GOP Hispanics: Utilizing the Strategic Planning Model

To engage with Hispanics across the United States, the Republican party, created GOP Hispanics a campaign designed to reach Hispanic voters. According to PEW Research Center, Hispanic voters vote 62 percent in favor of the Democratic party in the national election. With this in mind, the mission of the GOP Hispanics campaign is to educate Hispanics across America. The campaign engages with Hispanic communities, influencing them to vote Republican in every election cycle. The issue of gaining the Hispanic vote is talked about regularly. Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic group in the United States. An example of the importance of the Latino vote is seen in the last presidential election. Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote to Mitt Romney’s 27 percent in the 2012 Presidential Election. The Hispanic vote proves to be a deciding factor in every election cycle.

The GOP Hispanics campaign expands to reach every state within the United States.  This campaign works like a food chain. The key players consist of Hispanic Republican advocates. These advocates work in each state to encourage Hispanics. They engage with communities gaining Hispanic volunteers to educate the Hispanic community. The volunteers work to get more people in the Hispanic community to sign up and support the Republican party. All the materials used to encourage Hispanic voters are formed based on engagement with the community, the communities concerns, and the Hispanic values and ideas. Even after any election cycle the advocates work year-round to come up with a plan for the next election cycle. As stated earlier it is similar to a food chain, a repeated process.

The goal of GOP Hispanics is to grow the success of the Hispanic Initiatives Team from 2014 and identify committed Hispanic Republicans to recruit, mobilize and activate in the community ahead of the 2016 presidential election. GOP Hispanics advocates within communities to accomplish their goal by:

1. Registering voters in various neighborhoods – 50,000 Hispanics turn 18 every month!
2. Educating others on issues that are of concern to the Hispanic community, including our children’s education, jobs, family values and immigration: Preserving the American dream.
3. Mobilizing fellow Hispanic voters to turn out and vote their values on Election Day – Every vote counts.

When your organization exists on a national level setting goals is necessary. In the 2016 election, a record 27.3 million Hispanics were eligible to vote. With such a large number of potential voters, GOP Hispanics grounded these three goals as their platform going forward. The campaign utilizes their goals in a repeated process every election cycle to get more Hispanics throughout the country engaged and involved with the Republican Party.

The reason the Republican Party formed GOP Hispanics, is due to the turnout of the Hispanic community in favor of the Democratic party. In swing states such as Florida, 24.5 percent of the population is Hispanic. The turnout of Hispanic voters has major impacts on the election. The problem has been encouraging Hispanics that Republican core ideals are more favorable than the Democratic ideals. Digging deeper the Republican party needs to realize the voters that make up the Hispanic community are Millennials. According to Pew Research Center, Millennials Make Up Almost Half of Latino Eligible Voters in 2016. Encouraging these votes with the current Republican ideology can prove to be difficult. Democratic policies include a favorable immigration policy and education policy for millenial Hispanics across the United States.

The aim of this campaign is to challenge the traditional voting habits of Hispanics. The campaign has various social media platforms it is currently using to encourage Hispanics. The question is formed, is it effective? It could be, the campaign is not utilizing their social media platforms effectively. Research shows, 90 percent of millennials are using smartphones, which means social media is essential. GOP Hispanics currently uses Facebook and Twitter. Part of GOP Hispanics aim is to encourage Hispanic voters. The campaign does post news regarding the Republican Party, but it is not the kind of news that will generate the millennial Hispanic vote. With a weak turnout of followers on both social media platforms. It is evident Hispanic millennials are not being reached effectively with the current efforts in place.  The opportunity for Millennials to encourage each other exist. A dedicated Hispanic millennial blogger would have been useful for this campaign.

Research on Millennials is needed for this campaign. The primary demographic of this campaign consist of Hispanic millennials. The campaign must target an effective way to get the attention of this demographic. Social media platforms such as Snapchat and YouTube should be used.

1. 57 million Americans use Snapchat, 60 percent of these users are under 24 years old.
2. A dedicated blog on YouTube would also be effective. A known Hispanic blogger can relate to millennials and connect with them on a personal level. A majority of the viewers on YouTube are aged between 18 to 24. 

