Big spending campaigns and outside groups are not only preparing to buy up massive amounts of television airtime, they're also poised to use up most of the political oxygen in key markets across the country.
The end result? It will be more expensive for down-ballot and local campaigns to communicate their message and tougher to get voters to listen given all the noise at the top of the ballot. It's one of the reasons your small campaign needs to have a smart direct mail strategy—one that works in concert with the rest of your messaging efforts.
Here’s what we know about direct mail, political campaign postcards, and even political flyers: voters still read them. In a media landscape that’s so cluttered with campaign messaging (delivered through every medium), physically putting your message in the hands of a voter matters now more than ever.
The other thing campaigners and candidates know about direct mail is that it can be expensive with oftentimes high upfront costs if you aren’t careful. That’s why you should be thinking about Every Door Direct Mail® or EDDM®. With EDDM® your delivery rates are essentially 100 percent and there are no filters that keep your mail from reaching its intended recipient. This tool can pay big dividends for campaigns.
Think Every Door Direct Mail
If you aren’t already familiar with EDDM®, here’s a quick primer: It’s a U.S. Postal Service enabled program that makes direct mail more affordable by eliminating the need for permits or mailing lists—costly barriers to entry for local campaigns. The cost of postage is also significantly reduced for EDDM® users.
Do-it-yourself is an option with EDDM®, but given specific mailing requirements, prep work and the need to get the mailers to the post offices serving the neighborhoods you choose, working with an EDDM® provider helps save time and money. Anyone who has ever run a campaign or managed a political budget appreciates how limited both time and money can be during campaign season.
An EDDM® provider stands to make life just a bit easier, while ensuring the process goes off without a hitch. EDDM2go is an all-inclusive solution where EDDM® campaigns can be created and sent in just a few clicks and often where the unit cost is less than half the cost of a stamp.
One of the most daunting aspects of creating a direct mail program can be building a list. While EDDM2go can blanket entire neighborhoods by reaching every active door in selected mail carrier routes, it can also serve as a cost-efficient way to prospect and build that list. Utilizing EDDM2go to prospect, your campaign can lead supporters to an in-person rally or to an online signup, initiating the voter contact process and paving the way for your campaign to collect emails and physical addresses.
A more developed list opens up your targeting options and the ease of use remains. Via our DirectMail2go portal, your campaign can upload the list and customize your follow-up mail campaigns from there.
Integrate Your Efforts and Increase ROI
We recommend making EDDM® part of an integrated strategy to achieve the best result. Take a step back and examine your local voter outreach efforts. How is your campaign utilizing social media? How are you employing email? What’s your strategy for rallies and events? What other forms of advertising are you tapping into? Local media? Billboards?
For smaller campaigns to really have their message heard amidst increased spending from larger campaigns and big-money outside interests, every piece of your voter contact efforts must work in concert and build off one another. It’s precisely how we think you should be approaching your mail campaign and it’s something EDDM® can help enable. Your campaign can employ EDDM® alongside traditional direct mail efforts. It can also be used as a tool to reinforce your social media messaging and other local media campaigns.
Planning a rally in a particular part of your district? Use EDDM® along with a social media campaign to help drive potential supporters to the event and expose them to your campaign’s message. Take that list of supporters after the rally and follow up in a more targeted way to those who attended using DirectMail2go.
Throughout your race, make sure you’re asking one of the most important questions for any modern political campaign: Are your efforts truly integrated?
Opt for Ease of Use
Maybe you’re a great designer, or perhaps you’re lucky enough to have someone with the requisite knowledge on your campaign staff. But if you’re in the same boat as most smaller and local campaigns, you don’t have the resources or the time for political mailer design. EDDM2go and DirectMail2go offers pre-designed political flyer templates to fit any of your campaign’s messaging objectives.
If you do already have a list to work with, upload it via DirectMail2go and then customize a mailer using one of the free templates. From there we handle the print, postage, and mailing.
So if you’re ready to develop a smart lead generation and supporter nurturing machine for your campaign quickly and affordably, try EDDM®. Register for a free account to access carrier route selection and mailer customization tools now. Plot out your target routes and see what your mailers could look like without any commitment.