Tancredo's missed opportunity

Michael Turk dug in deep earlier looking at Tom Tancredo's new website - TeamTancredo.com. And I was simply going to comment, but this has turned in to a rather lengthy post on how a candidate like Tanc is missing opportunities by having a shoddy web operation.

So for the future candidates, campaign operatives, and spokesbloggers in the room, I'll dig in...

My overall impression is that the online team doesn't really know what they're doing. Turk's post confirmed my thoughts.

One of the biggest problems I've found is that Tanc still doesn't have an official YouTube channel which means he's not even taking advantage of YouTube's You Choose channel. YouTube isn't giving everyone a special featured channel - just 2008 nominees. Why let this opportunity slip by?

And boy do I mean opportunity. For example, when I went looking for his videos I found that remarkably - though scattered among many different channels/users - all of the videos had been viewed between 2,000-10,000 times. And these weren't snazzy viral videos ripping famous Apple ads, but are simply 10 minute clips of Tancredo talking about the issues. He's got a lot of wind in the air, he's just not using the right sails.

A couple of thoughts:

1. On Message: You can't go anywhere on his website without knowing exactly what issue the Tanc is running on -- securing our borders. And trust me, as a conservative I can tell you that the issue will continue to be at the top of the list for primary voters as it has been for the past two cycles. Tanc's website does a good job of embracing the message and effectively "owning the issue."

2. Knowing The Audience: The most important thing to remember about communicating effectively is knowing your audience. Tanc isn't trying to win the nomination, grab the traditional base voter, or impress techPresident readers, he's merely trying to steer the rest of the field toward his side of the argument on border enforcement. To that end, he's trying to tap in to a different demographic - probably the guys who are still listening to talk radio and are still mad at George W. for one reason or another. To better embrace this crowd, Tanc should actually take a step back in time and toss up a forum where his supporters could better connect on terms they're used to.

3. He Is Sorta Trying: Tanc is paddling very hard up stream but he's not trying to do it alone. Every Tanc supporter can grab a YouTube video or sign-up for email updates which is more than I can say about some of the other guys. And since all of the videos appear to be uploaded by someone who may, or may not be, part of the official campaign - it's possible that he'll give some front-page real estate for UGC. If so, then the campaign should ask for it.

4. Email: Tanc is smart to have a number of different places on his site for people to "Join the Team." His supporters are true believers who likely give a lot of bling to their guy (when he asks). I'd be willing to bet that he has one of the best national donor email lists on the market. And I have no doubt that people actually read every email he sends.

The bottom line is that Tanc is missing a lot of opportunities by not better engaging his supporters through a well-thought out online strategy. Sure, he doesn't have to "wow" the tech crowd, but he should be doing a better job of producing a solid deliverable that actually works.

No porridge for missed opportunities.