Joe Biden’s Official 2020 Campaign Website - MB

Joe Biden’s Official 2020 Campaign Website 

Website’s Target Audience: 

This official campaign website is designed for three types of voters: African Americans, youth voters and existing Biden supporters. In almost all of the websites pictures and attached videos, Biden was smiling and/or shaking hands with African American people. This campaign is trying to reach this demographic by showing through different photography mediums that people with the same color and race support him for xyz reasons. Much of these pictures are placed on “Joe’s Vision for America” page ,which lists out his latest plans in bettering the United States of America. The campaign website also tries to mobilize American youth voters on its “Action Center” page and merchandise page. Like its African American reach, this campaign’s page is filled with photos of young adults answering phones and canvassing for Joe. This implementation of photos indicates that the Biden campaign is calling on youth around the country to not only support but to take action as well. This site also allows supporters to purchase merchandise that have a youth stylish feel with its design. Some of the merchandise items include coffee mugs and t-shirts with the slogans “Have a Cup O’ Joe” and “Release Your Tax Return or Shut Up.” Finally, the 2020 campaign web is designed to reach existing Joe Biden supporters that want to look back and see the reasons as to why they believe in him as their candidate. The About Joe page contains a sweet storytelling aspect about his life that doesn’t share policy visions but rather a closer look at Biden's life and time as a working and family man. 

Call to Action:

This website has an entire page dedicated to the Campaign’s call to action. Right as you click on the site you are immediately directed to a donation page with options ranging between $5-$250 dollars. Once you exit the donations option there is a page called the `Action Center”. On this page you can find a range of ways in which an American citizen can help the campaign and/or join the Biden team. Here are following ways the website encourages supporters to get involved: making phone calls for Joe, texting for Biden 2020, finding  an event near you, hosting a grassroots event in your neighborhood, downloading the Team Joe App, finding your local field office, contacting an organizer, organizing a tool kit, running to be a delegate for Biden, and becoming a grassroots fundraiser for Joe.

Entrepreneurial vs Institutional Engagement: 

The Joe Biden 2020 Official Campaign Website takes on supporter engagement at an institutional level. The site lays out a clear instructional platform for supporters to follow. The website is clean and organized; offering tool kits and packets for supporters to use if they intend to take action in Biden’s name. There is no sign of this website being used for supporters creativity. 

Leadership and Community Building: 

The 2020 Official Campaign Website is projects a likable, friendly, “been around the block” image of Joe Biden. It shares videos and pictures from years past that help supporters paint a better picture of the candidates background and life story.

Innovation vs. Missed Opportunities

After looking at all the other democratic candidates website, I would say that Biden’s website design is the most innovative. It is visually appealing, organized, and all of the videos/content are cut to perfection. It is clean cut but also uses innovative technologies such as all social platforms and the Biden app (which Bernie is the only other candidate who has an app). However, the campaign’s website could have benefited from developing another site page that is used strictly for two way engagement between the american people and the campaign team. Blog posts, chat boxes, vlogs are just a few examples of ways the Biden campaign could become more engaged with its audience through the website.

Elizabeth Warren’s Got a Plan for That!

by Thanh Le

Senator Elizabeth Warren, the first woman to represent Massachusetts in the US Senate, officially launched her presidential campaign on February 9th, 2019. Senator Warren has been dominating the Democratic primary debate stages, which should come as no surprise considering she was a debate champion in high school and won a debate scholarship to GWU at 16 years old. Most recently, her impressive debate performance in Las Vegas gave a huge boost to the campaign’s fundraising efforts and a considerable rise in the national poll. Though Warren has yet to come out on top in the past three voting states and is now in fourth place in terms of delegates, her campaign could carry the momentum of the recent surge into Super Tuesday where 1,300 delegates will be up for grabs.

