Political marketing is exactly what it sounds like – marketing for political campaigns. Every politician will have a team or marketers, helping them to get their message across and drum up support for their campaign. As a business owner or marketer, you can learn a lot from these political campaigns. Here are the 7 most important lessons from political marketing.
Market to Your Target Audience
Political marketers certainly do this. The first step for any political campaign is to analyze the audience and determine who your supporters are. Of course, there are some general rules – democrats tend to be liberal, republicans more conservative, etc. However, things get a little trickier when you’re trying to pinpoint specific demographics or psychographic traits that will determine whether you have a chance with this audience.
Understand Your Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are essentially descriptions of your ideal customers. Just as political marketers must understand their target audiences, you must do the same for your own customers. What are their demographics? Their psychographic profiles? It’s not enough to say that you have an audience of young adults who are tech-savvy – describe exactly what this means! If you have a wide range of target audiences, create different buyer personas for each group.
Keep It Simple and Understandable
Political marketers do this as well. Using jargon and overly technical terms will alienate somepeople and scare away others. You want to engage EVERYONE that your audience is made up of – not just the ones that understand what you’re talking about! Therefore, every term must be explained simply and concisely without being condescending.
Invest in Social Media and Digital Marketing
You don’t need to be on every social media platform – you only need to be on the ones that fit your business and target audience. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram… there are dozens of platforms out there! Don’t go overboard and try to use ALL of them at once (that’s a rookie mistake). Instead, find the perfect channel to reach your customers. From political campaign text messages to email campaigns, politicians try lots of different ways to reach the public.
Build a Narrative
If you can’t develop a compelling narrative around your product, it might be time to go back to the drawing board. Be careful, though – too many bells and whistles will confuse people. All potential supporters need to understand what you’re trying to do, why they should care, and what difference it will make for them to support you.
Have a Contingency Plan
No matter how carefully you craft your campaign, plan for the worst. Something will go wrong, and you’ll need to react accordingly. You can never know EVERYTHING that’s going to happen in an election, so it’s up to you to be prepared with backup plans in case something goes awry. Being able to think on your feet is critical when running a campaign.
Engage with Your Audience
This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many businesses don’t do it. Remember the lessons from political marketing and make time to engage with your customers. This can be as simple as social media posts or as involved as phone calls and live interactions. No matter what you choose, make sure that people feel heard and appreciated by your brand.
