Here is my first real look at the social media outreach for the candidates running for President. This is an easy evaluation on the Democrat side (as they are down the three candidates) but a bit more complicated on the Republican side (still with 16 candidates in this race). I have decided not to evaluate all 16 GOP candidates but narrow it down and only publish the numbers for the top 5 candidates per the latest RCP average.

The candidates: To see the full list of candidates via NY Times: click here

Democrat:

Hillary Clinton: https://www.hillaryclinton.com

Bernie Sanders: https://berniesanders.com/

Martin O’Malley: https://martinomalley.com

Republican: (Top 5 candidates)

Donald Trump: https://www.donaldjtrump.com

Ben Carson: https://www.bencarson.com

Marco Rubio: https://marcorubio.com

Ted Cruz: https://www.tedcruz.org

Jeb Bush: https://jeb2016.com/

The Scorecard: (Click the follower numbers below to view the social media page)

Democrat Candidates	Facebook Followers	Twitter Followers
Hillary Clinton	1.795 Million	4.73 Million
Bernie Sanders	1.971 Million	895,000+
Martin O’Malley	97,708	109,000+
Republican Candidates	Facebook Followers	Twitter Followers
Donald Trump	4.399 Million	4.95 Million
Ben Carson	4.820 Million	1.03 Million
Marco Rubio	1.129 Million	980,000+
Ted Cruz	1.598 Million	601,000+
Jeb Bush	297,698	375,000+

Notes:

• Many candidates have additional outreach beyond Facebook and Twitter. Click on their campaign websites above to view all of a candidates social media outreach.
• Facebook:
  • Dems – Sanders and Clinton are very close with the total number of followers on Facebook.
  • Reps – Carson and Trump hold a clear follower advantage on this platform over other candidates.
• Twitter:
  • Dems – Clinton dominates with follower advantage on this platform.
  • Reps – Trump dominates with follower advantage on this platform.
• Candidates that need some help – The numbers for O’Malley and Bush in this scorecard (when put side by side with other candidates) is not encouraging for their campaigns.

A significant factor in evaluating online outreach is looking at follower engagement. In November I am focusing my reviews on Facebook engagement. Here are the numbers for the candidates over the past week:

Notes:

• Clinton was a little more active and held a very slight edge in follower engagement over the past week.

Notes:

• Trump had a significant advantage in overall follower engagement over the past week on Facebook.
• The engagement numbers for Cruz were pretty impressive given the number of followers he has today.

Online Outreach Leaders in this race: 

Democrat: Clinton has to be considered the technology outreach leader based on all of the numbers today (her Twitter advantage put her over the top).

Republican: Trump with a draw on Facebook (with Carson), a significant advantage on Twitter and the best recent engagement on Facebook holds the advantage in November.

Overall – Based on the numbers in this evaluation, it is hard to argue that Trump is on top overall with online outreach to potential voters.

The monthly tracking will be interesting going forward…if another candidate enters into the top 5 on the GOP side next month, they will be added onto that scorecard.

Of course the reality of followers, likes, and subscribers does not mean a lot when it comes down to voting in the end, but it makes a great resource for following all of these candidates.

Scott E