The primary campaigns are coming up, and every candidate is looking for an edge. Political text messaging could be valuable for one such campaign.
What Value Does Political Text Messaging Add to a Campaign?
Voters want to hear from a politician they support directly. However, many people consider related calls, voicemails and emails to be a strain on their time. Though text, you allow supporters to respond on their own time table, while showing them that their support matters.
There are many ways to use political text messaging to your advantage:
- You can use texts to gain support of voters still on the fence.
- Utilize its reach to organize volunteers.
- Raise funds from your supporters.
- Briefly inform voters on your core issues.
- Link to your website for a more expansive view of your policies.
- View the data of these messages.
- Organize supporters into more precise lists or demographics.
- Set up text keywords and automated responses to help answer some questions voters may have.
- Inform voters about events you will be attending or appearances you will be making.
- Get useful feedback from supporters.
- Send thank you messages to supporters.
- Ask people on your list if they have voted yet.
- Conduct polls among the people on your list
So much potential exists with this medium. It is up to you to begin benefitting from it.
Why Choose Text Over Other Mediums?
One of the major advantages of text is that it is instantaneous. You send out your message, and your supporters receive it in seconds. Email does this as well, but unlike email, texts have a 98% open rate. That is much higher than email’s low 20-30% range. That is not to say that email is without its uses, but should be used as a compliment to text to provide the best results. More to the point of instantaneousness, most people open a text within 3 minutes of receiving it. Given that 97% of American adults own a cell phone, few marketing methods can boast about this much success in terms of outreach.
TextP2P, specifically, allows you to set up keywords and automated responses as stated previously. If used effectively, this marketing method not only casts a wide net, but also has immediate follow-ups. If your campaign sends out a message regarding a certain policy, creating a keyword for that text could give you an opportunity to provide even more information, should the recipient want it.
How to Get Started
Certain political organizations are required by most US carriers to have a campaign verification token to ensure your organization is legitimate. Any 527-tax exempt organization that is registered with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) requires authentification before it can begin mass texting. This applies to individual candidates, parties, PACs, and other committees, as well as the election authorities on a state level and lower. This process is put in place to ensure that no one else is sending out texts in the name of your organization, while securing it as a legitimate political entity for the sake of fair elections.
There is no such verification that applies to 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations or businesses.
To get your verification or more information, you must submit a form at Campaign Verify for a fee.
How to Write a Quality Political Text
The ultimate goal of these texts is to win voters. So, the one major aim with these messages is to be original. This is a great opportunity to show people how you shine from the crowd of other candidates. Address something not often addressed. Point out how your policies differ from other candidates. If you have a favorite issue, expand on that more often. Prove to your supporters that you are the right choice.
Another aspect to these political texts that may help is to make it personal. People are much more apt to vote for someone to whom they can relate. Including personal pronouns like “I”, “me”, “we”, and “us” both reminds voter that you are a person, instead of just another politician, and that you are on their side. Make sure to talk about issues your voter base cares about, and what you plan to do about them.
Lastly, your message needs to be professional. While voters want to be able to relate to you, they also want to be able to trust that you know what you are doing. You need to show that you truly understand the issues. One way to do that is to bring up certain aspects of a policy that many people may not have considered. This shows that you have more knowledge on the issue than most people and can be trusted to deal with it. Most importantly, you need to come off as a leader. Talking about what you are doing for the community, and how your supporter base can help is always a reliable way to demonstrate this.
What TextP2P Can Do to Help?
TextP2P is a service that allows you to send out bulk texts to everyone on your lists at once. With TextP2P you can accomplish all these things listed above and more.
To start your 14-Day Free Trial click here.
