The 10 Commandments Of Digital Political Marketing
Online advertising is today at the heart of all major brand campaigns. Web marketing in its general vision is today a choice not to be missed for brand or company success. We have all witnessed one of the best online advertising campaigns, such as ads for the global or one of the Apple campaigns, or found brilliant ideas when it comes to communicating with their audience. Campaigns and actions that have slowly made their way into the world of political marketing campaigns.
Today we offer 10 commands to make a successful political marketing campaign thanks to digital:
The Internet has turned politics into an area that has changed all of its codes. Traditional concepts ranging from B2B to B2C have evolved into H2H, a kind of human-to-human exchange. The goal: to make people, or at least close to the people, candidates who suffer from an image too elitist. On the other hand, political activists and the general public have a lot to learn from political groups.
Compared to other markets, the policy, to be effective, must obtain a considerable market share. In trade, a market share of 10% is ample; but in politics, it does not allow a victory. So, to get a political victory, you have to keep some things in mind before embarking on a campaign.
First of all, it’s clear that digital marketing and politics both want the same thing: to convince people to do something. Convince them to vote for you. And convincing them requires effort and time, of course. Thus, before political activists, digital marketers and even political candidates begin to create their strategies, here are the ten commandments of political and digital marketing emanating from an experienced vision that was forged 1min30 through its 6 years of experience!
1. Always incorporate your online political marketing campaigns into your campaign’s political strategy
And vice versa, never start campaigning on the Internet if there is no strategy, both digital and political. It is essential to carry out a real strategy and to study your electoral fields by traditional marketing.
2. Political marketing: create, animate, digitize a community of people around the candidate
Listen to your potential constituents on social networks and the web, via e-mail responses or e-meetings, and incorporate their needs and desires into your strategy, and hammer that vision on your channels of distribution and visibility.
3. It is essential to be consistent and relevant in the messages you send
Because consistency and relevance are coupled with a well-constructed and effective strategy. For this, you have to work a lot of messages, focus on goals and targets and then decline those who have worked best and make a flagship message. The advantage of the web is that everything is changeable, we can test to rework later.
4. Political Marketing: Be Visual and Be Bold
Visual communication is the most attractive for Internet users, it must be consistent and above all respect a precise graphic chart in order to visually recognize its candidate. The importance of the visual is scientifically proven in the consumption of products: why would not it be the same in politics? The image literally, therefore the different visuals of a party, but also the image in the broader sense of policy. Digital marketers know what works and what does not work in the online environment, while political activists know what kinds of emotions trigger voters’ reactions.
5. Set clear goals for your online political marketing campaigns, as well as relevant KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the basis of marketing. Use them all the time and build on these visions of the effectiveness of your campaigns. To have a real-time vision there are automation solutions. You’ll be able to generate campaign reports/charts and analyze them daily to optimize your campaigns and overall strategy. The constant analysis is a must in political campaigns, usually much riskier than marketing campaigns where marketing automation is now an indispensable rule.
6. You will always test and learn in political marketing
Test and learn!
At the heart of this strategy, you will constantly try several media, several messages, different types of content, various visuals but also different electoral segments.
7. Build a relationship with your constituents
If you engage in a conversation or relationship with someone and simply disappear without a word or notice afterward or without creating a link, the visitor will forget you, or worse, neglect you. Do not just target and engage them with advertising on Facebook or through flyers or a particular topic. You have to acquire data and then send them information or encourage them to participate in politics. Building a digital relationship is what helps you turn people into voters.
8. Redefine the term “conversion” to “vote”
While digital marketers typically use a funnel-like concept to describe the total conversion from a single user to a loyal customer, “funnels” do not really work that way in politics. Converting a simple supporter or Internet user into a safe voter can sometimes be a roller coaster, but with a connected campaign team and the right strategy, the sky is the limit!
9. Keep your political allies close and your opponents even closer
Indeed, the famous proverb “Keep your close friends and your enemies even closer” also applies to campaigns. In other words, it’s about keeping an eye on your opponents. Watch and see what they do on social media, on their platforms and try to always be one step ahead. There are many monitoring tools: use them in the digital marketing environment.
10. Political Marketing: Never stop learning
Even if you are a digital marketing guru, your campaign manager is also a digital marketing guru and your entire team is digital, it does not matter. The intersection of digital marketing and political marketing gives us a huge breadth of fields to experiment and evolve political communication. Stay tuned and always ready to learn the new challenges of digital political marketing!
Originally published at Entrepreneur News and Startup Guide.
