As advertisers learn to use social media and mobile in their media mixes, so must politicians. It could make all the difference.

Much has been written over the past few months about how the different candidates in the presidential race have used social networks or mobile phones to more effectively reach and communicate with their support base. In essence, the political strategists have finally picked up on good old fashioned CRM, or what others call mass customization. The question now is can these media do for a candidate what many believe they will do for a brand?

Wikipedia tells us that "mass customization, in marketing, manufacturing, and management, is the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing systems to produce custom output. These systems combine the low unit costs of mass production processes with the flexibility of individual customization." Stan Davis brought us this concept in his book "Future Perfect," where readers are introduced to the ideas of "any-time," "any place" and "mass customization."  Now the political strategists are in the midst of designing their own version for Campaign 2008. 

We would all like to converse with our political candidates. After all, a face-to-face tête-à-tête would be the best way to get the answers we need to make informed decisions this November. Unfortunately, no candidate has the time or money to engage in a campaign that is personalized down to the needs of each voter. How about engaging in discussions on a social networking level? Take Facebook for instance. I don't believe most of us feel the need for John McCain to be our friend on Facebook, but having access to him through this medium would be valuable. The candidate would just need to make sure that the personal connections they make are genuine, otherwise, it won't work.

If you take a close look at the 2008 campaigns, it is pretty interesting to see the direction that each candidate has taken when it comes to spreading the message. While TV is still king, it appears that the candidates are turning to social networking more and more. The process has been interesting to watch, but the candidates' campaigns have missed a few elements. First off, no one candidate seems to fully buy the power of social networking. In doing a quick Facebook search of supporters for Obama, Clinton and McCain, there is a clear "share of voice" winner -- Barak Obama. Obama has an audience of 600,000 plus supporters, compared to Clinton's 120,000 plus and McCain's 70,000 plus. Those number sound like a good start until you find out that Facebook has over 60 million users. When you look at the numbers in that context, Obama leads with only 1 percent of the population (at least in this specific social marketing example). Even Obama isn't sufficiently tapping into the power of social networking.  

While growing an online following is clearly still in its infancy, candidates, like marketers, must be prepared to communicate their messages. If the candidates have supporters on Facebook, these candidates need to understand how to communicate with their supporters. The candidates also need to make sure that they match their message with the channel and the device to truly build a relationship. After all, what is communicated in a TV ad is far different from what is said on Facebook or what is conveyed through a mobile text message. For instance, with SMS you only get 160 characters -- no word can be wasted. Meanwhile, the Obama Facebook page contains a vast array of information on the candidate including a mini-feed and rich media content -- all of which is possible because of the nature of the channel.

As the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) reported this week, more and more advertisers are losing confidence in television and are seeking other forms of communication. At the end of the day, political candidates are like brands, and as such, they should follow brand-building best practices. In other words, they need to strike a balance between the use of traditional media and the social and mobile vehicles of today. Who knows, it may be what it takes to win the presidency.

Dave Coffey is director of media strategy at Sapient. Read full bio.