The success of political campaigns, whether local or national, must rely on a variety of marketing strategies. This is to ensure delivery of the extensive information necessary for voters to make an intelligent choice in the voting booth.
The Importance of Palm Cards
Since every candidate must make a concerted effort to get out meet the voters face to face, having a professional and attractive palm card to hand out is extremely important. It must have a great photo of the candidate and well-written content to reveal the candidate's background and experience, endorsements if available, the position he or she is running for along with political stance including plans if elected.
Above: A selection of palm cards developed for candidates over the years in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York.
Direct Mail Postcards are One of the Most Popular Strategies for Political Campaigns
Despite the onslaught of direct mail postcards that hit voters during election periods, politicians continue to choose them as one of their preferred marketing strategies. Because of the sheer quantity of such postcards that arrive in mailboxes daily, voters are often overwhelmed with information and may choose to ignore the whole bunch unless there is an interest in one candidate in particular. Of course, politicians have little recourse to other means of communicating with their constituents especially as Election Day approaches. While it is imperative that they continue to campaign door to door to meet the voters on a local level, sometimes that can be a somewhat impossible task if the number of doors exceeds their limits. This is what prompts the urge to send multiple mailers with a variety of messages.
What is important with the direct mail strategy as with all aspects of political campaigns is the need to present the same consistently strong and professional image. Similar to building a brand in the business world, a political candidate's success will depend largely on recognition of the professionally designed and written communications which function the way a logo does. The more it is seen, the more it becomes a memorable and lasting impression which will be retained as the voter completes his ballot.
Above: A variety of postcards developed over the years for candidates running for various positions in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York.
Above: A selection of postcards developed for candidates over the years in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York.
Billboards Are Another Strategy To Reach Voters
Since local candidates make a special effort to walk their districts (known as Wards in the Town of Poughkeepsie), billboards strategically posted within their walking and driving area can also help to publicize their candidacy to local residents.
Above, a selection of billboards for Town of Poughkeepsie candidates ranging from 2011 - 2019.
Many Choose Door Hangers, Signs, Ads, Websites and more as well
For those who take door-to-door canvassing seriously, door hangers are extremely useful. If the candidate arrives in the resident's absence, the door hanger can be left to announce the missed meeting. When door hangers are laminated, they will not be destroyed if hit by rain and will retain their attractive and valuable message.
A variety of signs are commonly used as well which are seen along the sides of the road or on cartops to publicize the candidates' upcoming rendezvous with destiny.
When candidates want to reach voters at the last minute, more reliably than the sporadic and sometimes late arrival of postcards, using the daily newspaper or online banner ads can target the market of critical interest.
While we have learned the perhaps nefarious and often suspicious nature of some social site political advertising,
politicians continue to utilize their social sites to reach their friends and followers in the hopes that posts and ads will convert into votes on Election Day. This is complicated by the recent introduction of an extended period of early voting in New York State which makes timing of communications more confusing. In addition, on a national level, some candidates have resorted to developing videos chronicling military experience to shock viewers with graphic imagery. So far, despite going viral, such videos have served more to initiate impressive levels of donations from areas far removed from the target area than to translate into enough votes to win election. But, such videos are probably in their infancy as a work in progress and may become more successful as time passes.
Above: A variety of Door Hangers for door-to-door campaigning in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York.
Above: An online banner ad, print ads and a car sign developed over the years for various candidates in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York.
Above: A website set up for a candidate in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York.
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