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Don't lose the election on Twitter!

Every candidate knows she needs to engage voters on Twitter, but most candidates don't know what to say that will help them win their race. PoliTweet is a simple application that will give you hundreds of ideas you can use right now. Just follow steps to find the kind of tweet you want to send, and you'll get practical samples and recommendations. There is no charge to use this, so use it as much as you like! Click on Start Application to begin.

Directions

Start by clicking on the section "Select a general category". There, you will see a high level list of the types of tweets candidates typically send. Pick a category that you think is appropriate or interesting. When you select one of the categories, the sub-category list opens to reveal more specific types of tweets. When you pick one of the sub-categories, the section with matching tweets opens.

The matching tweets are templates that you can use. Text which is in underlined-italics is text you need to replace with something appropriate for your campaign. If there is a URL in the text, it means that generally this text works well with a link to additional content such as a donation page or a Facebook photo album.

At any point you can go back and change your mind. Just click on the section you wish to change, and it will slide open, allowing you to make changes. Finally, when you are finished, you may wish to review the section "Additional ideas on how to use these tweets" for some extra tips.

Click around, this is pretty simple. Good luck in your campaign! Oh ... if you win and this helped you, drop me a line at admin@socialseer.com ?

Select a general category

Select a sub-category

Review the tweets that match

Additional ideas on how to use these tweets

In addition to composing a single tweet, there are some other issues to consider. First is how often to tweet, and next is what is the right mixture of tweets.

In terms of "how often", there's no right answer. Some of it depends upon where you are in your race, how much time you have, and your own inclination. @BarackObama is tweeting around 12 a day, while @MittRomney struggles to get above 1 a day.

If you're trying to figure out the right mixture of tweets, you might be interested in knowing that @BarackObama's mix is very roughly 25% asking people to volunteer, 20% presenting his vision, 15% discussing campaign events, 15% talking about accomplishments, 10% asking for donations, 8% talking about opponents, and the rest miscellaneous topics.

I have two informative blog posts that discuss these issues. The first discusses the fundamentals of political tweeting, while the second discusses the mixture of tweets.

 

PoliTweet got its start when I noticed a lot of politicians were struggling to come up with engaging messages for Twitter. They often seemed stuck in a rut, mostly sending one or two varieties of simple tweets. A candidate that becomes a broken record will have a hard time gaining and keeping followers on Twitter; it's easy to imagine a candidate growing frustrated at the work being invested in Twitter if she does not build a large following.

It would only be fair to say that it's not obvious what the right way to use Twitter is for a candidate. There's so much noise, so many tweets out there, that it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. I created PoliTweet's database out of research covering tens of thousands of campaign tweets from candidates who have social media expertise. Their tweets were categorized and analyzed, and the result of that research generated the categories, subcategories, and sample tweets that this app users. Still, none of the tweets are taken verbatim from any candidate; rather, they generally match the topics and focus that have worked for others so far.

There is not every type of tweet in this program, and if you have a tweet in mind that doesn't fit into these categories that's no problem.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I can be reached at admin@socialseer.com.

License

The application is Copyright 2012 by Charles McGuinness. However, you are welcome to use any or all of the tweets and categories for any purpose you wish.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.