started and make the most of Google+.  (And, for the record, the two most high profile politicians to join the service in its early days were Newt Gingrich and Gary Johnson.)

• First, set up a personal profile and fill out as much detail as possible. Unlike Twitter, catchy acronyms or nicknames aren’t appreciated.  Use your (or your candidate’s) real name.  The profile is key, as it allows people to find you via keyword search. As you can see from this recent Google search of my name, your profile is the first thing people will see from now on when they do a general Google search of your name.  Search engine gold!

• You’re probably wondering: “Can I set up a page for my campaign organization, such as ‘Republicans for Fair Elections’ or “Citizens for Smith’?”  The answer is no — not yet.  Google is set to role out pages for campaigns/organizations/businesses later this year. Some organizations have jumped the gun and set up profiles already — and there are some early indications that Google may “clean out” these pages (i.e., eliminate them).  They really want to create a clear delineation between individuals and organizations, which is smart.  They want to do it right.  So, for now, hold off on creating an organizational page.

• Once your profile is set up, use the Search box to search for people who reside in your district.  Look at their profiles to find their interests.  Then start putting them into “circles.”  What are circles?  Basically, it’s a tool that allows you to segment the people you follow into groups, and then, if you wish, deliver customized messages to each circle.  For example, you may want to create circles for people based on the cities in which they reside. This would allow you to deliver messages only pertaining to those cities to the people in those respective circles.  Of course, you can always make your posts “public” so everyone can see them.  But the circles can be a useful tool.

• Start posting.  Not just news releases, but actual conversational content designed to engage fellow Google Plussers. As with other social networking sites, Google+ allows you to humanize your content and provide a personal connection that no other media have ever allowed us to provide.  Just like we tell our clients regarding Twitter and Facebook: 30-second ads can provide a snapshot, but not nearly as effectively as a humorous tweet from the road, or a Facebook picture of you visiting the World’s Largest Ball of Wax en route to an actual campaign event.  Like those sites, Google Plus allows your campaign to provide a real-time scrapbook — showing constant activity.  You can show your supporters and network how hard you’re working simply by posting from the road with anecdotes and pictures of where you’ve been.

• As social media guru Chris Brogan warns: “don’t just post and run.”  In other words — the strength of Google+ (and any social network) isn’t just broadcasting your message, it’s reading the feedback and commenting back and forth.  Throw out questions to see what kind of feedback you get.  It could be anything — from asking whether or not your followers support higher taxes … to asking if any of them have any good summer reading suggestions.  Just get the conversation started.

• The Google+ interface makes it a great photo sharing tool. But, please, don’t just share photos from campaign events.  Share photos of “Americana” as you travel your district, throw on some family photos … make it interesting.

• Sharing is appreciated. People always appreciate having their content shared.  If you see something you like, share it. The social media karma gods will repay you.

• Feel free to +1 the posts you like.  +1 is basically similar to a “like” on Facebook.  It shows you find a post interesting or simply like it.

• You can also +1 content on the Web.  Similar to how Facebook allows you to “like” content around the Web, whether it’s a story in your favorite newspaper, or a post on your favorite blog, +1 buttons are starting to pop up all over the Web.  In addition, if you do a Google search, you’ll also notice that you can +1 various search results.  Theoretically, this may help boost search rankings for piece of content — but these +1′s also are catalogued in people’s Google Profiles and can help lead to more viral traffic to your site. Encourage your supporters to +1 your Web content in the Google search results.

• Think of creative ways you can use “Google Hangouts.” In short, Google Hangouts is a group video chat tool.  You can have video “hangouts” of up to 10 people.  Yes, it’s limited, but it can be powerful.  Newt Gingrich got some buzz for being the first politician to hold a Google Hangout.  Imagine holding hangouts with 10 volunteers or voters in each town in your district.  Or perhaps holding hangouts with your regional campaign directors.  Conference calls are so early 2011.  It’s time to start hanging out.

• Remember that Google+ is going to keep evolving, so be ready to adapt.

Most importantly — always be testing.  See what works.  Learn what doesn’t.  Measure the feedback you get on certain kinds of posts — and watch closely the analytics on your Web site (which posts drive most people to your site, keep them there longer, etc.)

As with any social networking effort, have fun, be conversational, and act like a human.  The days of one-way broadcast communication are coming to a close.

It’s all about engagement.  See you on Google+!

Please also check out these additional resources:

• Google+: The Complete Guide (Mashable)
• 10 Things You Never Knew Were Possible on Google+ (Business Insider)
• Google Plus Best Practices: Trey Ratcliff, Artist (ReadWriteWeb)

We prefer the latter, and believe this long-term relationship building is the true strength of online communications.

Anybody can press a button and blast out a message.  And there are a lot of consultants out there making a pretty penny off broadcast-model-tactics-based programs that have their clients pay for formulaic, short-term bursts of activity that do little more than blast out impressions and messages.

We choose a different path and believe in the strength of integrated, outcomes-focused campaigns that allow you to build long-term relationships with hundreds/thousands/millions of people in the areas that matter most to you.

