Why Republicans are Ideal for Social Media

How Republicans Can Advance Our Cause with Story

As a Millennial small business woman who has worked in state and local politics since 2003 and who currently works in the social media and marketing field, with confidence I can say the following.

Republicans have shied away from mastering social media and the art of launching our narrative into a vision of the future. Without recognition of what our story is, and the knowledge and willingness to learn how to deliver the message using the right machine - we will continue to be behind and our vision lost. We will not obtain the desired outcome if we do not redeem our weaknesses and master the trade.

Republicans have a long way to go to maximize our use of social media.

I am not sure yet what is worse, the fact that we do not understand how to use it or do not yet realize how far we are from using it effectively. To the leaders who say “I am on social media: I have a facebook page with 1000 likes”, this is simply putting a mailbox outside your front door. It is not engaging, growing, serving or communicating to your audience. To put it bluntly, if this is your metric for defining success then you are using the wrong metrics to truly be relevant in the market.

Republicans are the best party to bring the most good through the tool of social media.

We have the most truth on our side and the best hope-filled stories. Our fundamental values make up the best stories that define the American dream: love of life, willingness to work hard to achieve our dreams, redemption and so much more. Our message speaks to the soul and potential of human nature. This type of content is what does well with consumers on social media platforms.

Before we can master social media, we also need to understand the message that needs to be conveyed on that platform.

We have yet to master how to tell the conservative story. We need to tell our points in ways that convey emotion, demonstrate passion and reveal authenticity. This must be done in person, via video, to crowds of people, and on social media.

If you choose to embrace this endeavor - mastering the social media and online industry - and conveying our naturally compelling message - consider yourself the explorers of uncharted territory. To those of us who work this arena, we can testify to Republicans and conservatives: We are Americans. We can do better.

Republicans Love People. People Love Social Media.

Politics is all about people. Social media is all about people. Republicans are all about people. So why are Republicans not all about social media?

Take a few minutes and review Republican pages of leaders across the nation. Assess how significantly or insignificantly their audience is engaging with their content. If a Republican leader claims to serve a region of 5 million people but only has 10,000 Facebook likes that means they are only potentially reaching less than 1% of their constituents (given Facebook algorithms, far fewer of those people are actually seeing their posts). Sad, right? The good news is that challenges like these can be - and should be - overcome.

People connect through emotion, common interests, shared experience, and authenticity. Consider these aspects for why Republicans will excel at telling our story, both in person and on social media.

• We are passionate and want to bring others along for the ride.
• We are innovative, therefore no problem is too big.
• We are optimistic. We are driven by an internal moral code that is founded on Someone Bigger than our current affairs. Therefore, we have hope.
• We are hard workers, and we love to show our accomplishments. We also love to celebrate one another’s victories.
• We are independent and individual. We like to prove our capabilities to peers.
• We love our community: family is our first priority. And taking care of animals with kindness, and being responsible earth-caretakers is natural to us. We do not need government to mandate or require our actions.
• We are generous. Americans will give the shirt off our back if it will help someone. These stories are at our fingertips waiting to be told. (The world needs to hear the truth about the generosity of Republicans - we have been branded as the opposite for too long.)
• We believe in aiming for the best, and therefore competition is good. This is why school choice is a priority for us and why we are such passionate champions for the free market.
• Justice is a priority. We have a conscience and want to make right when we have wronged fellow man. When we are wronged, we want to know the perpetrator is met with fair consequences. We aim for order when it is deficient.

These are just some of the ways to describe us. These type of perspectives shared can and will be energizing and successful on social media!

We have every piece necessary to tell millions of wonderful stories that connect with people - on their terms, with appealing human elements. If we improve in our communications we will recruit and grow our movement by massive measures but also do something bigger. Our efforts will revitalize the ability to understand and explain why we love to be Americans.

Our eyes are not open to the fact that social media is a world that is always changing. It is not like reading a good book with a beginning, middle, and an end. Social media is turning into a noun. It is a country, a process, a journey, an art, and an entity. It is daily growing and changing. Therefore, effective users must keep up with the constant advancements.

In major league baseball terms, we currently act as though we are in the game of our lifetime on the Major league field. We are oblivious of the size of the industry and its potential. In truth, Republicans are in our first season of little league both when it comes to telling an applicable, relatable and contagious storytelling and social media delivery. We need to look at the industry itself and ask are we utilizing every means possible to accomplish our mission as a party?

By considering social media as less than urgent, we are bypassing the most significant tool that will give us the easiest, fastest, most reliable, and consistent way to connect with those we not only need, but we want. We need their votes at election time but they are the people that we are serving and they are the reason we chose to do politics in the first place because we want to help them - people. Social media is where citizens are at, so why are we not the best of the best using this tool?

- AJH

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