E-Political Marketing Tools in Modern Democracies: The Nigerian Perspective

Despite an increasing presence of political consultants, all indications are that elections- promotional activities are relatively static in some countries. These election promotional activities in some nations include professionally produced television advertising; media relations experts who wage spin control; and planned events such as leader tours and television debates. Nowadays, campaigns are conducted by telephones instead of foot soldiers or door to door canvassing. Perhaps the most visible modernization in recent years has been parties' mediocre websites that provide daily campaign updates and which is sometimes mirrored by candidates' amateurish online presence. But, to what extent is American style of political marketing creeping into other countries' electioneering campaigns (Nigeria inclusive). This is the crux of this study. The study surveyed 400 political marketers from the two dominant political parties in Nigeria to identify the e-political marketing tools currently used to reach their electorates on one hand, and factors affecting the choice of the tools on the other. The result shows that there are two categories of e-political marketing tools in use. These are Internet marketing tools and mobile marketing tools. In the same vein, the factors that influence the choice of the tools are impact, convenience, expose reach, cost, time, and frequency. Based on these findings, political managers are advised to take advantage of the tools which are in tandem with global best practices in modern democracies.