During the last presidential cycle, many campaigns, consultants and practitioners were caught off guard when Facebook abruptly banned political advertising the week leading up to the 2020 election. In the last week of the race, we saw opponents attack and candidates that were unable to respond through social media channels. When Facebook decided to extend this ban into the winter months, it became even more problematic for runoff campaigns and special elections.
Now, we’re already seeing signs that “2022 could be the year that big internet platforms pull the plug on paid political advertising.” It’s time to get out of the bubble of just trying to buy more ads and focus on ways you can effectively get your targeted message directly to voters. It’s time to get back to basics. Here are five things you should also be focused on:
Texting
Peer-to-peer texting isn’t just for campaign turnout. This is a great way to introduce yourself, share your vision in a 20 second video, refute an attack, show a sample ballot and ask each person to watch your video and share their opinions. With upcoming changes to 10DLC registration, P2P texting is here to stay – it’s time to start leveraging this tool.
Doors
Is there anything more symbolic in a campaign than a candidate who wears out their shoe leather? Take it back to basics. Time to knock some doors. Utilizing volunteers or outsourcing the effort, it doesn’t matter. Voters want to know that you’ll take the time to meet them where they are and hear what they have to say.
Live phone calls
The past few years, phones have been having their moment. People who had been isolated were craving the back-and-forth conversation and personal connection. Whether you’re working with volunteer callers who are committed to helping you win or a professional call center, candidates and elected officials who provided meaningful, two-way interactions through the phone found a great deal of success. Additionally, phones are an effective way to combat voter confusion is with live calls. Candidates who take advantage of real, two-way conversations with voters are going to have a major advantage over those who just blast their information in your face.
Relational organizing
Channel marketing, otherwise known as “word of mouth,” has long been known as the most powerful tool of persuasion in the private sector. According to Chatter Matters: The 2018 Word of Mouth Report by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin, “83% of Americans say that a word-of-mouth recommendation from a friend or family member makes them more likely to purchase that product or service.”
In the political world, there are different technologies available to help a campaign harness the power of these personal relationships. These systems enable volunteers to contact people they already know, and track that information just as easily as traditional calls and door knocks.
Telephone town halls
Telephone town halls provide a great deal of benefit, whether you’re a candidate, group, association or anyone in between. Communicating with voters in this way brings the same type of benefits as a forum, where you’re able to communicate your message to a broader audience, over the phone and online. At the same time, the event is calm, planned and moderated by professionals.
You can make your connection with voters go further with text message invites, a pre-call, live answer, voicemail and sharing clips of your event to your database.
If you’re a campaign, why are you continuing to rely on Big Tech to deliver your message? Implementing small changes today can help you communicate directly with the people who need to hear your message and mobilize them to take action. The sooner you start expanding your options, the less reliant you will be on social media and your effort can adjust seamlessly when the inevitable happens.
Nicole Schlinger is the founder and president of CampaignHQ. Since 1999, CampaignHQ has delivered millions of effective P2P text messages, voter ID, persuasion, advocacy, patch through, and GOTV calls for winning campaigns and conservative organizations.
