The Democratic National Convention is giving influencers media credentials for the first time. Why both campaigns are pivoting to social-first strategies.
The words “historic” and “unprecedented” have come up a lot during the last few weeks of Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign for the upcoming presidential election. Now the Democratic National Convention, which runs from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22, can be added to the list of historic firsts because it’s the first time a convention has given press credentials to content creators.
The Democratic National Convention Committee announced it would be welcoming 200 influencers to Chicago for the week, granting them access to every space where the press is allowed and even coordinating interviews for them. It is the first time that the DNC has given credentials and allocated space for content creators like this. It’s also the largest number of influencers to ever be given credentials for a convention, on either side of the aisle.
“Our convention will make history so we’re giving creators a front-row seat,” Matt Hill, the senior director of communications for the DNCC, said in a statement. “Democrats are reaching Americans where they are with the tools to tell their own stories.”
Social media has revolutionized a lot of different landscapes, and this election cycle has proven that it’s fiercely intertwined with politics and voting. The Democratic Party and the Harris campaign have leaned into it — at one point everyone online was “coconut-pilled” — especially with the statistics showing young voters get their news from social media more than anywhere else. The DNCC even announced its plan to stream the convention using vertical video on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to reach these users, seeing as most people who watch via cable TV are typically over 55.
Republicans are doing the same thing. Over the last month, former President Donald Trump has had three social-first interviews, which journalist Mike Rothschild told Yahoo News was intentional to reach “new voters” — people who are not plugged into traditional news sources and who likely think “voting is a joke.”
Compared to 2020, 7 to 9 million more Gen Z voters are eligible to vote this time around, increasing the size of the Gen Z and millennial electorate to be on par with the boomer and above population, The Atlantic reported. Boomers and older generations have made up the majority of voters for the last few decades.
That’s the DNC’s goal: To meet people where they are. The plan is to give hundreds of content creators and influencers the tools and access they need to capture content throughout the four-day event in Chicago.
Will influencers be paid to be at the DNC?
Several creators confirmed with Yahoo News they did not pay any application fees nor are they being paid for going to the DNC. In an Aug. 5 post on X, Hill emphasized that the credential process for the creators is the same as it is for traditional press: “We do not pay either to cover our event.”
Employers of traditional journalists will pay for flights and accommodations. As for creators, a lot of them are paying out of pocket to travel to Chicago and will stay at hotels — although some have figured out cheaper alternatives.
“I’m staying with friends,” Juan Acosta, a mental health and LGBTQ rights activist, told Yahoo News. “I wanted to make my time in Chicago fun as well.”
Creators also may have existing sponsorship relationships that they could leverage. Elizabeth Houston, a lawyer with a following of over 263,000, has worked with organizations like the Congressional Black Caucus PAC and Watering Hole Media in the past. They are sponsoring her travel and housing for the week.
Unlike most brand-sponsored influencer trips, Houston called her relationship with the CBC PAC and Watering Hole as “more collaborative.” Houston said she is also under no obligation to post or say certain things on behalf of the companies paying for her to go.
“They pick us because they like what we do already,” she said.
What was the application process like?
According to one creator, the application process was “almost like a Google form” with its straightforward questions and requests for links to the applicant’s social media accounts.
Some of them, who already share pro-Harris content with their tens of thousands of followers, told Yahoo News they had wanted to attend the convention before finding out about the creator program, but weren’t sure how to get invited.
“I had been trying to figure out a way to get there,” Emma Mont, the creator behind the Instagram account Organizer Memes, told Yahoo News. “A couple weeks later, I saw [the DNCC] posted a video on Instagram that was like, ‘Hey content creators, we would love to have you.’”
Not every creator who was accepted runs a political account; in fact, many of the 200 accepted influencers have more of a focus on lifestyle or beauty content. But that can be a positive given the DNC’s goal of reaching as many people as possible.
“I don’t think I initially thought that politics was going to be a big part of my life,” Acosta said. He described being accepted into the program a “testament of doing things and getting into places that you never thought you would be able to get into.”
The influencers also have no parameters for what, when or how often they should post while at the DNC — the creators program leaves it up to them to figure out what best works for their audiences.
“It’s good that they have a range of people of all different kinds of experiences and different followings,” Houston told Yahoo News. “People follow me because they want to hear about politics and law. For the folks who don’t want to necessarily hear about it all the time or don’t know they want to hear about, it’s good to catch them on these other platforms.”
What do creators get out of going to the DNC?
Brian Arya, who has 29,000 followers, claimed that the DNCC told the group in an orientation webinar on Monday that they will have unprecedented access throughout the convention center and are allowed to be there “from the time the doors open to the end.”
“Essentially, we’re going to be freelance journalists,” Arya said. “The DNC is really giving this door that we can open ourselves to explore what this election season can hold for this country.”
Not only is it an opportunity to connect with other creators, but the DNCC also has a team to help everyone set up interviews with political pundits and representatives who will be there. Creators are also not beholden to another company or organization to ask specific questions, they have much more free reign since they work for themselves.
“I’m thrilled that the DNC is doing something like this,” Mont said. “I’ve always been a bit of a nerd when it comes to American government, so I’m excited to see how the sausage gets made.”
