Imagine you’re talking to an important person about an important subject at an extremely important time. But the catch is that you have no idea who they are. That’s what it’s like trying to run a political campaign without narrowing your audience down first.
Why Does Knowing Your Audience Matter?
Political marketing done right is about talking to your voter base directly; you have to know who they are, what they like, what they care about, and what will make you interesting to them. It may sound like a good idea to make your campaign more inclusive and catered towards everyone, but in the world of marketing, talking to “everyone” is like talking to no one.
A strategy like that won’t help you when you’re trying to build your Google advertisements or when you’re boosting your posts on Facebook. This can be a tricky thing to navigate when getting into politics, as many politicians want to help everyone, and they care about the whole community.
Political marketing doesn’t necessarily contradict this goal, but you must narrow your focus to specific groups of people so that you can reach them more easily.
Know Your Demographics
The area in which a person lives can significantly impact the way they vote. For example, a voter from Miami Beach may care more about environmental issues than a Kendall voter. Now take into account each voter’s age, gender, ethnicity, and income level.
Suddenly, there could be a million possible differences between those two voters, and they likely care about different issues depending on their demographics. Targeting people through social media requires a high level of specificity because demographic data are how platforms like Instagram and Facebook can recommend personalized advertisements and posts to each user.
That same data that these social media sites use to advertise can be used for political campaigns to target voters who are likely interested in the issues you talk about and on the platform you’re running on. You can even narrow your scope further. When it comes to the election you’re running for, who are the exact people who can even vote?
Why broaden your voters to a national level when your election is only held at a local level? This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t speak on national issues. It just means that most of your communications and digital marketing efforts should be catered to that key voter base that will help you get into office during the election cycle.
Know Your Position
Speaking of national versus local elections, you have to be sure of what you can and can’t promise to your voter base/audience during the cycle. Whether you’re running for a position in your city or a position in your state, every position has roles and abilities, as well as their limits.
Running for City of Miami Mayor is entirely different from running for President of the United States. In addition, a city official will not have the same duties as a senator when both are in office. Think about what your voters want from your position. If they are voting you in to take care of their city, then focus your platform and your campaign on those things first.
However, it’s common for voters to be unaware of the various bureaucratic processes and the sheer amount of red tape that government officials have to go through to get things done. So tell your voters!
Don’t just tell them what they want to hear, but get to know who they are and what they are willing to accept, and then find common ground on what you can do for their communal and personal needs.
Reach Voters | Political Social Media Marketing
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