To do this requires five steps that are fully intertwined and occurring simultaneously:

• Develop Online Messaging
• Take Message Public: Creating the Narrative
• Engaging Voters
• Creating/Identifying Advocates
• Mobilizing Activists

To simply explain how this works, I’ll share the metaphor of a restaurant owner:

• A restaurant owner opens up shop and then develops and runs ads to tell the story of his restaurant and build awareness.
• A customer becomes engaged when he or she comes in and eats at the restaurant.
• If the customer likes the food, the ambiance and the friendly wait staff, he or she will come back again and again — allowing the restaurant to identify that person as a potential “advocate” of the operation.
• The restaurant then can use a variety of tactics (maybe its Yelp or Foursquare or Facebook) to provide that person with the incentive and tools (mobilizes) to advocate for the restaurant — by spreading the word to his/her network and recommending the restaurant.

Too many consultants focus on the last step — mobilizing current advocates — without the continuous outreach and education for which we strive. It is, in fact, this continuous outreach and education that makes effective advocacy campaigns unique and powerful.  The key is not only finding those already passionate and asking them to advocate — it is reaching the undecideds and converting them into advocates.

Online tools allow you to build programs that work like an ongoing machine to constantly find interested audiences, educate them via your point of view, get believers to become advocates, and constantly generate supporters between the campaign’s launch and the end date.

Don’t just broadcast.  Don’t just deliver messages.  Start building relationships.

As a simple comparison to help us make our point, we use the example of online advertising vs. direct mail.

Here’s our simple answer: You can do it online for $50,000, or via direct mail for $250,000.

It’s important to realize that when we say “have your message read 200,000 times” — we aren’t talking about simple ad impressions, or pieces of direct mail.  While these impressions have value, they represent more cost than value.  What we are talking about are actual engagements.  Not just an exposure, but people who actually read your message.

After all, that is what issue-advertising is all about.

We recently completed an online ad campaign in which we spent about $40,000 to deliver slightly more than 4 million impressions.  For the purposes of our comparison, let’s equate those 4 million impressions with 4 million direct mail pieces.

Now, out of those 4 million direct mail pieces — how many people do you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, picked up your direct mail piece and read it?

Unfortunately, you don’t.  With direct mail, you can certainly measure how many pieces you mail, but you can only guess at how many people are actually “engaging” with your mail pieces.

Not so with online advertising.  For our recent campaign, out of those 4 million impressions, we had 202,000 engagements with our ads.  These were expandable, rich media ads — so what this means is that the ad was scrolled over, expanded and read/reviewed more than 200,000 times.

Further, we know how long people engaged with the ad overall — as well as what links they clicked in the ad, and how long they interacted with specific ad panels/features.

So, how much did it cost?  About $40,000.

How much would it cost to get the same amount engagements (202,000) through direct mail?  $250,000.  Here’s how we figure that:

If we liberally estimate direct mail readership at 20% and conservatively averaged the cost per mailer at 50 cents each (includes list, design, print and postage).  To generate 100,000 readers, he would send 500,000 pieces at a cost of $250,000.

Bottom line: Online provided comparable results for 84% less money.  Additional benefits to online include 1) real measurement 2) give interested audiences an immediate gateway to get more involved 3) ability to make changes during the campaign.

The bottom line:  anyone can know the cost of an issue campaign.  But being able to quantify the value and cost savings is what professionals do for their clients.

Our firm specializes in designing and placing expandable ad units that measure engagement levels.  We target political audiences from both parties and the large and undecided group of fence sitters in the middle.  We place tens of millions of impressions;  use cutting edge targeting;  designs for effect;  optimize and measure — and deliver results.

And, by results, we mean actual engagements — not just impressions.

Today, we helped launch his campaign Web site, as well as an email program that is already touching tens of thousands of voters in DuPage County.

Onward to victory in 2012!

Thank you!

Click here to learn more about our award for “Best Political Rich Media Online Ad” in the Web Marketing Associations’s Internet Advertising Competition.

The ad was for our client, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, in support of now-Congressman Bobby Schilling’s winning 2011 congressional campaign.

The LEC is a national center for research and education that focuses on the timely and relevant economic analysis of legal and public policy issues — and we’re fortunate to have them as a valued client.

Thanks so much to our strategic partners at Integrated Web Strategy for the wonderful design and development work.  As usual, IWS did a bang-up job.

In Homer Glen, IL, we served as general consultants for Mayor Jim Daley.  We put together an efficient campaign plan geared heavily toward online communications.  With the help of our friends at Integrated Web Strategy, we built a state of the art campaign Web site, engaged with voters through an aggressive voter email program and a targeted online advertising campaign, and directed a direct mail program that effectively delivered our campaign’s key messages to the voters we needed to reach.  It worked — as Mayor Daley won a three-person race by about 150 votes.

Also in Homer Glen, we built a direct mail program for Trustee candidate Tedd Kagianas that focused on turning out his base voters. The result — Tedd won re-election by more than 1,000 voters.

