TN Republican Party

tngop

Tennessee Republican Party website

Mesh Media Strategies founder Bill Hobbs built an all-new website for the Tennessee Republican Party in 2009, while serving as the party’s communications director, replacing an outdated site that failed to take advantage of the latest in social network and online media technologies and trends.

The new site incorporated social networking and traditional media relations features, and was designed to evolve easily as a central hub for information, connections and activism for Tennessee Republicans – including party members, candidates, supporters, donors, related organizations and the grassroots.

The goal of the site was simple: serve as a single-point information portal for all things Republican in Tennessee – including state party news, news from the Tennessee congressional delegation, news from campaigns and candidates, and news from elected officials – and be the hub of online social networking for Republican supporters across Tennessee.

In addition to providing TN GOP press releases, the site featured a blog which also helps drive the party’s message to and through the media and the politically active community to the grassroots.

The site also featured news feeds from Republican members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation and gave users easy access to the websites of the party’s gubernatorial candidates, plus tools to search and track federal and state legislation. The TNGOP.org website accommodates easy expansion and addition of new features over time.

Along with the website, the project included launching the party’s presence in online social networks, and soon resulted in fast-growing communities on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The site also incorporated video via a TNGOP YouTube page, and provided readers multiple ways to subscribe to information via Twitter, RSS or email.

The site, which proved its value in the fast growth of online community networks supporting the TN GOP, in its ability to drive and influence media coverage, and to quickly generate thousands of dollars in online donations from small-dollar donors, was refreshed with a new design after the election of a new state party chairman.

The site was part of an overall first-ever venture into social media by the TN GOP, lead by Hobbs, that also included emphasis on using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and web video. As of August 2010, the party’s @TNGOP Twitter feed had nearly double the number of followers as that of the rival Tennessee Democratic Party.