A strong new media video campaign is not a gimmick anymore. When done right, it can actually help win you elections. The well-oiled Obama campaign set fundraising records during the 2008 cycle, and a large majority of that money came in through our website. Video was an integral part of that effort, not only in bringing people to our website, but keeping them there, directing them towards action and keeping everyone, including the media, on message. You need every advantage you can get and it’s our mission to use what we learned in order to help you succeed. Here’s how we did it.

THE TEAM: From the People Who Brought You Obama ‘08

We hear you. There are a lot of New Media strategies out there, but how many are proven? During the 2008 campaign, members of IB5k were part of a core team of over 30 filmmakers, editors, producers, animators, and strategists located in 10 key states. We helped produce roughly 12 videos per day on subjects ranging from get out the vote efforts, investigations into the failures of the opponent, rapid response viral videos that became the talk of the nation, to how much voters would save on their taxes if they voted for Obama. Our videos were the basis for countless stories in the mainstream media every news cycle, provided the necessary training to build 50 state canvassing operations which helped deliver massive returns on election day, and inspired new voters to give the relatively unknown Barack Obama their vote.

We at IB5k, employ the largest share of the internal video team from the Obama campaign; we’re some of the only people out there who have a successful track record in this new form of connecting with and inspiring voters. Our goal is to make what we learned accessible to other campaigns — that’s our civically-minded mission. We know what we're doing and want to teach you and your staff the right ways to do New Media to ensure that CHANGE continues to come to Washington and beyond.

THE PROOF: When Done Right, This Stuff Works

Good video can make a small campaign look larger; bad video can make a strong campaign look weak. To the passerby, Obama’s youtube page may look like a bunch of videos we made for fun. The truth is, each video played a role in our overall plan to get Obama elected. A comprehensive online video strategy, backed up by a strong organization, can achieve countless benefits often unrealized by a traditional campaign operation. Here are just some of the benefits we realized during the 2008 cycle and a sample of what we can do for you.

Email

The Obama email team found that the word “VIDEO” in an email subject increased the open rate by 5%. Once a video is viewed, readers are more likely to donate or comprehend the messaging that’s coming from your campaign and spread it to others.

Analytics

Through varying forms of analytical data tied to online video distribution, your overall campaign strategists can get real-time actionable data about how supporters responded to different messaging.

Journalistic Quality

This is probably the most unsung advantage we had in ‘08 — but who would report it? Reporters found it expedient to take our videos off our YouTube page and put our messaging directly into their newscasts. This was a much more effective venue with undecided voters than traditional paid media. With the news business falling on hard times, especially in local markets, having a strong new media video campaign may be the only way to ensure honest and consistent coverage of your candidate and events.

Unified Messaging

Our field teams captured every single public event our candidate attended, establishing a video record of historic proportions that our supporters could use to understand our candidate, reporters could use to get their stories straight, and the campaign could use internally to keep on message for further use in broader paid-media efforts.

Rapid Response

Through the clever and timely use of animations and other videos produced in-house, a candidate can respond to attacks from other campaigns to not only set the record straight, but also to change the tone of discourse.

Micro targeting

The Obama campaign had videos catering to dozens of minority groups in the local and state level, making sure that when supporters came to our site, they were greeted with friendly, relevant information they could spread throughout their communities. Our staff has the capacity to produce videos in multiple languages, and with growing minority populations, these cost-effective videos can make the difference in certain tight races.

THE PLAN: Presidential Quality, Sized Right for your Campaign

Each race is different, and that’s why we love what we do. Working together with your campaign, we will craft an introductory plan which will ensure that your campaign gets started online on the right foot. Sometimes this is one video or visualization, other times its a multi-faceted strategy which builds over time. From this basic foundation, we can determine the next steps for a video campaign that fits your exact needs, both strategic and budgetary, while never compromising on quality.

To find out more about the specific tools we employ and how they can work to build the right media for your campaign, please click through the tabs above.