Delhi polls effect; Facebook advertising cost goes up by four times

NEW DELHI: The battle for votes has been fought not just on the streets but online as well. And political parties and candidates have paid through their noses to get noticed. Advertising costs on Facebook, for instance, went up by four times in the countdown to the Delhi polls.

Facebook users noticed a large amount of political content on their pages either in the form of party endorsement or specific candidates in the last two months before the Delhi elections. This comes from "boosted posts'', a euphemism for advertised content offered by Facebook.

Clients use a "boost'' to ensure their content reaches a wider audience. If the user likes it, FB charges money from the clients. Digital media experts who have worked with candidates say that rates peaked just before voting day on February 7 and have dropped since then.

"So, for a budget of Rs 100, you were likely to get 110-112 likes in mid-November amounting to 90 paise for a like. Closer to poll date (February 4-6), the price of 'likes' went up to Rs 6.50-7.50. A candidate would only get Rs 12-15 likes for the same Rs 100. Now, after the polls, prices have dipped again to Rs 3-3.50 per like," said Alok Sharma, director of Solutions FaKtory, a firm that was involved in social media promotion of candidates in Delhi assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

AAP's FB expert Abhinav Budhiraja said, "The advertising rates were about four times higher just days before the polls.'' He pointed out that with AAP's budget constraints, the party could use paid "boosts'' only in the last two days for the final push. "But we made up by pumping FB with content of up to 60 posts a day to ensure organic growth. The reach for AAP's national page for instance grew from 4 million to 17 million in 30 days. In comparison, BJP's page had only 12 posts a day but we could see their content was circulated widely. That's not possible without paying for it,'' he said.

A Facebook spokesperson said they could not comment on specifics of the Delhi polls but added, "There is an increase in conversations around any large event like the World Cup or Valentine's Day. So, similarly, we have seen increased activity on elections with people talking about it. But we do not share specifics of individual usage.''

The Delhi polls saw prolific use of social media platforms which has become a norm in the last two years. While AAP had the first mover advantage and various studies showed the higher number of online mentions, BJP is not far behind. In fact, PM Narendra Modi's emphasis on social media has forced the government to change tack and embrace the medium.

Sharma said, "Digital promotion has matured over the past decade with increasing online penetration not only in metros but also in tier two, tier three cities and rural areas. There is a clear co-relation: Young people in the age bracket of 20 to 35 years are the most active lot on social media and this very age bracket has the maximum number of voters."