Elise Marie Trent

ETrent@syr.edu • 703.927.8109 • 417 Comstock Avenue #208 Syracuse, NY 13210 • @EliseMarieTrent • www.EliseMarieTrent.com

Brief Case Study: How Barack Obama Successfully Utilized Social Media

Although social media are a relatively new phenomenon, they are having a powerful impact on the

communications industry and strong, positive examples have developed in the past several years. Barack

Obama’s successful utilization of social media during his presidential campaign has been touted by many

outlets and used as a case study on how to harness the power of social media for proactive communication

and brand development.

Integral to Obama’s success was his ability to create an integrated communication campaign in

the era of digital revolution. “Like a lot of Web innovators, the Obama campaign did not invent anything

completely new. Instead, by bolting together social networking applications under the banner of a

movement, they created an unforeseen force to raise money, organize locally, fight smear campaigns and get

out the vote that helped them” (Carr, 2008). Despite the numerous social media platforms that have sprung

up since the social media revolution, Obama kept his message simple, clean, and clear across all platforms.

At the 2010 PRSSA Conference in Washington, D.C., Jim Margolis, of GMMB, addressed the efforts

he and other members of Obama’s communication team took to develop the strong grassroots campaign.

Margolis also discussed the iPhone application that enabled users to find citizens to call, view the number of

phone calls occurring at that time and see how many phone calls the top caller had made so far (Margolis,

2010). This campaign embraced technology in a way that had not been seen before by politicans and voters;

it gave voters new opportunities to become advocates on behalf of their favored candidate and reach out to

other individuals with similar beliefs (Margolis, 2010). Barack Obama set the bar high for future political

campaign, especially amongst tech-savvy voters.

The Dragonfly Effect by Jennifer Aacker and Andy Smith, also took an in-depth look at Obama’s

social media use - in particular, My BarackObama.com. His social media use conveys integrated
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 Elise Marie Trent
ETrent@syr.edu • 703.927.8109 • 417 Comstock Avenue #208 Syracuse, NY 13210 • @EliseMarieTrent • www.EliseMarieTrent.com

communication tactics that broadcast similar messages across many mediums and presented voters with

a cohesive, well-developed political platform. His website allowed users to connect, communicate, and

donate with the click of a mouse. The website launched the day Obama announced his run for president and

operated on the mission “to provide a variety of ways for people to connect and become deeply involved.”

Aaker and Smith (2010) argue “MyBarackObama.com was not merely a website; it was a movement

that made politics accessible through social media that people were already using every day. It changed the

face of political campaigns forever; but, more importantly, it made getting involved as easy as opening up an

Internet browser and creating an online profile.” The Barack Obama campaign staff ’s successful integration

of social media with politics undoubtedly contributed to his presidential win and strategic decisions, such as

launching the site the day he announced his candidacy, should be viewed as guiding tactics when companies

and organizations look to apply lessons from his campaign to their own campaigns and clients.

Barack Obama’s successful social media strategy plan adhered to the belief that “social media revolve

around what is essentially a central tenant of dialogue: the value of the individual” (Kent, 2010, p. 644).

Companies can successfully build brand equity and manage crises through social media if their experienced,

connected communications team remembers the value of individuals. Individuals can become self-

appointed advocates for your brand through positive interactions. However, public relations agencies cannot

maximize the value of social media for its clients without public relations practitioners who are well-versed

in social media and who are operating with well-developed core communication skills.

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 Elise Marie Trent
ETrent@syr.edu • 703.927.8109 • 417 Comstock Avenue #208 Syracuse, NY 13210 • @EliseMarieTrent • www.EliseMarieTrent.com

References:

Aaker, J., & Smith, A. (2010). The dragonfly effect: Quick, effective, and powerful ways to use
social media to drive social change. Jossey-Bass.

Carr, D. (2008, November 9). Media & Advertising. In How Obama tapped into social networks’ power.
Retrieved February 22, 2011, from New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/
business/media/10carr.html

Kent, M. “Directions for social media for professionals and scholars.” In The Sage Handbook of Public
Relations. R.L. Heath (Ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2010. 643-655. Print.

Margolis, J. (2010, October 16). Barack Obama. Keynote Speech presented at PRSSA National
Conference, Washington, D.C.