According to a poll taken in September 2016 from Quinnipiac University, Clinton leads Trump 56% to 33% in voters under the age of 35. In order to win the election, Trump will need to increase his voters from this demographic. The “millennial” or “young” vote was crucial in both 2008 and 2012 elections for President Obama’s success, yet only 46% of millennials voted in the 2012 election. In order to get the support of this demographic, both candidates must ensure that these voters are going to the polls. How are they choosing to rectify this? By bringing the campaign to us.
Since the beginning of the race, candidates in both parties have been utilizing social media, especially Twitter, to cater to a younger audience. Recently though, we’ve seen these presidential campaigns more invested in Snapchat than ever before. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have campaign accounts that you can “friend” on Snapchat and they have taken advantage of Snapchat’s selling of third party ads in between Snapchat stories.
The Donald Trump ad I saw (part of which is pictured above) depicts a smiling Donald Trump and a map of the US with different energy sources that Trump plans to use to “Boost the Economy” followed by a “Vote Trump” screen. I have seen this ad play between my friends’ stories, as well as on the Daily Mail Snap story.
Hillary Clinton has used her Snap story to both promote herself and criticize Donald Trump. Most notably was when she used the face-swapping feature to overlay previous president’s faces on Trump’s in order to compare his policies to theirs (as show in the video below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0TYt1lit6Q
She hopes to show Trump’s often contradictory side, which many claim is un-presidential. Both candidates have also used “geofilters” (Snapchat filters that become available based on your location) during rallies, and Trump had an animated filter of a red baseball cap with the slogan “Make America Great Again.”
Snapchat reaches 41% of US residents between the ages of 18-34, which is the target demographic for both Trump and Clinton. Additionally, advertisements on Snapchat receive a five times higher response rate than traditional ads on social media. With the election less than two months away the candidates are taking out all of the stops to entice us (yes, we are the young voters! Your vote matters!) to get to the polls and vote. To learn more about these candidates, add them on Snapchat:
Hillary Clinton – hillaryclinton
Donald Trump – realdonaldtrump
And don’t forget to register to vote in Pennsylvania by October 11th here! You can easily change your address or register in the state of PA even if you originally registered in a different state. If you don’t have a PA state ID, you can just plug in the last four digits of your social security number and upload a photo of your signature (I just used a drawing app on my phone and uploaded a screenshot; it went through just fine!). It takes all of about five minutes from start to finish; just do it on your phone when you have a few minutes to spare and you’ll be all set come November 8th. It is so important to let your voice be heard, so get to it, collegiettes!
Photo Credit: Author’s Own