The three types of campaign media
How will you deliver your message?
Once you've spent time to develop a message for your campaign, you then have to decide how best to communicate it. And while there are an endless number of options, they all fit into just a few categories.
The three basic categories of media that you can use to get your message across are “earned media”, “paid media” and more recently, “social media”.
- Earned media means just that, you work for it.
- Paid media is what it sounds like. It costs money.
- Social media covers online bases like Facebook, Twitter and viral email.
These are all just channels for the message however. Which options you use can have a lot to do with the resources you have available, who your target audience is and what kind of budget you have.
The important thing is the effectiveness of the message itself. And to judge that, check out my post on the five attributes of good campaign messaging.
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Campaign messaging: be more effective by thinking local
The late Lee Atwater used to say that "Issues win campaigns", and he was right. And former Democrat Speaker of the House Tip O'Neal once said that "All politics is local", and he was largely right as well.
Add the two together and you get "Local issues move voters".
Most people love to express their opinions on everything from foreign policy to balancing the federal budget, but these are issues that rarely motivate voters - or at least have less potential to do so than local issues.
Sure, people get concerned if a foreign crisis has an impact on our nation, especially if it means endangering American lives. We get concerned when the national debt may be a trillion dollars more next year. But the impact of a proposed local property tax hike, or a deep pothole on the road that you travel everyday, is more tangible and immediate than most national issues.
This goes back to what I mentioned previoulsy in the "Five attributes of good campaign messaging" - make the message relevant.
It’s a simple fact that people are more sensitive to issues that affect them every day in their own communities. So find a way to "localize" your issue and make it relevant.
When it's all said and done, thinking local will probably pay more political dividends to your cause in the end.
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Campaign messaging: how to say what you need to say
"First, you win the argument, then you win the vote." - Margaret Thatcher
The "message" is all about what a campaign is saying. It's the information that you want the people who hear you to use base their decisions on, so you need to give it some thought.
Five attributes of good campaign messaging:
1) It should be simple
For example, it should answer simple questions, like: "Why is the candidate running (or why is the issue on the ballot, if it's a referendum campaign), or "What is the campaign's vision and principles?" The simpler, the better.
2) It should be clear and easily understood
Muddled messages either don't get through, or they will contradict themselves. The result is no impact.
3) It should be compelling and relevant
A campaign’s message should give voters a compelling reason to vote a certain way, based on things that they can identify with, which means it also needs to be relevant and grounded in the values and concerns that your targeted audience already has.
4) It should be actionable
It should describe "what" you want the people who receive it to do. It does little good to get people stirred up and then have them not know what to do next.
5) It should be repeated
Repetition = pursuasion = impact, so repeat it over and over, and in multiple outlets. (Of course, this assumes that you're meeting the other four attributes!)
A good message should be developed in accordance with a campaign’s overall strategy, taking into consideration such things as partisanships, key issues as well as the images (or lack thereof) that voters have of the candidates (or the issue).
You're probably going to spend a lot of money saying what you say...so think it through and get the most out of your investment.
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The three fundamentals of political campaigns
“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.” – George Nathan
It’s a fundamental truth of politics that if you don’t win, you can’t govern.
You can’t implement policy if you aren’t elected to a position that allows you to do so, or if you don’t have sympathetic elected officials that are willing to help.
With that being the case, it’s critical that conservatives know the basics of effective campaigning.
Julius Caesar once said that the only thing needed to conquer the world was “men and money”. Modify that idea slightly by adding “message” and you’ve got a good thumbnail sketch of what campaigns are all about.
The Three Fundamentals of Political Campaigns:
- Message: What are you saying?
- Money: Can you afford to get your message out to lots of people?
- Manpower: Do you have an organization to help you spread the word?
These three principal elements are universal to all campaigns. They don’t change.
Regardless of whether the campaign is national, state or local in scope, the objective is the same. To win. And having the most compelling message, the most money, and the most devoted and numerous volunteers goes a long way towards that goal.
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Saying "thank-you" - awarding those who help drive your agenda
Everyone loves to be thanked, and politicians are no different. In fact, for most of them, it’s a nice break from only hearing people complain.
We're not talking about the over the top ("and I would like to thank...") thank-you's at your average Hollywood awards ceremony, but some simple recognition of people who have been especially helpful.
Awards are a great low-cost / high-return way to say thanks to elected officials that have been helpful. And politicians love awards, because they give them something they can show to important constituents back home; which means that they’re excellent tools for building relationships and rewarding deserving legislators.
Some awards ideas:
Awards can be subjective, based on leadership on a particular issue, (such as “Legislator of the Year”). If the award is objective, it should be based on a set of votes that you select, such as with a legislative scorecard that you might publish or votes you’ve tracked privately.
This type of award can help your lobbying efforts as well. You can send out a “key vote notice” to legislators before they vote, letting them know that an upcoming vote is eligible for inclusion in your “scored” set of votes. (It lets them know people are watching)
But if you do give out awards, be sure to send out a press release when any awards are given. The legislator’s press secretary (if any) would love to work with you on this.
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Related:
- Knowing when to compromise
- How to package your message for effective lobbying
- 5 tips on cultivating relationships for lobbying success
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You can find more great tips for effective grassroots activism in my Grassroots Training Series. Check it out!
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