Facebook claims success as it case studies it own involvement in SNP's landslide victory in UK General Election
Facebook has claimed the election victory by the Scottish National Party (SNP) during the UK's general election in 2015 as a success story of its own.
Facebook claims that it aided SNP's landslide victory in the 2015 UK General Election
The social media giant has posted a case study in its 'Success Stories' section on its Facebook Business site. There it has claimed that the SNP “used a powerful combination of Facebook’s targeting and engagement tools to mobilise its supporters and achieve an overwhelming victory."
The SNP used Facebook products including adverts and videos to deliver campaign messages, as well as News Feeds across desktop and mobile. Conversion Tracking was implemented and the Facebook login and sharing buttons were used on its mobile apps and on a dedicated mini-site for grassroots events across the country, making it easy for people to create and RSVP to events with just one click.
The page also explained how Custom Audiences were generated from the party’s supporter database, while Lookalike Audiences helped reach other likely supporters. Acxiom Partner Categories were also used to target individual constituencies.
The results on the page stated that 1.24 million people reached in Scotland through the SNP's Facebook activity and that 416,485 people were reached through content via the Facebook on Election Day alone at a cost of 1p per action.
The SNP in 2015, together with partner consultants Industrial New Media, used Facebook to deliver its policy platform and create an open conversation between leadership and supporters.
Quoted in the case study was Kirk J. Torrance, a director of Industrial New Media, who stated: "Facebook is whre the action is. Politics today is about building relationships and creating a dialogue with constituents, and the only way to do it consistently and in a scalable way is with Facebook."
He continued: "I don’t think Scotland would be where it is today in terms of representation if it wasn’t for Facebook and the tools it offers campaigners. Whether it’s building relationships with constituents through content and conversation, placing biased journalism and opposition smears into context and rebutting them, or enthusing prospective voters with direct access—Facebook is now a permanent cylinder in the SNP’s campaigning engine."
Writing for The Drum earlier this year about Facebook's influence in aiding the election of President Donald Trump during the last US Presidential Elections, Liberty Marketing's marketing manager, Paul Hunter said; "What makes Facebook such a powerful advertising tool is the information users willingly (but maybe unknowingly) give away while using it. Most of this becomes available to advertisers in the form of detailed targeting. There is an absolute wealth of targeting options that are available to advertisers."