Are you crowdsourcing the 2012 election?

If there is one thing that the 2012 Presidential election is teaching the savvy business person, it is that absolutely anything can be a marketing opportunity.  Especially when you are adept at using social media and harnessing the power of crowd opinions – or as we call it in the business, crowdsourcing.There are many examples of businesses who are using the excitement of the 2012 Presidential election to create a great deal of marketing buzz for themselves online. As the Internet has made social media marketing an incredibly valuable tool for businesses large and small, and some are using the election as a vehicle for driving engagement, opening themselves to new audiences and gaining free publicity.

Jet Blue announced last week that in anticipation of the election, they would host a free flight giveaway.

Customers place a free lottery entry based on whether they are voting for President Barack Obama or the GOP challenger Governor Mitt Romney. If “the other guy wins,” Jet Blue is set to give away over 1000 free flights as a “consolation prize” for the losers.  A brilliant marketing strategy to gain free publicity and hopefully some life long customers.  Also, a terrific way to drive engagement and crowdsource election results.

Another great example of crowdsourcing is 7-11. For years, 7-11 has run coffee polls for presidential elections.  This year, 7-11 is continuing the tradition by performing crowdsourcing election results based around coffee cup sales. There are two different coffee cups available next to the 7-11 coffee machine, one for Obama and one for Romney. Based on sale of each cup, 7-11 will predict the outcome of the election. Although this poll is far from scientific, it has actually predicted all three of the last Presidential elections correctly!

Another neat social media marketing strategy comes out of Iowa. In 1988, the University of Iowa College of Business decided to try it’s hand at predicting elections based on a stock market of sorts.  They created the Iowa Electronic Market (IEM) for students to buy, sell and trade shares of among other things, political candidates or parties based on who they think will win the election and thus earn them the most money.  Sure, there’s more of an economics lesson in this one, but the IEM is a more advanced form of crowd sourcing.

Can you use the election for social media marketing? The answer is yes. Social media marketing has become an extremely popular way to garner positive media attention, attract a new audience and encourage engagement. An election is a great vehicle to spur that kind of marketing attention and play with a new, creative marketing campaign.

Perhaps the true genius of these social media marketing campaigns is the fact that they have been able to organize around a political event without taking sides – something you should think of as you plan your marketing campaign.