How Effective is Text Message Marketing for Local Political Campaigns?

Political marketing has undergone some major changes in recent years, as social media has stepped forwards to provide global platforms for political candidates to get their voices heard. However, social media is not the only platform that modern technology can offer hopeful political candidates. SMS marketing has already made its debut appearance in political campaigns across America, proving that modern marketing has a place in the political world. Campaigns using SMS have been run by the likes of Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Bernie Sanders, and in 2008, former-president Barack Obama used the medium of text to announce his vice president to the world. Despite already breaking ground in politics, text messaging, and SMS marketing in particular, is still a relative newcomer; this is especially the case when compared to more traditional marketing styles like door-to-door campaigning. Some would say that traditional marketing is more effective but going by the exceptional success that text marketing has brought businesses, there may be an even greater benefit to SMS campaigning in local politics than the traditional means.

How Can SMS Marketing Be Used in Political Campaigns?

The first area to evaluate the effectiveness of SMS for politics is in the types of ways that it can be used. Unlike traditional marketing methods, text marketing is much more diverse in its capabilities. However, that doesn’t mean that it can’t work perfectly alongside traditional techniques. There are a number of traditional political marketing strategies that are perfect for growing an online marketing subscriber list. To encourage supporters to sign up to your SMS marketing, you can use existing campaign tools and tactics, like

• Flyers and posters
• Garden signs
• Speeches and canvasing
• Car and bus stickers
• Website landing pages and articles

Incorporating modern marketing practices, like the use of QR codes, into these traditional methods is a great way to enhance your marketing subscription list without being too intrusive. Once you have built up a subscriber list, there are many areas of a local politics campaign that SMS marketing can be used. In particular the greatest uses are in organization and direct voter communication.

SMS Marketing and Campaign Organization

Organizing a political campaign takes time, money, and resources, three things that are not easy to stay on top of. When your campaign is permanently in the public eye, you want everything to go right, which is where SMS marketing software can really be of great benefit. You can use SMS software to:

• Message your volunteers to inform them of the time and date of rallies
• Recruit new volunteers
• Provide last minute updates quickly
• Have two-way conversations with important event organizers
• Manage large-scale events
• Make important announcements

SMS Marketing and Voters

Voter opinion and support is everything in a political campaign – if you have it then you’re in good standing to win. Through SMS marketing, you can reach your supporters in a completely unique way, communicating with an eager audience in a much more direct manner. You can use SMS software to:

• Share your views quickly and effectively
• Address important news
• Announce new campaign developments
• Remind voters when voting day is and how to vote
• Inform supporters of your latest media appearances
• Send out invites for important political events
• Keep everyone informed of your work

The Benefits of SMS Marketing in Politics

Texting has already been deemed the most popular form of communication, so it makes sense that if you want to be the most popular political candidate, you should be making use of it. Texting is certainly popular, but there are many benefits above and beyond popularity, including:

High Open Rates

Text messages have an open rate of 98% which is more than 3x the open rate of emails. When you choose to add SMS marketing to your campaign, you’re adding a marketing medium that offers exceptional read-rates, so you always know that your message is being received by your target audience.

Speed of Delivery

The political world moves quickly, and new information needs to be shared fast if you want to stay ahead of the curve. Text messages more than cater to the need for speed. With a text you can send a large group message in seconds and get important information to the people that can get the most value out of it.

Excellent Reach

Even in local political campaigns, there is a large area that needs to be covered efficiently, something that takes considerable time and resources. SMS provides a medium to achieve a large geographical reach easily and cost-effectively. Texting also crosses the barriers between demographics, allowing you to target all generations with ease.

Great Features

SMS software isn’t just about direct marketing, there are countless features that can benefit your campaign, from 2-way chat to voice messaging and MMS capabilities; you have complete control over how you want your campaign to be run.

Is SMS the Right Marketing Tool for Your Political Campaign?

SMS marketing has proven itself to be an effective business marketing tool, but it has also been a great help to non-profit campaigns and other industries where communication needs to be quick, cost-effective, and personal. Can SMS marketing help with political campaigns? The short answer is yes, and as we’ve covered in the key benefits of the software, it can help in many ways. Where traditional marketing fails to deliver on reach and speed, SMS marketing can pick up the slack and act as the perfect partner. Through the latest software you can personalize your SMS content to work seamlessly with your existing political marketing strategies and bring something fresh and personal to your supporters. Integrating SMS software into your political campaign may not be the first thing that you consider to increase the reach of your communication and improve the efficiency of your campaign, but as many businesses, organizations, and establishments have found in the past, it’s an effective solution to achieving strong communication with a target audience.