Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes
Election season is upon us, in fact, the Hughes & Co. locale is electing municipal and regional governments in just a few short months. The campaign landscape has become increasingly more interesting as the digital realm has taken over as the primary resource for voters to learn about their candidates.
What was once a few months of glad-handing and kissing babies has quickly become a competition of information. Who is offering what, who is offering the most of it and how is what they are saying going to help me. It seems, because it is, that the campaign strategies of today will fall short without a little inbound sensibility infused into their operations. So how do you execute on an inbound strategy for politics? Keep reading, your play book is below:
Step 1: Know your audience
Approach your political campaign like any marketing campaign. Define your buyer personas and drop your ideas into these persona buckets. If you have issues that pertain mostly to the younger voter, drop them all in the younger voter bucket. Use these buckets to schedule your content for each persona evenly. This will prevent you from over catering to one demographic versus another. Measure your publishing and encourage engagement by being consistent and regularly addressing issues of relevance to each voter in your constituency.
Step 2: Build your presence
Your political campaign should be taking digital seriously, very seriously. As the primary research resource of the 21st century, ignoring this facet of your campaign strategy is a big mistake. Your website is the only campaign component that can work equally as hard for you at 3:00 in the morning as it can at 9:00 the next day.
In addition to just having a website, you should have a blog. This blog should be a regularly updated content stream that features content written BY YOU. This is a vital that is often overlooked. When we say in your own words we do not mean without some proof-reading (that is also vital), but in stead in a voice that gives voters the trust building opportunity they are looking for with you.
Step 3: Be social and available
The relevance of social media in a political campaign isn't just about being able to send out as many messages as possible on the regular, it is about the opportunity to connect. When you are available, you are connecting with people. Respond, be engaging... give a shit. That is really what it comes down to. If you can't be bothered, why should I be bothered? Little things like social media engagement with potential voters that care enough to connect send big messages. This is the nature of the medium and if you can't commit, don't pretend to.
Step 4: Establish consistency
Amidst all of the above, remember that you are on a campaign. In the marketing world a campaign is introduced and gives a singular visual and messaging oriented consistency that creates identifiability. Read: if you are all over the map, it gets difficult to tie it all back to your campaign. You want people to see your headquarters, your Facebook, your website, your buttons, your car magnets, your everything and think to themselves "Wow, X candidate is everywhere." Let them know you want it and you're working hard for it.
Our thoughts on this are to:
- Have a logo drawn up for you.
- Establish a brand in 4 or less colours.
- Define key messages and don't sway
If you're on the campaign trail, we hope you take the time to consider the above. You will develop digital advocates with a potential reach that is dramatically more impactful than traditional word of mouth. If you are a voter seeking a candidate that you can believe in, we hope that you seek out the qualities above in the person you will choose to represent you in office. The above is what we believe is minimum digital commitment and a strong digital presence demonstrates innovative thinking and a desire to have ideas tabled and discussed.
