The 2020 political landscape has literally changed with COVID-19, and campaigns need to rapidly adapt to the changing environment created by stay-at-home orders and new social distancing norms.
How do you ensure your campaign continues to move forward?
Here are the keys to virtual campaigning.
Petition Gathering
While some states are changing the date for petition submissions, or reducing the number of signatures required, petitions are still a part of campaign life. How does a campaign gather the signatures they need?
- Create a walk list enhanced with cell phone numbers and landlines
- Gather needed supplies, including:
- Petitions
- Leave-behind pens (all the better if they have your campaign logo on them)
- Hand sanitizer
- Send peer-to-peer text messages
- A couple of days before you are set to walk a neighborhood, send texts or calls to those individuals on your walk list announcing that you will be in their area and inviting them to join you from their door or the sidewalk while maintaining a safe social distance
- Modify door-to-door contact
- On the day of your event, you and your team will walk the selected neighborhood and meet voters at the curb to discuss your campaign, the day’s top issues, and where you stand on them before asking for their signature – traditional door-to- door with precautions for the safety and comfort of both voters and your campaign
- Follow up with digital
- After your event, send digital ads to voters in the neighborhood, thanking them for their time and encouraging them to sign up and stay in touch and up to date.
Voter Contact
Similar to petition gathering, voter contact during the COVID-19 pandemic requires a pivot from normal door-to-door efforts.
- Create a walk list enhanced with cell phone numbers and landlines
- Create a compelling script
- Explain why you are contacting voters, moving quickly from introduction to action, and encouraging voters to join your campaign online
- Send peer-to-peer text messages
- Sendtexts and/or phone calls to those on your enhanced walk list announcing you will be calling them soon. Invite them to learn more about you and where you stand on the issues online beforehand so they can ask questions on the call.
- Follow up with digital
- After your call, send digital ads to voters in the neighborhood, thanking them for their time and encouraging them to sign up and stay in touch and up to date.
Preparing for a Primary
Many states have already delayed primary elections, loosened restrictions on voting by mail, or moved elections entirely to vote by mail.
While the political adage of “time and money are a campaign’s biggest constraints” nearly always holds true, campaigns across the country are now facing the reality of more time than planned and changes to absentee voting laws combined with limited financial resources and a donor base hesitant to give.
As your campaign looks to navigate this situation, maximizing campaign funds is going to be even more critical to ensure that every dollar spent is directly tied to netting votes.
In order to effectively navigate this situation, we suggest taking the following, pro-active steps:
- Gauge the state of your race
- The campaign with the clearest understanding of the electorate will be the campaign that can conduct the most effective persuasion and GOTV efforts as the next few weeks unfold. Data will be the best indicator and driver for an effective strategy.
- Use timing to your advantage
- Each day, voters are at risk for losing enthusiasm for the upcoming election. This extended window has given candidates an opportunity to take advantage of the situation and redefine the race.
- Identify your target primary audience
- If your campaign has conducted polling on your race, the results of these polls will be the primary guidepost to determine the types of primary voters your campaign benefits most by turning out. If your campaign isn’t able to conduct a poll, you are still able to identify the subsets of the larger likely GOP primary electorate that your campaign will most benefit from having vote early.
- Encourage voting by mail
- Encouraging your campaign’s supporters to vote by mail is a great way to bank votes for your client given fears and uncertainties surrounding in-person voting. It will be critical to run an effective absentee vote campaign.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we are communicating and campaigning. Even in this unprecedented time, there are tools and resources available to keep your campaign moving forward.
Smart campaigns will adapt to virtual campaigning and keep marching toward Election Day 2020.
Contact our team of state and national strategists today to learn more.