The “Warren for President” official website https://elizabethwarren.com serves as the digital platform where all constituents can learn about the campaign plans and the candidate’s story, as well as how to get involved and organized to support Warren in the primary and general election. I noticed when searching for the website that the campaign paid for Google Ads so that the official page comes up as the first result at the top whenever there’s a search of terms related to Warren. The headline’s customized versions include “Working For The Middle Class” and “End Corruption In Washington” which reflect the core messages of Warren’s campaign.

The first landing page of the website, even before reaching the main page, is an immediate call-to-action “Can you chip in?.” The message has changed slightly today to reflect a new update that is the latest CBS national poll “Elizabeth in second!” before asking supporters to chip in. The page that follows then greets visitors with the official campaign slogan “Dream big, fight hard, and win,” emphasizing the grassroots movement, and a simple suggestion to “Stay in touch,” asking for contact information - email address and zip code. The “Donate” buttons are very prominent both with the top-of-the-page banner and end-of-the-page nudge. The campaign marks reaching out and speaking to voters a high priority but only requires quite low commitment, as “Start making call” redirecting to a complete walk-through toolkit where you can make calls from your home or anywhere with Internet access. The “Find an event near you” section offers the chance to get more involved with higher commitment, such as canvass, rally, meet-and-greet, outreach, community events, and so on.

The campaign offers a good mix of opportunities for institutional and entrepreneurial engagement. Inside the “Help elect Elizabeth Warren” page is the comprehensive toolkit with extensive details on how advocates can get involved with Team Warren and be part of the movement. Whether it is contacting voters, hosting an event, or organizing the community, Team Warren provides step-by-step instructions and detailed materials. Supporters are also encouraged to create their own event plans and submit them to the campaign for approval. In short, the campaign gives supporters the basic tools and guidelines, and they can pick and choose what to do with it.

Warren’s campaign is known for their substantial amount of comprehensive plans and detailed proposals - “I have a plan for that” even becomes the unofficial slogan. The extensive plans and fact squad not only reflect Warren’s progressive records but also demonstrate how she’s more than qualified and prepared to hold the highest office in the land. As president, Warren will get things done and her leadership will make a “big, structural change.” “Meet Elizabeth” tells the story of her humble upbringing and incredible journey to become a law professor and US Senator because “America invested in kids like her.” It presents her as a progressive champion but also reflects the disappearing American middle-class - making the “story of self” becomes the “story of us.”

Supporters can apply to join the community of fellow progressives in support of Warren’s presidential candidacy at “All in for Warren.” However, there is virtually no link on the website directing to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Warren has a great following on all of these platforms and it will be useful to direct visitors there so they can connect, show support, and spread the words on social media. Besides, the campaign has a lot of creative and interesting merchandises but they are not very visible or featured in any innovative way on the website. To sum up, the “Warren for President” official website did a great job overall of providing a digital platform for constituents to learn more about and get engaged with the grassroots movement, but there are a few missed opportunities that they could have used better.

Fun fact: A TikTok featuring a hilarious “recap” of Elizabeth Warren’s stellar performance at the last debate went viral this weekend. The clip ends with this quip “Join me at Elizabeth-Warren-dot-you-just-got-knocked-the-fuck-out-dot-org… Lizzy out!”. This address is now registered and redirects to Elizabeth Warren's official campaign website.

Hear the Bern! - Alyssa Bradley

On April 8th, 2019 Bernie Sanders launched an innovative initiative to excite potential voters, wonks, political pundits, and general people looking to find new information on the Vermont senator with his podcast, Hear the Bern. Hear the Bern is just one of many ways Sanders is hoping to reach supporters.With Hear the Bern, Sanders is hoping to give interested parties a unique insight into how his campaign works, the surrogates and leaders within it, and general opinions on current policy ideas, events, and news stories. 

Hear the Bern is described as a show hosted by Bernie himself, but since its inception he’s been on the show less than 10 times - which is understandable because he is running for President and a new episode of the show is released weekly. Instead the show’s main host is Briahna Joy Gray, National Press Secretary for his 2020 campaign. Every week she speaks with Bernie supporters on topics such as his black support, how to bridge the center with the left, climate change, views on corporations, and many other topics. In each episode she brings an expert supporter on the topic and ends the show with a call to action for supporters to donate, read the website for more information on Bernie’s views on the topic, or by letting the audience know about a televised town hall or debate coming up. 