In Paris, IL (in southern Illinois), we served as general consultants on the “Yes 2 PCHS” school referendum campaign.  This campaign provided local residents the opportunity to build a new high school to replace their dilapidated 102-year-old existing high school. With limited campaign resources, the primary means of mass voter contact was via the campaign Web site, an aggressive voter email contact program, and a robust Facebook network.  In a race where only 3,600 votes were cast — we had a voter email list of more than 1,900 voters, and a Facebook network of more than 540 fans.  This online outreach helped fuel an impressive landslide victory (more than 60% voted “yes” on the referendum) in a tough political climate.

In the coming days, we’ll share more details of these individual case studies.  In the meantime, congrats to all our victorious clients!

The ad was for our client, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, in support of now-Congressman Bobby Schilling’s winning 2011 congressional campaign.

Click here to view a demo of the ad.

We delivered 4 million impressions of the online, expandable, rich media ads — generating an impressive 202,000 interactions with the ads.

Special thanks to our strategic partner on this project, TOBA Communications.  Thank you also — of course — to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce for engaging us for the winning campaign.

Selsberg writes about the importance of learning to write concisely — not only for media, such as Twitter and text messages, but as a useful work and life skill.

Selsberg writes:

A lot can be said with a little — the mundane and the extraordinary. Philosophers like Confucius (“Learning without thought is labor lost. Thought without learning is perilous.”) and Nietzsche were kings of the aphorism.

And short isn’t necessarily a shortcut. When you have only a sentence or two, there’s nowhere to hide. I’m not suggesting that colleges eliminate long writing projects from English courses, but maybe we should save them for the second semester. Rewarding concision first will encourage students to be economical and innovative with language. Who knows, we might even start to leave behind text messages and comment threads that our civilization can be proud of.

Read the full op-ed here.

From Tehran, Iran to Madison, Wisconsin, citizen journalists armed with small “Flip Cams” (or iPhones, or Droids, etc.) are providing valuable news reports that can be used to share information with the outside world — or simply to play “gotcha” with political opponents.

This morning, Politico reports on how this new “weapon” is being used in the current labor protests across the country:

Stung by allegations of incendiary, racist and homophobic rhetoric at tea party rallies last year, conservative activists with flipcams and camera phones have circulated at the union protests sprouting up across the country in hopes of catching violent or abusive behavior by their liberal adversaries.  The resulting photos and videos have ricocheted around the conservative blogosphere in recent days, prompting mounting outrage on the right.

Online video has been used against conservatives.  It’s being used against liberals.

It’s so authentic because it’s personal, it’s candid and visual.

Today, however, we’re giving his operation a “thumbs down” for blocking certain journalists from following his personal Twitter account.

The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram’s Bud Kennedy has this story on Twitter blockage.  He writes:

As of Tuesday, Perry or someone using his personal Twitter.com account has specifically singled out and blocked at least six Texas journalists from following his posts.

This is just an odd move by Perry.  Blocking someone on Twitter just means they won’t automatically receive your updates in their Twitter stream.  Anyone, however, can go to an unprotected Twitter account to view updates.

So, in effect, Perry sent a clear message without actually hiding his Tweets.  In the process, he created a news story that didn’t have to be written.

Our advice to candidates, organizations and businesses:  you have to decide whether or not you want to be open.

There’s no middle ground.  You’re either open … or you’re not.

It’s not the end of the world for Perry.  I doubt he’s sweating Kennedy’s news story at all.

But that doesn’t mean it was a good move, especially since “blocking” someone on Twitter doesn’t mean they can’t view your Tweets, anyway.

The Academy is an educational program organized under the leadership of the LEC. Its mission is to provide rigorous and balanced education programs on a range of civil justice issues for the benefit of the general public and members of the U.S. Congress and their staff. The Academy is an independent, outside entity that shares the goals of the Congressional Civil Justice Caucus (the Caucus), a Congressional Member Organization.

In addition to launching the Academy’s Web site (another product of our great partnership with Integrated Web Strategy), we will be rolling out a full online communications program.

Please click here for a brief explanation of the Academy.

We plan to roll out a new Web site for the Law & Economics Center in the coming weeks.

As a company that specializes in online content, we are strong believe in the power of online government transparency to foster trust in our elected officials, while allowing taxpayers to hold those officials accountable.

That’s why we’re so happy that one of our clients — Homer Glen, IL Mayor Jim Daley — today announced that he was going to put his Village’s check register online.

“We owe it to the Homer Glen taxpayers to be fully open and transparent with their tax dollars,” said Mayor Daley. “Through our fiscal responsibility, we have protected their tax dollars and kept Homer Glen’s budget balanced. Now, the taxpayers will be able to see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent.”

The mayor knows it will allow his constituents to hold him accountable — and he’s perfectly fine with that.

In this time of economic challenges and budget shortfalls, it would be nice to see more elected officials follow Mayor Daley’s lead.

(And, yes, if you’re wondering, Jim Daley is the cousin of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.)