The best feature of digital media, from your campaign’s perspective, is that it doesn’t cost anything to print or mail. It’s entirely possible to spend lots of money on electronic communications, but you can and should get much of the potential value for a relatively modest cost.
Social media, particularly Facebook, is the big dog in this category. But you should still give thought to other, complementary digital media.
Traditional websites are a must – but keep it simple
A traditional website is likely worth having, but keep in mind: even bigger campaigns’ websites are now mostly a brochure plus a donate button. (Mental note: Get a donate button!) Yours can be too. Get a clean, template-based web site which looks good on mobile devices, then plug in basic content matching your campaign literature. Remember, there’s no reason this needs to break the bank.
Most campaign sites should have similar options: a section about the candidate, issues, updates, contact information, a button to help volunteers get involved, and most important – a place to let people donate. (See a trend here?) Feel free to go into issues and policies at greater length on your web site. “Get involved” should be a form letting people request a yard sign, volunteer to host an event, canvass, phone bank, etc. Include a prominent link to sign up for updates mainly by e-mail, though you can invite people to provide other contact information as well.
Updates or news page is worth having, as an official home for important announcements, endorsements, but a mostly static website is fine too. Unless you make a splash in the news, it will receive most of its traffic during the final few days of the campaign.
Campaign e-mail is important – especially for fundraising
Everyone is buried in e-mail, which is still relevant, especially for fundraising. (Fundraising – there it is again!) The fundraising function applies much more to bigger campaigns, with bigger e-mail lists than you’re likely to develop, but e-mail is still important to smaller campaigns, all the same. Your approach to campaign e-mail should be even simpler than your website. Create an account with something like MailChimp or Constant Contact — a free service is likely to meet your needs — and send one to three updates per month featuring news, events, opportunities to volunteer, and most importantly – a donate link.
The costs of television advertising are often out of reach for a local candidate, although digital TV ads aren’t always prohibitively expensive. But while you probably won’t run campaign videos on television, you should still make videos anyway.
Don’t forget to use videos and multi-media
Videos might be the next-best thing to personal interaction with you. People can see you and hear you, and watching your video is probably more appealing to many people than a text or phone call from an unfamiliar number. A professionally made campaign video could be valuable, if someone will give you a break on the cost. You can and should share DIY videos, as well.
Record (or have someone else record) yourself talking about one subject, for about a minute, at most. Short and to the point is always best. (Think about the last time you settled-in to spend more than a few seconds with a political video. Exactly.) Make a video about you, and why you’re running. Make videos about issues. You can also share experiences, like a successful event. In some cases, if you need a rapid response to a problem, video may provide an appropriate sense of both urgency and reassurance, because the response seems to come directly from the horse’s mouth.
Whenever you have a good video, share it. Share it on your social media accounts, share it on your website. Maybe set up a YouTube or Vimeo channel for your videos too, just to provide a URL that can be shared easily across different digital platforms.
Electronic media doesn’t replace other forms of contact, but it’s a part of meeting people where they are— including in front of a screen.
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