Digital marketing is all about building a presence online. The more people who know about you, the better. Nowhere is this more important than in a political campaign. After all, if people don’t know who you are and what you stand for, they’re not going to cast a vote for you!
The rise of the internet has changed the face of political campaigning forever. There was a time when televised debates, newspaper interviews, and leaflet drops were all critical. These are still important, but the battle for ascendency mostly takes place in the digital realm. The bigger your profile on social media and other devices, the easier it is to attract support, donors, and votes.
Build a Great Campaign Website and Social Media Presence
A powerful website and strong social media presence are the foundation of a successful political campaign. A website acts as a landing page for people interested in your message. Make sure it is user-friendly and broadcasts your message in a friendly way. It should contain lots of useful information about your campaign message, where voters can reach you, what your main aims are if you are elected, and links to other sites, such as your social pages.
Make sure the site is mobile-friendly.
Who Is Your Target Audience?
Before you begin marketing, work out who your target audience is. For example, if you have strong support in some demographics, but less in others, target the people who are still on the fence. The platform you use to reach these people will very much depend on the demographic. Older votes may be reached on Facebook, whereas Gen Z is more likely to be found on platforms like TikTok.
Use Different Platforms to Reach Voters
Once you know who your target audience is, you can build a campaign message suitable for the platform. Sites like Instagram and TikTok rely heavily on video content, whereas if you use Tatango for SMS marketing, you’ll need to craft short but succinct text messages.
Create a variety of content suitable for a multitude of platforms. Short articles, press releases, sound bites, videos, and infographics can all be used across multiple platforms. Use data to see how the target audience reacts to different material.
For example, if audience engagement is low with certain social media posts, look more closely at why that might be the case. Try A/B testing on content before it goes live and test it on small focus groups to generate useful feedback.
Try and Engage the Younger Voters
The youth vote is very important. They may not have huge sums to fund your campaign, but they are very vocal online. Younger people tend to be very active on platforms like Instagram and Twitter. If you can capture them with your campaign message, it will help drive engagement to a new and wider audience. Viral content is a politician’s dream, as long as it’s not negative.
Finally, learn how to craft a message that resonates with your audience, whatever digital platform you use. Voters are looking for politicians to fix their problems; make it clear that person is you.
