Political Campaign Tips and Strategies by Online Candidate

6 Candidate Fails You Can Totally Avoid

There are many, many mistakes that candidates make during the course of a political campaign. It often has to do with something a candidate says or does in public.

Since we deal with the online aspects of campaigning, we’ll stick to mistakes that candidates make online.

In no particular order, these are the top mistakes that we see all too often.

Failure to keep it short

People just don’t have time to read through mountains of information. Just because you have unlimited space on the web does not mean that you should explain each position you take with dozens of pages and thousands of words. It’s highly unlikely that you are going to change a voter’s mind with a long, well-reasoned arguments. White papers are fine for downloads, but don’t make that material your primary content.

In your writing, eliminate most adjectives and get rid of as many adverbs as you can. Write in a plain style with short sentences. Split up your content into logical sections with sub-headings. Remember that writing for the web is different than writing for print.

Failure to keep the third person

We see this a lot. Candidates use their site’s home page as an open letter to voters. While this is a good concept, it can kill your website rankings. Using the the words ‘I’, ‘me and ‘my’ mean nothing to the search engines. If you want to rank for your name, then your name needs to be included in your site content.

Sometimes we’ll have a client who really wants to use first person copy on their home page. To compensate for this, we often use ‘pull boxes’ that include the candidate’s name. Combined with a good page title, page description and image tags, we can often work around the first person copy limitations.

Failure to use online fundraising effectively

Okay, we are now two decades into the twenty-first century. Even the smallest campaigns have the ability pull donations from online sources. If you have a campaign bank account and a website, there are many services that allow you to take online donations with minimal cost.

Fifteen years ago, the majority of our clients did not accept online donations. Most figured it was too much work for too little return. Back then, PayPal was a popular choice through which to take donations. While you can still use PayPal (and Online Candidate provides native integration for it), newer services designed for political fundraising provide tools to take donations from more sources like social media. Some can even let you collect recurring donations through Election Day.

Our advice to local campaigns is to start early, use your website to raise seed money, and use those initial funds to build momentum as the race heats up.

Failure to track traffic

The flip side to getting website traffic and online donations is tracking where it all comes from. One of the simplest and most popular web tracking solutions is Google Analytics. It’s a free service and just requires that a bit of tracking code be added to the pages of your website.

There is plenty of information provided with just the standard setup. You can see how many visitors your site gets, what pages they visit, how long they stay on your site and so on. With a little configuration, you can set up tracking for emails, pay-per-click advertising and even offline advertising if you happen to use targeted landing pages. Tracking your website traffic will help you determine what advertising channels are working best.

Online Candidate offers server log stats, but those numbers can be misleading. They tend to overstate visits by counting bots and non-human traffic. Google Analytics can be easily integrated into our websites. We also offer Site Launch service as a website addon option. This includes Google Analytics setup and a review of the site for best optimization practices to help it rank better for related searches.

Failure to forget anything can go viral online

Anything you post online – be it a post, video or document – has the ability to spread far beyond its intended audience.

Many candidates tend to forget that offline material can end up online as well. There have been many cases where a candidate ‘true’ thoughts were revealed in a private setting. All it takes is a single recording from a cell phone to make things public. One famous example of this is Mitt Romney’s “takers vs makers” comment at a private fundraiser. The secret recording made headlines, and Romney never fully recovered from his remarks.

Failure to launch

One local candidate that we knew didn’t make an official announcement that he was running for office until a week before Election Day. Why the wait? He didn’t want to ‘tip his hat’ too early.

Unfortunately, by keeping things under wraps for so long, hardly anyone knew about the candidate or his campaign in time to make a difference. Not only did he announce late, but there had been no preparation to do anything after the announcement. Once the announcement appeared in the local paper… there was nothing. No mailings, no volunteer efforts .

Needless to say, the candidate lost the election.

Starting early gives you time to build support and run a successful political campaign. It doesn’t mean that you have to announce early. Most successful campaigns spend a lot of time in preparation, long before they announce their campaign to the public.