The show not only targets voters who are already strong supporters of the campaign, but also targets critics or undecided voters. The past three episodes since Iowa voting have begun break down why Bernie won all three states and address criticisms of the campaign. In the most recent episode released February 24th Gray speaks about the campaign’s tremendous Nevada win as a “political earthquake” that caused the political establishment to lash out on television and in print. This statement is for the supporters to show that they’re breaking ground. She then goes into detail about who exactly they won - hispanic voters by over 50%, white voters, voters under 50, second place with black voters, etc. This is for the critics who say his audience is only white males (i.e. Bernie Bros). These messages serve as a way for supporters and potential supporters to get involved with the campaign. I think the biggest draw for campaign podcasting is it gives supporters message points and tips on ways to talk to people who are on the fence about their particular candidate. With Hear the Bern, Briahna Joy Gray unpacks what has happened over the past week or unpacks specific policy proposals in a human way which leads to a better understanding of what the campaign hopes to accomplish. Because of this, the podcast is able to build a strong community of listeners and activists who are interested in being high information voters. 

Additionally, the podcast is a great example of the story of us technique. With each week highlighting a different subject it allows voters to learn why they should be excited for this campaign and how his win could affect our lives. One component of the story of us technique is making sure people know why you’re organizing and why they should too and Hear the Bern does that. 

With Spotify and Apple Podcasts being more rigid, it’s difficult to be innovative with the platform. However, Gray promotes the podcast on her social media platforms, specifically Twitter which gets users more involved. There is also a version on Youtube. When she was creating the podcast on marijuana legalization she asked the Twitterverse who they thought would be the best guest on the show. This is something that can cause users to participate more and also know what’s coming for the next week and whether they’d like to listen.

 Hear the Bern is definitely a hidden gem of the campaign. It’s not talked about very much on Twitter or at rallies so unless you’re someone seeking out a lot of Bernie, you probably won’t be able to find it which is definitely a missed opportunity.  If Bernie were to give it a shoutout at a rally or link to it more often on his campaign Twitter platform, it could be much more useful and reach more people. 

Hear the Bern Spotify

Amy Klobuchar- Facebook Page

Candidate: Amy Klobuchar

Platform: Facebook

There is clear indication that presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar wants her campaign to appear authentic and grassroots. In her “about” page on Facebook, they use the words “homegrown campaign.” The campaign wants Klobuchar to seem like a down-to-earth, authentic, Midwestern candidate. The problem is, that is all the Facebook page says about her. They have an intense, steady feed of clips from debates, links, and short posts that are likely also tweeted out.

            Their demographic seems to match what we know about Facebook. The engagement on the page is mainly from people who are middle age or older. There doesn’t seem to be much engagement from young people. That being said, this seems to be more of a platform for very professional posts from the campaign. There isn’t any engagement with supporters from the official Facebook page, as far as I can tell.

            There are a couple calls to action on the page. The main, and most obvious, call to action is to vote for Klobuchar in the upcoming primaries. The only other major call to action is to “join us” at the official website. There are invitations to events and rallies, but there isn’t a major call for social justice or change. The main message of the Klobuchar campaign, according to the Facebook page, is that if you don’t like Trump, you might like her. I’m not meaning to discredit her policy points or agenda, but that is how the Facebook comes across. One post reads, “Trump’s worst nightmare is that the people in the middle, the people who are tired of the mudslinging and the name-calling, will have a place to call home this November.”

            The platform is definitely just encouraging people to plainly follow instructions. There is no creative engagement on the platform. It is about as institutional as it could get. It does not seem like it is encouraged either. There is engagement, but most of it is just negative comments about Klobuchar. Even a professional Santa Claus came after her. 

