For campaigns hungry for more digital content in 2022, Henri Makembe, CEO of the Democratic firm Do Big Things, has this advice: “Always be recording.”
Given the abundance of platforms and placement options now available to campaigns, there’s no such thing as having too much material that can be used to create paid or organic content. So when your candidate is out and about, greeting constituents or shaking hands, record every moment, even with just an iPhone, Makembe advised.
The chances that you capture something natural and authentic, like the candidate warmly greeting a constituent they know or engaging in real conversation with voters on the street, are much higher than when you’re trying to script those interactions during an ad shoot.
“You can’t really replicate that moment, but once you have it you can drown out the sound and use it in a higher production [spot],” said Makembe. “So always be recording is something I’m telling a lot of the candidates to do right now.”
One thing campaigns should take advantage of this year: the newfound comfort voters have with lo-fi content. Lower production value no longer means poor quality content, said Mekembe, assuming you get the audio right.
“You can create lower production shoots, but in a more targeted way so that you can have a more diverse mix of content out there for different audiences that you’re going after,” Makembe said. “Instead of just having the big buy and the big shoot, maybe you have two or three different shoots talking about different issues targeting a very small slice of the population.”
And when it comes to the placement of organic content in ’22, Makembe said that can be a worthwhile testing ground for campaigns. If something is performing well organically, chances are it’s going to also perform well as paid content.
Watch the full interview with Makembe above for more on using digital to motivate in a midterm year and how to best deploy your data.