Start early with social media to build awareness and anticipation. Use your website to gather email addresses, volunteers and early donations. By the time you are ready to announce and make your campaign official, you’ll be able to hit the ground running and build on the momentum you’ve already established.

As always, check your local board for office qualifications and any rules or laws pertaining to the timing of your preparation (such as fundraising) and when you can legally announce your campaign.

Check out or selection of campaign ebooks and guides designed to help you get the most out of your online campaigning.

Opening a Bank Account For Your Political Campaign

Raising money and managing expenses is an critical part of the election process. Opening a campaign bank account is a first step in establishing a viable political campaign.

A bank checking account serves several purposes. It allows you to accept political donations and contributions from supporters, and to make campaign purchases. To do all this, you will want to know how to open a bank account for a political campaign.

Open your political campaign checking account as early as possible. Campaign finance laws in many states require that a campaign bank account be established in order to legally deposit political donations. The earlier you have an account, the sooner you can start raising seed money.
Prior to opening a campaign bank account, you may need to establish a political campaign committee with your local county Board of Elections. The name you use for your campaign committee is the name you will use to open the bank account. The bank will require committee paperwork along with personal identification.
Open an interest-free checking account rather than an interest-bearing savings account. Any interest earned on a campaign bank account must be reported in your finance reports. Considering how little banks pay in interest, the small amount of money to be gained is hardly worth the additional effort required by your committee treasurer to report.
A candidate’s personal funds can be used for campaign purchases before a campaign bank account is established. Those purchases are generally treated as an in-kind donation or as a personal loan. Once the campaign is underway, the treasurer should handle the political funds and keep track of income and expenditures. For larger campaigns, it may be a good idea to hire an accountant.
You should keep detailed records of every account transaction for financial filing requirements. Keep statements, records and receipts in a safe place. They should be held indefinitely in case questions later arise as to your campaign finances. Whatever you do, do not co-mingle funds between accounts.

opening a political campaign bank account

So many rules… Local, state and federal…

These guidelines also apply for a political party bank account and political action committee bank accounts. If you accept donations or hold fundraisers, you will need a place to deposit your money. Most traditional banks, savings and loan association or credit unions can handle accounts for political campaigns and fundraising needs. You’ll want to check with them for eligibility first, of course.

Large banks like Chase and Bank of America can certainly handle government banking needs.
If you prefer a more personal touch, check with your local regional bank.
Credit unions may also be able to handle election accounts, if that type of account is permitted by charter and policies.

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EIN numbers for political campaigns

Federal campaigns and committees are required obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). This nine-digit number is issued by the IRS for identification purposes. (IRS Form SS-4) It is similar to EIN numbers assigned to businesses and corporations. This number is required to open a campaign bank account.

A political organization must have an EIN, even if it does not have any actual employees.
Don’t apply for an EIN until your organization is legally formed.
Never open a political bank account in the name of an individual or with an individual’s Social Security Number. Use the organization’s EIN.

If you are starting a political action committee (PAC) and opening a checking account, the PAC must be first approved by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Under these requirements, you will need an address for the PAC and a designated treasurer to handle the funds. There are additional compliance guidelines for any fund transfers that you make.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a bank account needed for a political campaign?

A bank account is necessary for a political campaign, but it is not the only way to fund a campaign. A candidate can use personal funds, contributions from family and friends, or even donations from outside organizations.

Does a political candidate need to establish separate bank accounts for both the primary and general election?

This can depend on whether your contribution limits apply per election. For example, if the contribution limits are different then fundraising for the primary election and fundraising for the general election are separate. If this is the case, a candidate may need to establish separate bank accounts for each election.

Campaign banking information and requirements do vary. As always, be sure to follow your local election laws to the letter. Campaign accounts for state and local office are governed by state law.

With Online Candidate’s affordable Political Website Design Packages, you can start raising contributions today. Backed by easy-to-use tools and exclusive resources, we help hundreds of campaigns WIN every election cycle.

