Whether you’re seeking election in a state-wide ballot or you’re looking to be hired in a small and local election, you need to be able to talk to the constituents who’ll be casting their votes for your or your opponent in the coming weeks. This means a huge number of conversations on doorsteps and in town halls, but it also means getting your message across in other ways, too.
Even the most agile and approachable politician simply cannot speak to all their constituents in the run-up to an election. That’s why we’ve listed three key direct messaging tools that politicians and their teams can use to get through to voters in a personal way.
Emails
First up is the email inbox. On a citizen’s average day, their inbox will be full from a combination of marketing messages, business correspondence, and personal exchanges between friends and family. As a politician, getting your message into this inbox would be to share space with some of the most important parts of an individual’s life. You’re likely to be read and remembered if you email citizens directly.
Always use their first name when addressing them over email, and always keep your email short. Include links for them to read more on your website if they wish. Make it easy for them to get to know you, what you’re about, and what you want to do for them.
Targeted SMS
Text messaging is another form of direct messaging that will land you in good stead as it’s an even more personal inbox than the email inbox. It’s here that only the closest and dearest contacts of a citizens will be listed and getting into these inboxes means you’re very likely to be read.
You’re going to need to be even more brief here than you were in your email. Just a couple of lines will do. Indeed, political SMS marketing is often used in a stripped-back way, just to remind voters of your name and your biggest policies, and to get them out to vote on the day that citizens are due to cast their ballots.
Finally, the letter, flyer or mailing envelope remains an incredibly important way of getting read and appreciated by your targets in swing seats and neighborhoods that you’re trying to win in your election bid. There are companies that’ll help you send letters to the ZIP codes that are most important to you and ensure that important voters see your letter.
In your letter, you’re able to be relatively verbose about your plans and what you’ve achieved so far. You’re guaranteed a larger chunk of a citizen’s attention when they read from a letter, and as such, you’re able to talk a little more about your policies, and what you’ll do for the neighborhood that you’re targeting with these letters.
Hundreds of millions of these flyers and letters are sent in the US on an election year, which demonstrates just how important they are in getting politicians seen, noticed, and voted for.
Use these three forms of marketing to ensure that you’re getting ahead of your opponent in your election, no matter how large or small it is.
