Why Jerry Lawler’s Social Media Campaign Was An Epic Fail

Social Media made it’s first major impact on the recent special election for Memphis mayor back when the news broke on Twitter that after resigning, Mayor Herenton pulled a petition to run for his old job. Several candidates reacted to the news via their own twitter accounts.  This signaled that this would be a historic election not only because it would guarantee the first new mayor for the city in 18 years, but because of the new and exciting ways candidates would reach out to voters.

The result of the election has not been  a surprise to anyone, except maybe Jerry Lawler.

• Wharton, 65,491 – 59.90 percent.
• Lowery, 19,625 – 17.95 percent.
• Carol Chumney, 10,857 – 9.93 percent.
• Carpenter, 5,181 – 4.74 percent.
• Jerry Lawler, 4,044 – 3.70 percent
• Kenneth T. Whalum Jr., 2094 – 1.92 percent.

However, even though the turnout was low,  the election was still interesting as this was the first time major candidates turned to social media sites to bolster their campaigns, with most having at least a Twitter account.

Candidate                                  Followers   Following   Tweets

Myron Lower ……………….402              12                    219

Jerry Lawler ………………..7,242           170                 221

AC Wharton …………………1,253            1,268              703

Charles Carpenter …………352                944                  120

Kenneth Whalum, JR ……..338                  17                   832

Carol Chumney …………….122                  17                   8

So who used this new tool most effectively?

AC Wharton, by far.

Twitter is a great service to update people about events but it’s number one purpose is as a communications tool – not an rss feed.  Wharton clearly understands this as the number of followers he has is concurrent to the number of people he is following. This allows his followers to DM (Direct Message) him.  Also, his conversational style made readers almost believe that he was actually the one posting all the updates. Almost. He also participated in Twitter memes like #FollowFriday. He used Twipic often to show people exactly where he was and what he was up to.  Wharton made a point to acknowledge and interact with his followers. Finally, and most importantly, he used Twitter to share with his readers some of his positions on actual issues. It was the combination of all of these methods that made his twitter campaign a success.

Example Tweets:

Am proud to be 1 of 450 Mayors petitioning federal govt for tougher action to curb gun violence

@greggwitt Pls DM me yr email address. You are asking a good question that deserves a real answer (not a 140-character soundbite!) Thx.

#FF @seredick, @jameshutto, @tew1976, @kittyokat, @RyunEdward, @stevegiglio, @tanzy1998, @mcwoldert, @bengalkatlady, @MSCHD, @brwnsgr32

@greggwitt This is region’s 1st comprehensive smart growth plan. Will guide development of bike lanes, walking trails, etc. for decades.

@jpdugan Agreed and thanks. Smarter, more sophisticated online tools for citizen-govt interaction will be a top priority.

@IAmStrangeFruit Indeed-fixing the small things creates realm for addressing the big things. Broken windows, overgrown lots, empty houses.

Abandoned/vacant lots contribute to community blight, which contributes directly to crime. That’s why we’ve got a plan to fix this problem.

Attracting/retaining young people is essential to Memphis’ future. http://acwharton.com/platform has real strategies for making it happen.

20.4 tons debris have been collected, 486 county owned lots have been cut in last 3 weeks. More work to be done – but we are working.

Now could he have done better? Absolutely! There is always room for improvement. I wish he had tweeted more about policy and his platform. A couple of tweets a day about real issues might have gotten more people excited about getting involved. Which brings me to Jerry Lawler.

First of all, the reason why I am focusing on Lawler as opposed to the other candidates whose social media campaigns were less than stellar, is simply because Lawler has, by far,  the biggest following. With over 7,000 followers on Twitter and almost 2,500 “friends” on Facebook, his opportunity to present his platform and interact with his constituency was the highest among all the candidates. On election day, Wharton had amassed over 700 Tweets, Lawler just 221. While the King’s earliest tweets in August seemed the most genuine, most from late September and early October sounded like an assistant or other “suit” was writing them (although he did respond to me when I teased him about introducing Lucero at the Levitt Shell as “Luceros”). From Lawler’s tweets I got the fact that he really wanted me to vote for him, but I didn’t get any inclination about what he would do if I did. While Lawler did on occasion interact with @replies – it was mostly just to thank people for saying something positive about himself.

Now, do I believe these mistakes cost him the election? Not one bit. He was clearly an underdog candidate without much real chance of being elected, his campaign viewed by most as a novelty. Not to mention, this year’s candidates social media campaigns were a very small component. However, it is one that will only grow exponentially as people constantly explore new tools to obtain information and in much more user specific ways. I do believe there is something to learn from these candidates’ successes and failures, and most of these observations can be applied to social media marketing campaigns across the board.

So, why is Wharton’s Twitter success relevant, even though it probably had a minimal impact on his election overall?

It demonstrated to his followers two important pieces of information: He understands how imperative it is to embrace and apply new technology and he is committed to an open dialog with the community.

Bravo, Mayor Wharton, bravo!

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