Barack Obama’s campaign thrived on a little support from a significant number of supporters. Furthermore, the Obama campaign made it really convenient and straightforward for supporters to volunteer. The Obama campaign implemented many successful online eMarketing strategies. In my opinion, one of the best was the Online Call Tool.
In this day and age, people are tired of picking up the telephone to receive a prerecorded message. It is important to have another human on the phone to stimulate conversation. At the same time, the flexibility of the call tool helps volunteers overcome many of the barriers to volunteering. With this system, a volunteer is able to make calls at their convenience based on their scheduling needs. Moreover, being located in a rural area does not restrict active participation. All that the Online Call Tool volunteers require is a telephone and a computer. Finally, it is such a simple tool to use. Even volunteers like Walter, the 91 year old World War II veteran can use it with ease! This sends the message, if Walter is making calls using the computer, why can’t you?
In addition to illustrating the ease with which the online calling system functions, Walter’s honorable social standing as a World War II Veteran surely helped attract votes from older, more conservative voters. In the United States, there is a misconception that Obama’s campaign was driven by young people with “socialist” ideals. People like Walter assisted the Obama campaign in gaining the respect of voters that may not even have listened to a younger person articulating the same information about Obama’s political policies. I believe that even the most devout Republicans would have taken the time to listen to the messages Walter articulated.