It does not seem like the Klobuchar campaign is trying to engage with people in any meaningful way that would build up leaders in her community of supporters or rally people behind her in any particular way. If the most you can do is go to her website and try to figure out engagement there, the platform is surely lacking.

            They are not using Facebook in any new or innovative way. I would have liked to see them use the platform as a sort of forum for engagement, where Klobuchar could engage with people directly and have conversations with supporters. Instead, the way the Facebook is structured, you end up seeing more comments about how bad she is than actual posts by Klobuchar. The comments call her out for not being the midwestern grassroots leader that she is trying to portray. There are fears on the page that she is just another Washington insider doing whatever she can to get elected. While I take issue with those sentiments for any candidate, this Facebook page is not doing anything to quell those concerns.

Elizabeth Warren on Facebook by Kelila Rotto

The last presidential election in 2016 made it clear how influential social media, especially Facebook, can be in politics. While it’s now clear that people were influenced by Russian interference on Facebook, the fact that much of it was done on this platform says a lot about how Facebook influences people’s opinions.  

Although Facebook doesn’t seem to be as important in this election, only a fool would discount this platform after 2016. About seven-in-ten U.S. adults, that is 69 percent of people, use Facebook. While younger audiences are not likely to engage on this social platform, older audiences are probably still looking on Facebook. People will visit Facebook just to take a look around, but if you can get someone to commit to liking a candidate’s page, you have an audience that will automatically see your posts and can amplify the messaging.

Elizabeth Warren’s Facebook banner is a video with key images and words to draw in the audience and get them excited. It has phrases such as “Dream Big” and “Fight Hard”, but a key is seeing the word “Grassroots” which gives the credit back to the people who are at the bottom. Most of the imagery includes Warren interacting with audiences and hugging people. This shows the campaign as including individuals and giving credit to the person looking at the page. But this is not left without a call for action. On the bottom right of the banner there is an easy ask for the viewer. All it says is “text fight to 24477”. It’s simple, but that is why it is perfect as the first thing you see.

Additionally, most of the messaging on Warren’s Facebook page focuses on the effect of every person who pitches in fighting side by side. Very few posts use a first person “I” or refer to “my plan”. Instead, they focus on the community and what Warren’s supporters can do together.

The pinned post, the first post anyone who clicks on this page would see, is thanking supporters. This gives credit to those who donated for “building this campaign” or “a movement”. It is inspiring as the first thing as it is clear that the campaign has far exceeded the original goal. As a new supporter or an old supporter, the Facebook page seems to be about keeping up momentum and making those who follow Warren feel good about how they have helped contribute.

Warren’s campaign is using this platform for two distinct purposes. Firstly, about half of the posts seem to be informational. Whether this be a video or a link to an article which shows Elizabeth Warren’s values and campaign promises. This in itself may be a type of ask because posting is kind of a way of asking people to read the post or watch the video. Many other posts ask for donations but only a small amount like $2 which almost anyone can give. But they are sure to ask in the context of what this donation is fighting for.

Because of the platform, Facebook does not tend to be entrepreneurial in the type of engagement it encourages. While it allows for two-way communication and encourages conversation from the audience, this page is run in Elizabeth Warren’s name and does not allows for others to create their own posts, people can only comment on posts created by the campaign.

However, it should be noted that this is only Warren’s “personal” account. There is another account where the audience can be more participatory and make their own posts in order to contribute. Interestingly enough, these two accounts work together as a whole. One to give information and ask for a donation, and another account designed to create more interaction and even build a community through the participation on the page.

Mike Bloomberg brings Memes to the 2020 Election by: Kelly Ramirez

         Although most presidential candidates have been using social media platforms to their advantage during the 2020 election, Mike Bloomberg decided to take a different route on that. In the beginning of February, Bloomberg’s campaign teamed up with social media influencers to drop “memes.” Bloomberg’s campaign has been working with Meme 2020, a company that represents some of the biggest social media accounts in the “influencer economy.” The idea of this campaign was to reach out to famous meme accounts such as @KaleSalad, @TankSinatra, @WhitePeopleHumor, and @FuckJerry who all have over millions of followers.

