The 2016 GOP primaries are approaching, and the digital platform is key to moving and influencing voters. Atop the polls, Donald Trump is also leading on social media with his “Let’s Make America Great Again” campaign — although each candidate is very effective, albeit some more than others.
Here’s a look at each candidate on social media:
Donald Trump Trump invests heavily into his social media platforms. He attacks rivals across all aisles, highlights favorable poll numbers, and makes his case. The message is focused and full of a single concept: winning. At 35.3 percent, his national poll averages are 15.3 percent higher than his closest competitor Ted Cruz.
In the social media stratosphere, he’s winning, with his closest competitor being Ben Carson’s 5.03 million likes on Facebook, which almost reaches Trump’s 5.19 million.
Trump’s candidacy and social media is wrapped with his celebrity status and hyperbolic rhetoric. He is very hands on with his Twitter handle that is trademarked with Trump’s brash opinions and disregard for political correctness or party platforms. Trump uses Twitter extensively — he updates every couple of minutes.
Twitter: 5.56 million Followers (30,200 Tweets)
Facebook: 5.19 million Likes
Ted Cruz Trailing Trump in the polls by 15 points, Ted Cruz brands himself as an outsider, albeit the family-friendly alternative to Trump. Cruz uses social media as an advertisement to announce campaign stops, posts videos of successful rallies and occasionally thanks supporters or responds to trending news stories.
Twitter: 693,000 Followers (12,500 Tweets)
Facebook: 1.76 million Likes
Marco Rubio Rubio is currently polling in third place with 11 percent. He often takes aim at Hillary Clinton, yet sometimes multi-tweets a long statement to trending political stories, although he also plugs TV ads, contests, and his campaign’s core messages.
Twitter: 1.05 million Followers (4,270 Tweets)
Facebook: 1.17 million Likes
Ben Carson Despite Carson’s fall in polls, in the social media universe he’s one of the most successful candidates with over 5 million likes on Facebook and 1 million on Twitter. Carson’s social media casts him as a Washington outsider, and he’s soft spoken on twitter, often stressing camaraderie, and is largely bereft of attacking opponents in the digital arena.
Twitter: 1.08 million Followers (2,339 Tweets)
Facebook: 5.03 million Likes
Chris Christie Christie is seeing a revived interest in his campaign, and his twitter handle is updated regularly and sees Christie advertising campaign slogans and taking shots at Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton. There’s an occasional “personal voice” that takes short but divisive rebuttals against the current administration, but its largely un-original.
Twitter: 78,100 Followers (2,366 Tweets)
Facebook: 198,000 Likes
Jeb Bush Bush uses Twitter to be critical of Trump, and to restate his positions. He uses his Twitter handle to go on the offensive against the Obama administration.
Twitter: 413,000 Followers (3,298 Tweets)
Facebook: 310,000 Likes
Rand Paul The sole isolationist in the race, Rand Paul is struggling to stay on the main stage, and uses Twitter to focus on raising money, his appearances on TV, and polling. He takes every opportunity to cast Trump as the chaos candidate, and also slams unfavorable polls as inaccurate.
Twitter: 43,000 Followers (8,243 Tweets)
Facebook: 2.09 million Likes
Carly Fiorina As the only woman in the GOP field, Carly Fiorina’s Twitter feed pits her against Hillary more frequently than any other in a general match-up. It also has personal messages about her opinion on many of the Republican platforms. After Trump, Fiorina’s Twitter feed feels the most personal and engaging.
Twitter: 645,000 Followers (3,755 Tweets)
Facebook: 538,000 Likes
John Kasich The governor from Ohio, John Kasich uses his twitter to inform voters of his upcoming television spots, and to tote rising poll numbers in New Hampshire. It also showcases clips of town hall meetings and round tables in the early states. He isn’t unique or personable in social media.
Twitter: 149,000 Followers (6,087 Tweets)
Facebook: 154,000 Likes
Social media is where it's at.
Ronn Torossian is one of America’s foremost Public Relations executives as founder/CEO of 5WPR, a leading independent PR Agency. The firm was honored as PR Firm of the Year by The American Business Awards, and has been named to the Inc. 500 List. Torossian is author of the best-selling "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations." For more of Ronn Torossian's reports, Go Here Now.
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