Digital Marketing Insights

A lot has been talked and debated about how important social media or the World Wide Web is going to be when it comes to having an impact on the elections in 2014. While each side has its valid arguments, we believe that the sheer volume of political conversations online, make them a strong voice that cannot be ignored. So without judging the level of influence they could have on the actual results of the poll, we decided to analyze these conversations and gain some insights into online India’s political dispositions.

And here’s why it’s important to know what online India’s take on politics is:

• As per a recent survey by Google, social media is likely to have an impact on close to 30 percent seats in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014.
• 160 out of India’s 543 Parliament constituencies are likely to be influenced by social media; making Facebook and Twitter India’s newest voting bloc.

This is what the distribution of the total mentions for various political parties over a period from September to November looks like.

Our analysis of these political conversations reveals that the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Delhi contribute a majority of the total online mentions.

Further analysis of these online conversations is available in our detailed report, Voice of Democracy, which can be viewed and downloaded for free here: slidesha.re/1enIe1i

The various areas it covers are as follows:

• State-wise preference levels for political parties
• Numerical and sentiment analysis of conversations around top political parties and politicians in the country
• Topics and issues contributing significantly to online conversations and creating a buzz on Facebook and Twitter
• Likely candidate for the post of PM, according to what people are saying online
• Words associated with top political parties, leaders, and the Parliament
• Most popular politicians online (based on people’s online conversations)
• Most active politicians online (based on politicians’ activities online)

A special metric, Total Weightage Score, has been arrived at by taking the important parameters of each social network, assigning it a weightage on the basis of the importance of that factor, and then taking a total of each factor multiplied by its weightage. The Voice of Democracy also includes a section on the popularity of Indian politicians, calculated on the basis of this metric.

So take a look, check out some interesting insights in the report, share it, and don’t forget to share feedback in the comments!

Siddharth Hegde

Marketer, Maven, Mentor. 3 Ms that define Siddharth Hegde, a.k.a. Sidd, Managing Director of the effervescent and ebullient Digital Marketing Agency, Ethinos. He tucks in over 18 years of sales & marketing experience under his belt, gathered from Fortune 500 and other inspiring companies that he has worked with. Sidd is a technology zealot since almost two decades, keenly tracking the interplay between technology, design, and usability across products and services. He brings to the table an industry understanding & background in digital strategy formulation & implementation. In his free time, he enjoys sailing, scuba diving, white water rafting, trekking, and seeking out the outdoors.