The attitudes of Hispanic millennials can be influenced using social media. Issues can be portrayed using emotional ties. Millennials are more likely to listen to each other, especially if the person delivering the message is within their demographic. According to Target Latino, Hispanic millennials (see Hispanic Market Trends Forecast) are nearly 66 percent more likely to connect via mobile than non-Hispanic whites. And they are nearly twice as likely to own a tablet such as an iPad. Online, Hispanic millennials are just as likely as other millennials to be heavy Facebook users but they are almost twice as likely to use YouTube. Hispanic Millennials like to be heard. GOP Hispanics must take advantage of this in their campaign. On various social media platforms, videos should be created to hear Hispanic millennials voices. The campaign can focus on answering these voices through their dedicated blogger. Having methods in place to listen to the voices of Hispanic Millennials is essential and it has to be implemented into GOP Hispanics campaign.

The GOP Hispanic campaign strives to achieve their goal of gaining Hispanic voters. The campaign was not formed properly. GOP Hispanics must attract Millennial Hispanics who currently are a majority of the Hispanic voters. Finding methods to attract these voters and utilizing social media effectively will further advance this campaign. Researching and understanding social media platforms is needed, which will determine the success or failure of this campaign.

Silicon Valley:A New Competitor Is In Town

Snapchat engages with consumers to reach the hearts of over 100 million daily active users. Snapchat an application launched in 2011 by Evan Spiegel a Stanford University graduate scored a win. Snapchat is a real competitor in the social media world. You might ask how big of a competitor is Snapchat? Well, the real answer to that question would lie within the offer of three billion dollars, an offer received from Facebook the current largest social media site. Snapchat is a real threat to the social media industry. The app connects with users directly. Allowing companies to deliver their brand’s message in a new innovative way. Just take for example Taco Bell’s campaign, the fast food company launched a Cinco de Mayo Snapchat lens, 224 million views later this campaign would go down as the most successful in the the app’s history.

Gaining access to Snapchat is simple just download the free application on your smartphone. After the quick and effortless download, you will be guided through a simple account creation. You will need to provide your email address and password. After you complete your profile, learning the application is simple. However, I must warn you the geo filters within Snapchat make you feel like a kid again. With a quick and easy press on the screen, you can be a variety of things. From a frog to a baby anything goes on Snapchat. Now you may be wondering, what can I send on Snapchat? Well Snapchat is simple to use, you can record a 10-second story, a fun way to interact with your friends and family around the world. Want to connect with a celebrity or brand’s story? No problem, just add the user on Snapchat and they will be by your side all day providing you with the latest and greatest video feeds. You can skip or exit any story. Snapchat makes it easy to connect with others, if you want to make a phone or video call, with a press of a button Snapchat has your back. You can message anyone in real-time within the application. With fun stickers and a new innovative way forward Snapchat controls social media with users aged 13-24 who account for 81 percent of the users on the application.

Snapchat can have a real impact on any organization looking to advertise to a teenage or young adult demographic. Only 1 percent of advertisers are currently using the application to promote their brand. According to Business of Apps, 45 percent of Snapchat college users would view Snapchat stories of a brand they didn’t know previously. Snapchat is proving to be the perfect medium for a new or established brand. However before getting your hopes up as a brand keep in mind that the advertisement does not come cheap. Brands are charged $750,000 per day for new ads according to Adweek. We may ask ourselves, does the hefty price tag pay for itself? Well taking a look at brands using Snapchat prove the application is valuable.

Just what are companies doing to take advantage of Snapchat. Besides generating awareness and interest in their brand, companies are using Snapchat to provide their audiences around the world with content using Snapchat stories. Yes, stories are being used by McDonalds the national fast food chain was the first company to pay snapchat to run a geo filter advertising campaign. McDonalds Snapchat campaign is a new way forward for the brand. McDonalds gained several thousand followers in a couple of days, allowing the brand to connect with users in a personal manner. McDonalds created a simple 36 second Snapchat story featuring basketball player, Lebron James. The brand was able to connect with users cheaply, by posting their story McDonalds reached their followers easily and promoted their brand. Besides short stories on Snapchat,  McDonalds takes advantage of geo filters. You can become a McDonald’s burger with a simple press of your screen. McDonalds isn’t the only brand reaching out to the young demographic. Other brands such as Seventeen Magazine see the bright path at the end of the tunnel. Want to be the magazine’s friend on Snapchat, don’t freak out you might just get a snap from a celebrity. An offer that is hard to resist.

Brands such as bareMinerals are also taking advantage of the social media platform. Snapchat and bareMinerals launched a campaign to hit reach Snapchatters when they are having the worst dreadful moment. That moment when a “Zit Happens.” The company promotes Blemish Remedy, with a large female teen and millennial demographic, Snapchat is the brand’s fundamental social media tool for success. “Zit Happens” ads are being placed on the companies story in addition to their channel. A channel is a network within Snapchat where fans can engage directly with the brand. Also, the brand has created tutorials within their Snapchat to encourage their followers to use their products. One simple swipe on your smartphone and you can be applying Blemish Remedy in minutes. Below are some numbers involving this campaign, as you will notice user engagement is happening at an extraordinary level.

