How to Prioritize Voter Contact
If you are running a campaign on a limited budget, you will need to prioritize your campaign dollars. For many forms of voter contact, there is a direct correlation between the amount of money something costs and the time something takes compared its overall effectiveness.
However, not all forms of voter contact are created equal. When your goal is efficient and effective outreach, prioritization should start with the largest reach and the lowest cost, whether that cost is time or money. For most campaigns, I would recommend the following types of voter outreach in the following general order.
- Political Texting & Robocalls
- Door Knocking, Phones, & Volunteer Outreach
- Digital Ads
- Direct Mail
- Radio
- TV Ads
Although many factors vary the effectiveness of an advertisement, this list prioritizes, based on general trends, lower cost and higher reach.
To plan your voter outreach, start by calculating the total cost to contact each voter based on ad type. For example, if there are 10,000 voters, you can contact each supporter with a text message for an average cost of 5-10 cents and a total cost of $500 - $1,000. Door knocking and phone banking will vary based on the grassroots program, but it can be fairly low-cost with good volunteers. Digital ads have a much lower cost per view with lower per-view effectiveness while direct mail has a higher cost at 65 cents to a dollar, although each touchpoint is more effective.
You can repeat this same process for all voter contact to prioritize your campaign dollars. Be forewarned, for most types of outreach, there is a point of saturation where further contact does very little or is completely ineffective. For instance, after a certain number of text messages and mailers, that outreach is going to be counted as spam by many voters instead of creative voter outreach.
Be creative and be persistent as you contact voters, although remain respectful. Highlight your core message and use wisdom as you choose all the ways you will be contacting voters.
Every message counts, so remember what you are fighting for!
Have any more questions on setting up your political campaign? If interested in learning more and getting involved by running for office, contact us at:roosevelt.tech
July 15, 2023
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Running for office for the first time can feel overwhelming. While many new candidates aren’t sure where to begin setting up a political operation, Roosevelt Tech can ease the process. First, you'll need a money goal and a vote goal.
If you are running a campaign on a limited budget, you will need to prioritize your campaign dollars. For many forms of voter contact, there is a direct correlation between the amount of money something costs and the time something takes with its overall effectiveness.
Everyone is trying to capture your attention, “Do this”, “Do that”, “Come over here”. But I would ask you to pause for just a moment and ask yourself what a better America looks like.
