Many individuals think that Charlie Angus under-performed when he was running for NDP leader. That is likely why the leadership vote was predominantly Singh’s prior to the casted votes and after. Although Singh is considerably the most diverse leader the NDP has ever had, Angus has an equally applaudable background. However, if that background and his initiatives were not known, why would anybody vote? Part of being politics involves being present in the lives of Canadians, supporters, and potential supporters. Maybe Angus should have targeted younger generations. It has been shown that Singh’s win came from young supporters that were fairly new supporters. The most influential generation are Millennials. Singh’s strategy clearly worked in his favour but with all of his political experience, how did Angus miss that? Not only did Singh have an online presence, he valued his online reputation. Using search engine reputation management techniques, Singh was able to reach out to younger generations. Younger generations are most influential through one device: their phones. Again, technology being the biggest trend in the world, how did Angus miss this opportunity when running?
In the end, Angus took just under 20%, a shocking and paralyzing disappointment. Not only did his fundraising and contributors miss his target, so did his votes. The fundraising and contributions from supporters could have been done with online campaigns as well as face to face visits. As much as individuals want to build relationships with their potential leader and leader, they also have less and less time. With phones taking over lives, having reminders online will plant a seed for individuals. If your search engine reputation management efforts are reoccurring, individuals are more likely to be supportive because they’ve seen your message more than once. More importantly, they’ve seen your message and name on an interface that they trust: their phones. Hopefully this was a learning curve for Angus. Hopefully he takes this as motivation to better himself and his team and their strategies. Understanding that Millennials were the most influential individuals among all generations was the appropriate strategy for this vote. For more information about how a search engine reputation management strategy can influence your message and ambitions, contact Search Reputation today to have all your questions answered!