Speak4’s Post

Summer is when campaigns start to heat up. Voters start paying attention around the Fourth of July, and it creates a momentum that pretty much continues until Election Day. This heightened voter interest means it’s time for you to ramp up voter contact efforts. To make the most of this opportunity, you’ll need a robust organizational structure. The Campaign Manager’s Summer Playbook

If you are planning to run for office, you should start campaigning as soon as you can. That’s all. End of post. No, not really. It’s a little more complicated than that. Much of your campaigning will happen close to Election Day, but there is much you can do to lay the groundwork for starting your political career much sooner. Planning, prioritizing, and building early support are crucial in order to take the first step towards starting a future in politics. This includes forming a robust campaign committee, developing a clear and resonant campaign message, and establishing a solid campaign infrastructure.

At Seven Peaks Strategies, we know that a 100% digital approach isn't always the best way to run a political campaign. Our experience tells us that digital is most effective when combined with mail and a ground game. Each campaign is unique, that’s why we take a very hands on approach with each client.

This isn't the solution to the problem. The problem isn't that David Trone is spending enormous amounts of money. It's that he is spending his money wisely and strategically, talking about issues that matter to people in a way that regular people find relatable. And her problem isn't the staff. It's that the campaign lacks a sharp, precise message that defines her personal values, her principal priorities and how people's lives will be better off if she, and not David Trone, is seated in the U.S. Senate. Layering new staff on top of the old staff, without solving this structural flaw, will not change the trajectory of this race. If anything, it will only make her campaign more cumbersome, more top-heavy and less agile. Just the observation of someone who is not affiliated with either campaign.

Your campaign wants to know what issues matter most to potential voters…but you don’t have the budget for formal polling. Without data, you can make incorrect assumptions about critical issues in your district and alienate potential voters. However there is a powerful and cost effective method to contact a broad audience of your potential voters–a texting listening campaign. Listening campaigns gather information from constituents, voters, and residents via text message. These campaigns include one or more texts asking recipients about their values, the issues that concern them, and questions they might have for candidates. Listening programs are an underutilized tactic in the progressive space but their impact is undeniable. We’ve seen success with our TextOut clients and are excited to share our tips and tools with you over the next few weeks.

Revolutionize your campaign strategy with the timeless impact of political postcards! In our latest blog, we uncover how leveraging this tool can create a standout moment in the digital noise, driving voter engagement and awareness. Why is this read essential for your campaign? It's packed with insights on personalizing your message and strategically reaching voters' hearts and minds. Whether you're gearing up for an election or advocating for a cause, discover why political postcards could be your campaign's secret weapon. Dive deeper here. #CampaignStrategy #PoliticalMarketing #MarketVue https://lnkd.in/eg9Sa7RF

I'm a little dogmatic when it comes to #organizing, but I try not to let it show. When I hear a political campaign manager or field director refer to their "organizing" team, I don't usually correct them. That would just be annoying. When someone on a #politicalcampaign talks about its organizing program, they're usually* talking about the field program. Yes, it's communicating one-on-one with voters and it often involves asking what issues are important to the voter. But, the campaign usually isn't building a relationship with those voters or canvassers. The focus is on winning votes - as it should be. In an organizing campaign, our goal is to build power. We build power by building relationships. As Ken Fujimoto says "The power is in the relationship." In an organizing campaign, we want to do more than win. Here are some hallmarks of an organizing campaign that make it different from an election campaign. ✊🏻Emphasis on building long-term relationships ✊🏻Identifies the issues that are widely and deeply felt in a community ✊🏻Consistent focus on finding and developing new leaders ✊🏻The needs of the campaign determine the deadlines more than an election or legislative calendar. ✊🏻Build toward collective action ✊🏻Calls to action are varied. ✊🏻Can build for many years The most strategic organizing campaigns bring people together to build power, using the opportunity of the issue to do it, no the other way around. I try not to insist on my dogmatic version of organizing. After all, I love political campaigns too! They just don't have the same purpose. 👁️Also, just imagine the eye rolls if I tried to correct everyone who used "organizing" in a way that doesn't meet my dogma. So I try to reign it in. ❓What about you? Is there something you have to hold yourself back from correcting every time someone says it? Are you also an organizing purist? Join the club! We even have a newsletter. It's a monthly update on campaigns (some organizing, some political), media recommendations and a special Pro-Tip every month. Link the Comments. #OrganizingToWin #BuildPower *Many campaigns are infusing their field programs with organizing elements like #RelationalOrganizing. Under this very cool model, campaign supporters systematically reach out to their friends and family to tell them about the candidate and ask for their vote. The purist in me thinks it's not really organizing because it's still transactional: the campaign wants that friend or family member's vote. BTW, no shade. That's what a political campaign is supposed to do - win votes.

When it comes to building a political team, size matters. The size of your race, the geographic size in particular, informs pretty much everything about the makeup of your team and the resources you’ll need. Running for statewide office is a completely different game than running locally. In a local race, the whole team is a couple kf individuals. You can doorknock your way through a large portion of the electorate and insist on making face-to-face contact with most of them. But if you go up in geographic size, like to a State House race, all of a sudden there’s much more ground to cover, more people to reach, and an array of ways to reach those people. You’re gonna need help spreading the word about you. Knocking on doors, meeting community-leaders, hanging up posters, making phone calls, building your website, filing your paperwork, keeping track of your finances, posting on social media, responding to constituents, editing and writing your press releases… And everything I just listed is typically taken on by a very small campaign team. This doesn’t even include other political agencies who work on the biggest races in the country. Political consultants at agencies conduct polling, provide voter contact data, do digital targeting, create ads, place those ads and more. On top of that there are those who manage these relationships across campaigns called general consultants. These teams are the reason you see what you see, and hear what you hear about your candidates. This is the business apparatus that supports American democracy. #politics #politicalcampaigns #politicaladvertising #election2024

Lori Wizdo, Great post. This is very similar to Steve Jobs’ brilliant positioning of Apple: Think Different. When he took over, Apple was almost an outcast in the computing industry—a failed brand. However, he saw an opportunity—every desktop looked like an ugly white box. In fact, a whole segment evolved in the channel—called white box resellers. :) There was no differentiation. And the box came with even more uglier keyboards and mice. You just competed on price. The first set of iMacs was utterly the opposite of a white box - unified and colorful - but still quite ugly compared to the iMacs today. However, since it targeted kids (not parents) and identity is a core part of teenage years, the colors stuck - and their affinity was to a sublime message - lollipop colors. It was not just about the color from a design perspective, it was an emotional connection to something every child grows up craving for - one more lollipop. This is what the GOP sells the best. Even though one more lollipop is terrible for you, but you should have one more of it anyway :) As you said, it’s about simplifying messaging and knowing who the ICP is. Dems remind me of a high school science nerd; GOP is the quarterback!

At any level, campaign fundamentals can mean the difference between building a winning or losing political campaign strategy. Read this week's blog for tips on how to build a strong campaign strategy with a foundation of some very basic building blocks and principles that will help carry you across the finish line: https://bit.ly/3Qz74Vn