I’ve always been of the mind that well-run political campaigns are on the forefront of the latest in effective research, branding, marketing, publicity and social media strategies.
While creating general awareness through television, print and radio are important components for many campaigns, the marriage between research and the targeted marketing in politics is intriguing.
Political campaigns lead most industries in the realm of research. Consultants leverage polling to get the lay of the land, including their candidate’s approval rating and what issues are most important to voters. After a candidate’s ranking in a contest is determined, a campaign often tests messages that might enhance their position. The “Did you know this about the opponent?” and, “If so, does that change your mind?” questions are invaluable. Some confuse this form of research with a push poll, but it actually arms a political campaign with solid information on what messages might sway voters in an election contest.
Political consultants are kings of targeted marketing. This takes many forms, like e-mail, volunteer-driven phone banks and robocalls, door-to-door, and of course, direct mail. Unlike other forms of advertising, direct mail can ensure that your message reaches the homes of the voters you want to talk to.
In a political campaign, it is a very efficient use of a marketing dollar because you can keep your spending within the boundaries of a candidate’s district and not waste resources on the almost 50 percent of the people who don’t typically vote.
A campaign can also market specifically to political parties and other groups with segmented messages. For example, a Republican candidate with a liberal stance on social issues may benefit from a specific mailing to just Democrats.
More sophisticated campaigns identify trends in polls to conduct micro-targeted outreach to particular demographics. Voter records only show party affiliation, where voters lives and how often they vote.
But trends in polls may give your campaign data on what groups are more likely to support your candidate.
A campaign can then spend more time promoting its agenda to those groups. That’s done by overlaying demographic indicators and voter lists to reconcile with the favorable groups identified in the polling (Sorry, but there’s not enough room to explain that this week).
Political marketing is a sophisticated business. This election season, take note — there will be some great marketing going on.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at www.advertisingandpr.com.
