Campaign staff say social media is key to election campaign

Local candidates are doing a lot of traditional door-knocking, but social media also plays a big part in winning votes.

Although they still campaign the traditional way with plenty of door-knocking and campaign signs, campaign staff from different parties agree that social media is an important tool.

The team at the Liberal campaign office says social media has allowed them to be more targeted with their message and efficient with their advertising.

Liberal campaign manager Ted Hsu says, “It means that you don’t pay for advertising that goes to people that you’re not trying to reach, which is the case for traditional broadcast or print media.”

Gary Bennett’s PC team has been using Twitter as a way to let Kingstonians know where the candidate would be during the day, giving them unprecedented access.

“They would stop him on the street and say, ‘Hey, I heard you were here and this is what we want to talk to you about. So it was a great way for us to just strictly engage with our voter and Kingstonians,” says Elia Anagnostopoulos, PC campaign manager.

The Green Party says the evolution of social media has allowed them to market themselves without relying on mainstream methods.

Green Party communications director Colleen Gareau says, “The media may not come out and cover our annual general meeting, for example, where they may cover the main party’s AGM. So social media gives us this direct way to speak with people.”

The NDP has used Facebook ads promoting its candidate. They were unavailable to comment on whether that will resonate with voters.