Republicans most likely to check updates on smartphones and use Twitter and Facebook for presidential campaign updates

Scott Sorokin, Mindshare global head of digital, said: “With only hours to go until the election, President Obama still has work to do if he is to gain influence through social media channels. He has significantly more followers than Mitt Romney but if Republican voters are more active on social media as our survey suggests, they’re more likely to be engaging with undecided voters via social media channels and that could be vital on election day.

“President Obama is seen as a trailblazer when it comes to reaching voters via new channels. Mindshare’s research, however, paints a more complex picture of the new media campaign landscape.”

The research also found that more Americans are following the presidential election and Hurricane Sandy via video coverage on their computer than by reading the national newspapers, while TV is still the number one source for election coverage.

It was discovered that more Americans turn to network TV news coverage (60 per cent) for presidential coverage than any other media option, while just over half follow along with cable TV news (53 per cent).

Overall, it was discovered that 21 per cent are following presidential election coverage via social media, while 25 per cent are following video coverage on their computer.

Sorokin added: “Digital campaigning is here to stay and with the lines between television and social media becoming ever more blurred, using insights and data to target your audiences becomes an increasingly valuable tool in order to spend marketing budgets efficiently.

“It’s about more than just sending out greater numbers of tweets or targeted adverts than your rivals or opponents.”