How the Obama Phone Lady Increased Conversions by 200%

For some, the Obama Phone Lady was an election week showcase of everything that is wrong with America. For one of many government-subsidized cell phone providers (who will remain nameless), she was free marketing gold.

If you aren’t one of the over 6 million viewers of this video, it depicts an Obama supporter at a political rally claiming that her election decision is based on receiving a “free Obama phone.”

While the video was published in September, its buzz picked up as one of the many side-bar issues of contention during the weeks leading up to the election. This is when the Obama Phone Lady went from YouTube sensation to unintentional marketer.

The “Obama Phone” Search Factor

During the week of the election the Obama Phone craze caught fire, featured extensively not only throughout social media but also in mainstream news media. The result was a frenzy of traffic for our cell phone provider.

Here’s a look at organic search traffic from the day of the election to two days after, compared to the previous period:

And here’s a look at that same comparison, limited to only searches including “Obama phone.”

Talk about driving traffic! In the course of one day our cell phone provider’s website reached record-high numbers in overall visits and organic search traffic.

The Election Week Conversion Increase

Of course the Obama Phone Lady’s accidental marketing efforts wouldn’t matter unless it brought conversions along with that added traffic. Here are the conversion numbers from that same period:

Over the course of these three days alone, the increase in conversions was in the double and triple digit percentages. Not only had traffic reached record highs, but conversions on the day following the election were the highest they’d been since we’d began tracking metrics for this particular company.

For the 2 days following the election, our cell phone provider’s conversion rate improved by over 80%.

What the Obama Phone Lady Told Me about Marketing

Occasionally we internet marketers are privilege to an example like this – a strong validation of the principles that we have followed along with a spotlight on tactics required for success. Here’s what the Obama Phone Lady example tells us:

• There is still a lot of power in the word, “FREE”
• Social crazes both offline and online, no matter how short-lived, can and will affect the performance of a company in an associated niche.
• Keeping up with and perhaps predicting social explosions such as this will allow us funnel some of the hype to our clients’ advantage.

Love her or hate her, it behooves us as internet marketers to find ways to take advantage of this kind of social hype. That way we can be prepared to make big increases happen when the next “Obama Phone Lady” scenario catches fire.

Article By Will Eifert

Will Eifert is a Conversion Rate Optimization Specialist at OPUBCO Communications Group. He helps both national and local clients improve their online conversions and website usability.

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