Here are a few examples:

Bloomberg has been using this unique social media strategy in the hopes of attracting younger voters, mainly under the age of 25, who have been known to be notoriously hard to reach. His team knows he can’t win this audience through television ads or even on Facebook, as studies have shown that Gen Z-ers prefer Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and even VSCO. Some of the accounts that have been posting the Bloomberg memes have over 60 million followers. The memes were released at the same time during a two-hour period on a Wednesday evening, which was a smart tactic to get the attention of young people who scroll through Instagram before going to sleep.

By commissioning some of the internet’s top-viral creators to create content about him he has been able to reach tens of millions of followers. Bloomberg has already spent more than $300 million throughout his campaign. Bloomberg’s national spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, said, "while a meme strategy may be new to presidential politics, we're betting it will be an effective component to reach people where they are and compete with President Trump's powerful digital operation." 

There have been people saying this campaign tactic has been a success, but there are also people saying that his “social media stunts keep backfiring.” First, there is no clear call to action. Even though there is a clear market segment of whom he wants to reach, there is no direct call to action on what to do after seeing the meme. None of the memes include a way to go to his campaign site or donate, or even register to vote. The only tactic it would have is that this target audience may start looking him up online to learn more about him, but there is no research to back that up. A popular meme-account, @thefatjewish, criticized Bloomberg and his campaign by commenting on one of the memes posted by another account saying he was approached by Bloomberg’s campaign but declined due to his past positions and policies. 

The campaign definitely has more entrepreneurial than institutional engagement. This social media strategy is something that has not been seen before in politics. It definitely is eye catching, but is it solely to just laugh for a few seconds then scroll past it or what exactly is Bloomberg aiming for? Reporters have mentioned their confusion and if his campaign tactics are just trying to be “funny” or is there an actual meaning behind them. The campaign is not necessarily using the platform to position Bloomberg as a leader, however in some way it is building a community amongst potential supporters. The campaign is definitely using the platform in an innovative way. Using memes as a tactic is something new that has never been seen throughout a presidential election, and although it may seem a little cringeworthy, it is getting attention. Some have even called this election the “influencer election.” 

Referring back to missing a direct call to action, that might be the biggest missed opportunity. The strategy could have gone the extra mile and included a call to action, the link to his campaign website, or a place to register to vote. It may be attention grabbing, but it is missing that one thing to fully make it marketable to the audience he is trying to reach.

Twitter and Klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar has yet to find herself as a frontrunner in the race, though she has polled well enough to make it onto the debate stage. This good but not great performance can be seen on her twitter account as well. Twitter is one of the best Information and Communication Technologies to communicate with your supporters. Yet, Amy only seems to know how to communicate to them. Her campaign is supported by donors and PACs, meaning she does not have the non hierarchical and grassroots campaign that could truly benefit from twitter. She does cover the basics of a text number in her bio, a link to her website, and a pinned post about donating. But the rest of her tweets rarely link to her donation page or repeat her text number. None of her tweets seem to encourage supporters to share their support, utilize a hashtag, or engage with the candidate.

This lack of call to action is her biggest missed opportunity. If she engaged more with her followers, and in turn asked them to engage with her, she’d develop a more connected, enthusiastic support base like Bernie Sanders. In fact, Klobuchar seems to be targeting the less enthusiastic, moderate democrats. She advocates for gun reform and housing but holds back on progressive policies like college debt forgiveness. While progressives might not be her target, this makes her palatable to centrists or even disgruntled republicans.

Klobuchar has developed a institutional campaign. Her supporters are never encouraged to create their own content or interact with one another. Story of self is occasionally utilized when discussing her voting and polling track record, but she doesn’t seem to touch on her personal story. Interestingly, she takes the time to promote other stories on her platform, even if they haven’t endorsed her. She will retweet and share articles that highlight differently women and their accomplishments. This ranges from female executives at NASA to the first African American ballerina. These tweets add a story to her campaign, but it still does not cover her own story or her supporter’s story. While an interesting tactic to seem empathetic, there isn’t any risk involved in empowering notable well-respected women. There isn’t much risk taking at all. There aren’t any controversial policy takes or attacks on other candidates. A couple of tweets highlighted a funny face she’d made while two candidates were arguing over her during the Nevada debate. But a small attempt at a meme does not constitute a risk.

