One of the common observations about the Democratic race for the nomination is how well Barack Obama’s campaign is using the Internet. This New York Times article, for example, notes that the $36 million Obama raised in January “was powered overwhelmingly by small online donations.”

Beyond cold hard cash, an indication of how well the Obama campaign is marketing itself online is to take a look at what Obama is doing in the realm of mobile phone marketing. Over here, you can access a dozen ringtones for your phone, inspirational messages from Obama set to a funky backing track.

But ringtones are just the beginning. You can also get wallpapers plus text messages from Obama, including updates about specific issue areas (Health, Education, Iraq, Jobs and Reform). Obama’s campaign is even on Twitter.

By contrast, the Clinton campaign’s mobile page offers a simple “sign up to receive text messages” page.

The two pages offer an interesting contrast in online marketing styles. Clinton’s approach is all about Clinton: “Get information about me.” Obama’s approach is all about the people visiting the site: “Here’s a bunch of information and other stuff; help yourself.”

Takeaway for marketers: Is your Web marketing about you or your customers?

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 8:53 am and is filed under Internet Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways.