Running in the Next Election? Better Start Preparing Now

We are barely past the November general elections, so who wants to think about next year’s Election Day?

Smart candidates, that’s who.

Even if you are running for local office, the time to get started on your campaign is NOW.

Filing periods for municipal elections are coming up fast

It doesn’t matter if you are running for mayor, a city council position, a seat on your local school board or for a library district. If you don’t have your paperwork filed on time, then you won’t make it on the ballot. Some candidates wait until the last minute to file for candidacy. Don’t let that happen. Submit your application with enough time to spare, and follow the instructions carefully.

Some campaigns also wait to get their online campaigns rolling. That’s a mistake, too.

Believe it or not, we actually had candidates this year set up campaign websites in October for November elections. Thirty days out from Election Day is not enough time to ramp up an online campaign and raise money.

Your voters are online. Volunteers will connect with you online. Donors will contribute online.

If you are not familiar with social media, start with personal accounts. For local candidates, that means using Facebook and Twitter. Your personal connections through those platforms will be the first people you will notify about your campaign announcements. They will be the first followers of your later campaign social media accounts.

That’s right; you need a split between your personal and campaign social media accounts. Don’t mix the two.

Big trends for local campaigns continue

The pandemic made online campaigning more important than ever. Field organizing shifted to texting and phone banking. Digital campaigning and advertising replaced quite a bit of door-to-door canvassing. Even as the threat has abated, those digital trends will to continue into 2024.

This includes social media, video, email and texting strategies in coordination with off-line events and activities.

Local candidates should continue the trend of getting personal with voters. That means getting increased targeting through remarketing to existing website visitors, paid advertising, and using voter address data for IP targeting.

Smart political campaigners are using segmentation of audiences and traffic. For example, in mail list segmentation, target particular messaging to specific voter segments and create better interaction.

Small campaigns should allocate part of their marketing budget for a digital GOTV effort. This can be used to target specific demographics, and the spend can be customized to the specific needs of the campaign.

By building online support early, you have built-in momentum for when you announce your candidacy. Combining offline and online efforts is an effective strategy. Planning how you will do that is essential.

Just remember, your election is closer than you think!

Prepare to put your campaign online

Online Candidate’s affordable, flexible website packages will get you online quickly and easily. Get your web design, hosting and ability to control your site is all in one package.

• Starting to fundraise? Get set up with our $29/month option and take donations online. As you campaign grows, you can upgrade to a custom design or have us set up your site content.
• Don’t have a campaign logo or header design? No logo, no problem. We’ll create one for your campaign. Our Enhanced Website Package includes a custom design, initial content setup and 12 months hosting.
• Add-on Options: To help your online campaign start quickly and easily, we offer a number of options to our campaign website packages. They include Site Launch, Social Media Setup and MailChimp design and integration and Candidate Intro Video. These options can be ordered at any time.
• What package is best for your campaign? Try our Package Option Tool to find out.

Political marketing services

Besides political websites, we offer digital campaign products and marketing services. This campaign seasons, look to Online Candidate for:

• Political IP Targeting: By matching a physical address to a specific IP with extreme precision, IP Targeting becomes a secret weapon for political campaigns. We make it easy to target the voters you want to directly reach. Learn more.
• Political Promo Video Design: Get a high-resolution campaign introduction video to kick off your YouTube channel, post to Facebook, and embed in your website. It’s a quick and affordable way to start another online promotional channel. Learn more.
• One-On-One Consulting: Looking for guidance on getting started on the web? Need help marketing your political campaign website? Our one-on-one web consulting services could help.

Helping candidates win elections since 2004

• Online Candidate provides an affordable political website builder to raise money and build support.
• Free resources on our client-only site OnlineCandidateResources.com.
• Addon services to help launch your website, create your social media accounts, build your email system.

Contact us today to get started on your next online campaign.