All brands from small businesses to large corporations are jumping on board for the soon to be Snapchat evolution. NetHosting claims more than 400 million snaps are being sent per day. This is a number hard to resist for any company looking to reach a broad demographic. Recently Snapchat announced it would offer small business and individuals an on-demand geo filter. The starting price for these geo filters will be $5 and up based on the square feet of coverage. It is now easier than ever for any company to advertise using the application. From local family shops to national brands such as KFC, there is no better way to engage with your audience than a direct filter that connects the user with the brand. Many current Snapchat users might wonder, just how does Snapchat connect geo filters to my location? Well, the answer is simple, Yext a location company gathers information nationwide from applications such as the map application on your phone. In context, Yext can figure out your latitude and longitude coordinates all based on your phone’s applications. Snapchat also acquired Seene, a computer vision startup that would allow mobile users to make 3D selfies.

Whether you are a user or a brand looking to expand your presence on social media. Snapchat proves to be an effective method to reach a broad audience. From large brands to local bloggers, Snapchat hits home when it comes to engagement.  Snapchat is the new fun innovative way forward for social media. Watch out Silicon Valley Snapchat is coming to take the title for the most creative social media application to date.

 

 

References
Smith, C. (2016). 80 Amazing Snapchat Statistics. Retrieved September 29, 2016, from http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/snapchat-statistics/

Crook, J., & Escher, A. (2015). A brief history of Snapchat. Retrieved September 29, 2016, from https://techcrunch.com/gallery/a-brief-history-of-snapchat/

Freier, A. (2015). Snapchat usage statistics and revenue – App Industry Insights. Retrieved September 29, 2016, from http://www.businessofapps.com/snapchat-usage-statistics-and-revenue/

Everyone Loves Winning The Hearts Of Hispanics: Especially the GOP

The GOP’s effort to win the heart of Hispanics is hard to go unnoticed. With 54 days left until the presidential election, it’s a race against time to connect with voters on a personal level. The GOP developed a campaign to achieve their goal of winning the Hispanic vote. They released their new campaign throughout social media while also using traditional media outlets to influence Spanish speakers.

According to Politico, the presidential election falls within the margin of error. GOP Hispanics is an organization within the GOP dedicated to persuading the Hispanic community to vote Republican. The “Hispanics, The Week Ahead” was a campaign released to create awareness and convince Hispanic voters. The campaign released its first videos posted in English and Spanish on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The organization speaks Spanish in their campaign videos to connect with Hispanic voters on a personal level. The group shares values and ideas with Hispanic voters across the country.

Using the SoMe model the “Hispanics, The Week Ahead” campaign taps into the minds of Hispanics. The campaign seems human using thoughts, views, feelings, and reactions to promote their campaign. The compelling content found on the organization’s Twitter gives a direct message to voters. You have to hand it to them, creating videos in Spanish to connect with many speakers around the country is a smart tactic. A few clicks throughout the organization’s social media page and you can find an over emphasized picture of Hillary Clinton. Within the picture is a detailed blog post in Spanish. It is clear that the GOP Hispanic organization is using the 2-way asymmetrical model to trigger an attitude change with Hispanic voters.

The campaign uses emotional appeals on YouTube to convince Hispanic voters. The campaign does a good job with content throughout their post. However, it’s hard to locate this content. For example, if you search this campaign you will notice only a small majority of the Hispanic population viewing their content, this is due in large part to the Hispanic majority not identifying with the GOP candidate for president. The campaign has only generated about a dozen YouTube videos. Regarding strategy, this campaign failed to promote their content. With a compelling message and a lack of delivery, the campaign could have taken a more practical approach. After taking a glimpse at the organization’s Facebook, I noticed a lack of new postings on social media. With a GOP election depending on the Hispanic vote, I find this diminishing to the success of this campaign.

Although this campaign’s message is persuasive with a lack of delivery, winning the hearts of Hispanic voters may become nothing more than a dream. The GOP must be prepared to face a dangerous reality. The GOP seems to be forgetting that 27 million Hispanic voters exist throughout the country. Without widespread promotion, their campaign fails to reach the majority of Hispanics throughout the United States. This campaign serves to teach PR professionals a valuable lesson. You can have the best content, however, without promotion and delivery, your campaign will fall short.