In this article, we’re not going to get into the nuts and bolts of how to build an email marketing campaign, instead, we are going to talk about why email marketing is a crucial component of a political campaign.
With all of the social media out there, why is email marketing for your political campaign that important? Here are some statistics:
- Roughly 90% of males and females in the United States open their emails (Statista.com, November 2019)
- Roughly 90% of internet users in the United States use email (Statista.com, November 2019)
- 52% of U.S. workers reported checking their personal emails every few hours during working hours (Statista.com, July 2019)
- When compared to social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), the average open email rate is 22.86% compared to an average engagement rate of less than 0.6% for social media (Optinmonster.com)
Those are just a few facts that should make it clear to your that your political or issues-based campaign needs to have an email marketing campaign.
So right now, you’re probably thinking, “Okay, so you gave me some favorable stats about email, but why is it important to my campaign?”
Keeping in Touch
As you can see by the stats mentioned above, email is one of the most effective ways to keep in touch and one of the easiest ways to communicate to a large number of people and reach voters more efficiently. Moreover, it’s an easy and elegant way to build a relationship with your supporters.
Your email marketing campaign should start with an introduction of who you are and why you’re running for office. With every email sent, you’ll want to remind your readers of why they should support your campaign, as well as your appreciation for their continued support.
As your campaign moves along, you’ll want to send out emails to let your supporters know where you’ll be appearing, announce an endorsement you’ve received, or worthy news articles where you’ve been mentioned.
Your email marketing team will want to share photos, website links, links to your social media platforms. You’ll also want to make sure to encourage your subscribers to share their emails with their friends to spread the word about your campaign.
Hiring a professional email marketing team frees you from having to manage all of this and allows you to spend more time meeting your voters, talking about the issues they face, and asking for financial assistance for your campaign.
An Easy Way for Supporters to Donate
When done correctly, making email marketing a part of your political campaign is an easy way for your supporters to donate to your political campaign or your issues-based campaign.
In email marketing circles, this is known as a “call-to-action .”You’re asking your reader to take some action, be it clicking a link, donating to your campaign, volunteering to help or follow your campaign on social media.
But a word of caution, don’t be greedy. You should limit your number of requests per email to just a single call-to-action request. Also, not every email needs to ask for money. Sending friendly reminders of dates or recognizing a business or group that supports you without asking for money is a great way to build rapport with our readers and supporters.
If your campaign just posted a new ad on your website, send an email asking your readers to click on a link to your website to view the ad. There you can ask them to donate to your campaign.
Asking for more than one call to action can confuse your readers. If you need volunteers, ask for volunteers. Just stay away from asking them to also go to your website to watch a video. You will probably get a lot of views but no volunteers.
Draw Their Attention to Your Website or Your Social Media
One of the greatest uses for implementing email marketing in your political campaign is to draw attention to your campaign website or your social media accounts, where you can host your videos, blog, news and event updates, announcements, and calls-to-action, to name a few.
A quick email like this example is likely to get a favorable response and may help your video go viral…
Subject: New Video from Our Campaign
Hey there! Just wanted to take a moment to tell you that we just uploaded a new video ad to our website, and I wanted my supporters to be the first to see it before we launch it on social media. If you have a moment, I would appreciate it if you would click on the link below and watch it and give me any feedback on it. Your opinion means a lot to me.
An email like this gives your readers a sense of exclusivity, you’re giving them the first preview; the VIP treatment. Secondly, you’re soliciting their opinion. Why would they not click to view the video? And after watching your professionally made video, why would they not want to contribute to your campaign?
Also, having a professional team run your email marketing for you allows them to set up autoresponders so that an email can be sent to your subscribers every time you update your blog. This also works great when you tie your email to your social media accounts.
Lastly, professional email marketers use analytic tools and tips and tricks from years of experience to increase your open rate and click-through rate and help keep you from being listed as spam.
If you’re thinking of launching a political campaign or starting an issues-based campaign, give Reach Voters a call, and let’s see if we can help you out.
