Hi folks, greetings from the campaign trenches! Political season kicked off early this year, and I’m already creating scads of digital ads for one client and lining up project plans and specialized vendors for others.
Last week, though, I made it to Chicago for the Democratic convention! I wasn’t magic and special enough to get into the hall itself, but I hit the surrounding happy hours and receptions with the usual wild abandon. Lots of old friends were around, plus plenty of new folks to meet. I can’t even begin to capture how excited Democratic activists are for the fall.
Despite the adventures, I haven’t forgotten about Epolitics. Below is the final excerpt I’ll publish from the 2024 edition of my digital campaigning ebook, “How to Use the Internet to Change the World – and Win Elections.” This sample plan is obviously an outline, with the book covering each of the tactics below in much more detail in its dozen-and-a-half substantive chapters. You can also check an ealier excerpt from the Big Trends section, and of course, your copy is waiting if you haven’t picked it up yet.
As always, we have much more Epolitics to come, and I can’t wait to share with you what I’m learning this year. But first, back to work — those ads aren’t going to create themselves.
Chapter Three: A Sample Digital Plan for a 2024 Political Campaign
Let’s create a plan to digital tools to work to help win an election in a sample campaign in the United States this year. Campaigns in other places in the world may not be able to deploy exactly the same tools and tactics, but the basic concepts will often apply. Most smaller campaigns won’t have the resources to do it all, so they’ll have to focus on those tasks most important for their own circumstances. Likewise, nonprofits and individual organizers get to pick and choose based on their individual needs.
Phase One: Getting Established
At the start, campaigns need to focus on getting the basics right. The setup process may take from a few days to a few weeks, but generally a campaign should start rolling as early as resources and circumstances allow. For a presidential race, this stage would usually have taken place at least a year before the first primaries. Down-ballot campaigns are likely to get a later start, taking these steps within a few months of a contested election. The initial steps:
- Begin monitoring the race; run online searches on your own candidate and likely opponents. Set up Google Alerts including the names of the candidate and opponents.
- Set up and launch website and supporter-signup/CRM/mass email/fundraising system.
- Establish Facebook page, Instagram feed, Twitter/X and other social-media accounts as needed.
- Establish YouTube channel, even if the only content is your announcement video.
- Consider running Google search and Facebook ads to build name recognition and the campaign’s list, spending at least a few dollars per day at first.
- Encourage friends and family, plus local political activists, to follow your digital channels.
- Identify relevant (perhaps local or statewide) political blogs and other online communities.
- Identify other prominent online voices, including bloggers, activists active on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok, and frequent commenters on local political or news sites, with an eye toward recruiting them to support the campaign.
- Build your email list.
- Start raising money via email and/or text.
- Identify grassroots tech (such as peer-to-peer texting and relational organizing apps) for use by field staff/volunteers.
- Begin the process of recruiting and training volunteers.
Phase Two: Feeding the Beast
In the middle period between the candidate’s announcement and the actual voting, list-building, most campaigns spend their time building relationships and raising money. Name recognition does not hurt, either.
- Promote the campaign website in print materials and broadcast advertising. Mayble include a QR code linking to the website?
- Continue recruiting donors and volunteers via online ads, particularly on Google and Facebook/Instagram but possibly on other social-media channels, blogs and local media sites. Employ voter-file-targeted video ads and banner ads to reach specific voter segments, but don’t forget the need to influence opinion broadly as well.
- Sign up new supporters for the email list, volunteer list and social channels at in-person events.
- Organize volunteer time via grassroots management tools.
- Canvass voters in person, over the phone or via text message to identify persuadable contacts and likely supporters.
- Run digital ads targeting specific voters in the days before those people are to be contacted by field canvassers.
- Grow Facebook community and Twitter/Instagram followings; post new content on these channels regularly, featuring supporters and volunteers when possible.
- Expand/improve campaign website content as needed.
- Post videos to YouTube, Facebook and Instagram and embed on the campaign website. Post on TikTok if the campaign has a presence there.
- Consistently use your digital channels to remind supporters to tell friends and family about your campaign.
- Continue monitoring independent online content posted about the race; respond as appropriate and able.
- Begin grassroots outreach/canvassing operation, facilitated by data analytics and mobile technology if possible and appropriate.
- Raise more money.
Phase Three: Run-Up to Election Day
Time for full mobilization! This phase typically begins between one and two months before Election Day, with a push at the start of early voting.
- Begin final field-organizing campaign, including canvassing, virtual phonebanking and appearances at public venues.
- Organize volunteer teams for turnout operation, including via peer-to-peer text messages and relational apps.
- Begin early/absentee voting push.
- Send more fundraising appeals, stressing the urgency of the race.
- Encourage last-minute supporter evangelism via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, personal text, etc.
- Ramp up email campaign intensity to support all of the above activities.
- You may focus your digital ads on turning out the faithful at this stage, but ads they may also build name recognition among likely voters or try to persuade fence-sitters.
Final Push
- Field organizers emphasize voter turnout among targeted demographics, communities and individual voters.
- Online ads continue the mix of turnout-boosting, name-recognition and persuasion. Data-driven ad targeting helps reach voters the campaign needs for GOTV. Geotargeted mobile ads may reach voters in line at the polls.
- Email/Facebook/Instagram/Twitter program encourages last-minute donations.
- Email/Facebook/Instagram/Twitter program pushes voter turnout, with an emphasis on tell-your-friends asks and encouraging people to make specific plans to get to the polls.
- On Election Day, send final appeals via email, social networking outlets, text messaging, campaign website, Twitter, telegraph, semaphore, smoke signal and all other available channels. Field teams get people to the polls. Hope for the best.
- Have a drink.
- Win or lose, send a follow-up message to supporters, particularly if you plan to remain in public life.