So what does Amy actually DO on her platform? Most of it is utilizing the “Story of Us” political logic. She advertises herself as a symbol of unity for the democratic party. Her quotes and debate outtakes use the times she is uniting the party as oppose to attacking another candidate. This creates an image of moral superiority. She is the candidate that is too mature for the inner party fighting, she doesn’t lean towards any extremes, and these assets mean she is the only one who can defeat Donald Trump. Overall, Amy Klobuchar utilizes Twitter to promote her own brand with the bare bones of outreach. She should work on building a grassroots community to support her tradition campaign strategy. Twitter does have digital media strategists that world with political campaigns to improve their performance. Perhaps her campaign should look into a new consultant.

#TeamWarren Fights back by: Maria Briquet

Elizabeth Warren’s Instagram campaign defines as a “people-powered grassroots movement”. The campaign is built around the idea of fighting back. In most of her posts, Warren appears very approachable and human-like. She even published an Instagram live several weeks ago drinking a beer to showcase how ‘down to earth” the candidate is.

The campaign encourages community engagement and seeks an emotional connection between Warren and her followers by posting sentimental stories on the platform. The most persuasive technique used in the campaign is covering the issues that affect some of her supporters, posting concrete examples and connecting these to her presidential promises and emphasizes their importance. For instance,  the importance of universal health care, the housing crisis, protecting families’ economy, and many others. The campaign also uses celebrities, like John Legend, to increase popularity and social media outreach.

The campaign focuses on people who are “in a fight”. This involves everyone who’s struggling or has struggled and wants to speak up for themselves. Minorities are the campaign’s main target audience. In the account, it is repeated continuously how her policies will improve the injustices that have affected these groups. An example of this is the candidate's take on legalizing Marihuana and how this issue has affected black and Latino communities. Moreover, the candidate also seeks to represent women and intends to do this with her hashtag #WomenWithWarren. The campaign refers to female empowerment and the importance of being the first female president.
On another note, the campaign mentions President Trump in several posts and emphasizes his poor political choices and the terror he evokes (that's why she's fearlessly fighting back). In this way, the campaign’s target is also people who're against Trump’s ideals and share Warren’s opinions towards him.
The campaign has a major call to action presence. A good number of posts encourage followers to donate money to the campaign through the link in the bio. She maintains her donation number at $2. If you click the candidate’s link on the bio it leads you to a page where you can donate, volunteer and/or get involved with the campaign. The link also has a stay in touch section where you can add your contact information to stay updated with the campaign.
The campaign’s goals based on the Instagram account are simple: to get more people to believe in her as a presidential figure and to raise more money for the campaign. The campaign encourages supporters to follow instructions. They’re asked to listen to her ideas, learn more about them on her website and, are asked to donate to the campaign if it speaks to them. The campaign doesn't encourage creative actions from supporters, however, it does mention personal stories shared with the candidate.
Warren’s campaign focuses on leadership. As mentioned above, her take on the campaign is to fight back and not settle. To make everyone a fighter. She tries to build a community, the #TeamWarren. A community that’s not afraid to speak up and won’t settle for a mediocre government. She uses her life story to build the profile of a strong female fighter. By self-exceeding and becoming a senator regardless of her situation, Warren tries to appeal to a community that wants to achieve greatness even though they find themselves in challenging situations at the moment. Based on the comments on her pictures, you can see this technique has been successful and has built a large community of followers who feel identified with her story and political ideals.
The campaign doesn’t use any innovative strategies and sticks to the basic tools the platform has to offer. I think the campaign could improve by encouraging her followers to engage in more creative ways, as her Instagram engagement rates have been decreasing the past months.