DUP vs Sinn Fein - Who wins the internet battle?

2017 - It's clear (at least to those in the know) that political campaigns are won and lost on the internet and social media. Obama created the blueprint in 2012. Trump showed us a masterclass in social media in 2016. Now let's take NI's largest parties and see who's winning and losing the internet battle. (Or if they're even aware)

We'll break down the digital presence for each party into 4 main categories... Branding, their party website, their social media presence/activity and finally their content online. (inc. Articles, Videos and Imagery in general.)

BRAND

Branding is (believe is or not) quite simple. Choose colours, typography, slogan and logo that appeals to your target market and does not offend. And the number 1 rule? - CONSISTENCY.

So how do our parties shape up?

DUP - Good branding on their website. Clear, nice use of colour and very consistent on their website. That's where the good points end. The consistency is lost across the other social media channels. It's unclear as to what the primary colour is. There are a few variations of their logo. There are numerous slogans and numerous colour variations around the web. So consistency is pretty awful.

Sinn Fein - Not much better from Sinn Fein. Their colour palette is a little cheap and old. The bright greens and yellow could be massively improved with richer, deeper colours and gradients. The rule of "don't offend" in branding is pretty much thrown out the window in Northern Ireland but if we had to apply it here - the united Ireland logo will never do Sinn Fein any favours with non-nationalists. Also it's unclear in 2017 if red or green is the primary party colour.

Both brands need work.

WEBSITE

Mydup.com has a better structured web site - with good branding, good navigation and well structured content. SinnFein.ie on first impressions is a little flaky. Imagery isn't great quality. Layout, navigation and content structure needs some work. There's perhaps a little too much focus on "donate now".

The major deciding factor between the 2 is that SF has a a responsive, mobile friendly website and the DUP has no mobile offering. In 2017 this will lead to Google demoting the significance of the DUP website.

DUP - 18,400 visits per month. | SF - 64,300 visits per month.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: DUP - 9,000 likes | SF - 128,000 likes

Twitter: DUP - 19,000 followers | SF - 56,000 followers

Instagram: DUP - no account | SF - 5000 followers

Youtube: DUP - 777 subscribers, 1,200 videos | SF - 10,500 subscriber, 2,250 videos

Overview on Social

The numbers don't lie. Sinn Fein is a clear winner on social. In some aspects, it looks like social doesn't really have much focus for DUP. Hilary Clinton made the same mistake.

CONTENT

By content - we mean articles, images, videos and the general clout about a particular topic on line.

Google insights suggest Sinn Fein is only slightly ahead of the DUP in 2017 as far as content. This could be due to a media outlets such as BBC and Belfast Telegraph giving significant coverage to the DUP on line.

For both parties, news, imagery and videos are significantly focused on the party leaders.

CONCLUSION

Even if you just look at the sheer numbers above - it's clear that Sinn Fein have made the web and social a clear part of their overall strategy. Maybe even the main focus.

Some of DUPs numbers are a little embarrassing for 2017. 9000 FB likes? 700 YT subscribers? No Instagram account?

Both websites need major work.

Who wins?

Sinn Fein is the clear winner of this battle. There's a global shift away from traditional media to internet media. The age demographics in NI perhaps mean this shift is a little slower here. But the shift is inevitable. When the shift hits tipping point (perhaps this year) it will be too late for DUP to regain traction. Our predictions (as we predicted with Trump) is that Sinn Fein will be clear winners in the next election and for the foreseeable future and due in no uncertain terms to having a clear web and social media strategy.