Campaign advertising has always been a powerful tool for politicians. Marketing for politicians provides an effective way to get their message across to voters. Winning campaigns use a combination of traditional media, print, and digital marketing. They often combine these mediums to improve their effectiveness.
For example, using both mailers and online ads increases the touch points that voters have with your political campaign.
Print not only encompasses mailers and campaign brochures, but also newspapers and other forms of advertising, including billboards and signage. Digital ads include pay per click, Facebook promotion, display ads, and IP targeting.
Advantages to combining print and online advertising:
- Augment your channels: By combining both forms of advertising, you’re augmenting your channels to reach your specific voter audiences.
- Improve your reach: Print ads can drive your digital marketing. By including strong calls to action (CTA) with website addresses, social media links and hashtags, you can extend your reach and exposure to your online presence. From there, you can further engage voters and supporters through email, IP Targeting and other digital methods.
- Increase your impact: In a study conducted on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service, print media was found to outperform online material in review time and awareness. While you can measure digital response and reach, brand awareness can benefit from a dual-approach.
Tips to improve your combined print and digital strategy
Use consistent branding and messaging
To truly make an impression, make sure that your campaign branding is consistent across all formats to reinforce your message. Complementary design is important. Different online and print campaigns that do not match in look or tone will not be successful. Your printer should have access to your image and logo creatives and/or they should be provided for your web ads and banners. Consistent branding should also apply to any television or cable ads you run.
If your logo has been created by Online Candidate, we can provide a high-resolution version in different formats for your print advertising.
Use campaign hashtags in print
Trying to draw attention to a particular issue that you are promoting on social media? Adding specific hashtags to your print materials is a way to funnel your marketing channels. Including a call-to-action to share on social media combines the two strategies for a greater impact.
Try friendly links
Add a user-friendly URL in your mailers. This is useful if your regular website domain is difficult to type or if you want to send visitors to a specific place online. A URL redirect can make it easy to send a visitor directly to the page you want. Unique links in advertising can even be used to track the effectiveness of a particular marketing push.
Need help setting up a redirect? Put in a support request, and we’ll get you set right away.
Using a relevant landing page
You can always send people to your campaign website’s home page. But if you send someone directly to a landing page, you should make sure that page matches the call to action in your ads.
Time your promotions
Time-sensitive calls to action can be particularly effecting. This not only include Election Day, but also the primary election day, date to start early voting, and the date when voting ends. Use your election calendar and be strategic when releasing new print pieces and online ads.
Voter advertising is especially important in primary elections, where voters can’t use party identification of Democrat or Republican to choose a candidate. With less information, voters can be more persuaded by additional information provided in ads.
Though print and political digital ads are different and engage voters in different ways, the two formats complement one another. With a strategy of consistent branding and messaging, print and digital campaigns can direct attention to one another, get voters engaged, and bring more attention to a candidate.
Online Candidate provides affordable political websites and political graphic design services to help you get started fast. For custom design services, we can provide a high-resolution version of your logo or graphics for your print advertising needs.
Read More:
Who To Contact If You Want To Run For Office »
Tags: campaign promotion
