"Anyone who wins on digital will win the elections as well." This statement by digital marketing expert Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, CEO and Co-founder of Gozoop, might have seemed an aberration a few years ago, but now it is the new normal.
These days, elections are won and lost on social media - the 2014 General Elections in India and the 2016 US Presidential Elections have already proved it. There is a marked difference, though. Five years ago, social media was a complementary platform for political campaigns; now it has taken centre stage.
"In 2014, political campaigning on social media gained some acceptance, but after the huge win of PM Narendra Modi, people have realised the importance of campaigning on social media," says Rahul Jain, Founder of Social Rajneeti, a digital marketing agency specialising in political campaigns. "Parties now ask for more strategic projects."
Most political parties have dedicated social media teams for monitoring and responding to the content featured and the developments happening online. And they are tapping every platform, from Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter to YouTube and even Instagram. However, the creative part is often outsourced to digital agencies.
"Digital is also being used for real-time listening and political parties use these insights to prepare offline campaigns," says Naqvi of Gozoop.
Extensive use of these platforms also means contending parties are spending a huge chunk of their campaigning budgets on social media. Most parties do not provide cost breakdowns, but experts estimate that digital might account for 40-50 per cent of their budgets in the 2019 elections.
Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO of South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network, estimates that the overall spend on digital may go up to Rs 1,100-1,200 crore in 2019 polls, more than double the Rs 400-500 crore spent in the 2014 polls as pegged by an Assocham report. The 'rise' in spending will include infrastructure costs to house the human resources employed as well as their salaries.
Poll contenders fare also tapping the social media in their individual capacity and will be spending lakhs. According to Jain of Social Rajneeti, campaigning for someone who is running as an MP may cost Rs 15-25 lakh while a contender for a state assembly seat may have to spend Rs 5-15 lakh.
@DevikaSingh29