Being an Australian, and with the majority of our media channels owned by American corporations, we’ve had our share of US Democratic Candidacy news here in Sydney, Australia. Politics aside, the online strategies of both democratic candidates has been an interesting thing to watch. Aggressively harnessing the power of online advertising, and Web 2.0 techniques such as social networking and social media channels, this US election has displayed a massive shift in media spend away from traditional media into the online arena.

According to Clickz, one of the web’s authority internet marketing sites, Obama’s online strategy has paid off. Taking corporate blogging into the political realm, Obama has regularly posted videos online throughout his campaign.

Indicating a significant difference in strategy (and deeper pockets), the Obama camp has spent considerably more on their online strategies. To say that online Viral Marketing is a force to be reckoned with is an understatement in 2008.

With Clinton spending 58% of her online spend - that’s $292,200 in 2007 and 2008 - on Google ads alone, and Obama spending $2.08 million just this year indicates a major difference in online strategies.

Has the online campaign paid off?

Well, some might say yes. Obama is now, after all, the Democratic Presidential candidate.

Obama’s online strategy towards generating donations has also been different to Clinton’s.

Eric Frenchman, chief Internet strategist at political consulting agency Connell Donatelli, agrees with the notion that savvy search efforts contributed to the success of both Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s primary season wins by helping them build lists of potential donors. Frenchman handles much of the McCain camp’s online advertising. Commenting on his Pardon My French blog last week, he wrote, “We get $3 - $4 in donations for every $1 we spend online.”