President Obama Newsjacks Iowa Caucus by joining Instagram

On Tuesday, the Obama campaign joined Instagram, using the @BarackObama ID. The account will be managed by his campaign staff.

As I wrote about yesterday when I talked about the Jon Huntsman for President campaign and the use of social media in a post called Marketing advice to Jon Huntsman and his daughters, I totally geek out about the marketing and PR aspects of the US presidential campaign season. I'm convinced that all marketers can learn from presidential campaign strategies.

The timing of Obama's joining Instagram is fascinating because it was the same day as the Iowa Caucus.

Newsjacking.

By attracting the attention of some of the world's media as they are intensely focused on the results of the Republican contest, President Obama shines a small amount of light on himself and his campaign. Read more about the marketing and PR technique of Newsjacking.

Advice for the Obama campaign on using Instagram: I hope the president shoots some photos himself. Here’s a suggested first shot. I really want to see a photo of his view from the podium while delivering the State of the Union speech, which is currently scheduled for the evening of January 24, 2012. Now that would be a historic photograph. The first President to photograph his own State of the Union would generate tons of buzz and energize the many millions of young voters who use photo sharing like Instagram every day.

We’re in for a fun ride this campaign season. I’ll report from time to time about the interesting marketing aspects.

Remember, this is not a political blog. I write about marketing and PR. I am not endorsing candidates like the President or Jon Huntsman by writing about their marketing strategies and tactics.

Comments

[Jason Keath]

Hardly newsjacking. I think his recess nomination would be better marketing machines than Instagram. Pretty cool nonetheless. And the lectern photo idea is brilliant. The question is, what filter does congress deserve. Hmmm.

[Lindsay Southwick]

I also like the lectern photo idea. I think that'd be an effective balance to strike between good, measured exposure (occasional photos of the president at important events) and over-exposure (golfing, being on vacation, etc). Good suggestion.

[Dave Brady]

I have been a donor to the Obama campaign and noticed this time around the follow up is approaching spam levels. I get emails almost daily and often asking for more money. I hope they are keeping track of their unsubscribes and acting accordingly.

[JohnNemoPR]

Good post. Interesting to me to see if Obama follows your advice and ups his engagement on Social Media as he gets the 2012 campaign going. He was definitely ahead of the competition with how he used Twitter/Facebook in 2010, but he won't catch them by surprise in today's environment. I think he'll need to humanize his personal brand with tools like Instagram and get everyone liking/believing in him again. Let his personality shine through and reach everyday people. Will be fun to watch!

[Jack Martin]

It's absolutely nuts how social media has played such a huge role in this presidential campaign so far. I mean, Twitter always predicts who is going to win the primary.

Now, Obama with Instagram, that is pretty cool. Following the President and the White House on Twitter has always been great.