Local Political Campaigning During a Crisis [Infograph]

Here’s an infographic we created for political campaigns who have been put on hold during this crisis. Though gatherings and face-to-face meetings might not be possible, voters are spending more time online. Below are some tips for reaching them and gearing your messaging.

Feel free to repost and share!

Feel free to copy and share this image.

In case you were wondering, this infographic was made with Canva. See more political infographs on our Pinterest page.

These are uncharted times for down-ballot campaigns. The usual rules simply don’t apply. It’s more important than ever to deepen relationships and stay engaged. These new communication channels do have a learning curve.

Start early and build momentum to Election Day.

Engage Supporters and Drive Traffic with Political Campaign Text Messaging

Whether it’s accepting donations, recruiting volunteers, or simply listing your policy positions, supporters and voters will turn to your website as the central hub of your campaign. This is why it’s one of your first priorities when running for office.

Once you have your website all set up, it’s time to face your next challenge.

Getting people to it.

Optimizing your site for search engines and linking back to your website on social media posts and ads is great to bring in generic traffic.

But in order to get targeted traffic: those people who are most likely to take an action when they land on your site (make a donation, sign up to volunteer or RSVP for an event), you need to reach out to them through channels that are engaging and personal.

Here’s how you can use targeted text messaging to get political supporters to your site and take action:

Send them to your donation page

Fundraising text messages have click-through rates of a massive 13%. Compare that to email with just a 0.44% click rate.

It means that texting is one of the most effective ways to get supporters to donate to your campaign.

Initiate a peer-to-peer text conversation with supporters, linking them to your website’s donation page:

Gauge their interest

Unlike mass texts, peer-to-peer texting is meant to be more conversational. Don’t overload your first message with everything at once. Ask them if they are interested in supporting your campaign by making a donation.

Link out to your donation page

If you get a positive response, send them a link to your website’s donation page.

Thank them for their contribution

Donors appreciate being kept up to speed on your fundraising efforts. Show them the difference they made to your campaign by sending them political text messages that show impact.

You can even shoot out a mass text message to supporters at key moments of the campaign. For example, after a town hall or a debate, and ask for a donation. If you’re making calls to get people to donate, you can send a follow up text message with the link to your donation page.

Get RSVPs and registrations for events

If you want to turn supporters into event attendees, you need to take them on a journey—from being mildly interested in your campaign and your event, to clicking on the link to your event registration form and entering their credit card details.

Having personalized conversations with supporters through a channel like political peer-to-peer texting is a great way to do it:

Send an initial text message to gauge interest

Lay out the bare details of your event in the initial message:

What is the event for?
When is it taking place?
Where is it taking place?

Conclude by asking your supporter if they are interested in coming to the event.

If yes, send a link

Send them a link to your website’s event registration page. Make sure the page is mobile optimized.

Acknowledge their registration

Once your contact has registered for your event, send a quick acknowledgement text thanking them for making the decision to attend.

Recruit volunteers

One of the best times to recruit volunteers for your campaigns is during your voter ID efforts.

If you find that someone is a strong supporter, ask them to volunteer and send them a link to your volunteer page on the spot.

Ask if they are likely to support your candidate

Most campaigns identify support levels on a scale, e.g. 1-5, where 1 highly likely to vote for your candidate and 5 is highly unlikely.

If they are a strong supporter, ask them if they are willing to help out with the campaign

Send a link to your volunteer registration page

If you get a positive response, you can send a targeted followup message.

In addition to getting people to your campaign website, use text messaging to:

Send campaign updates to supporters

A quick mass text is an easy way to reach all your supporters quickly and efficiently, especially if you are sending out time-sensitive info.

Run opinion polls

Send out a mass texting campaign to subscribers asking them for their opinion on an issue or an event. You can store the results on your texting software or CRM to analyze later.

Get voters to the polling booth with GOTV texts

With peer-to-peer texts, volunteers can reach potential voters in personal conversations, and encourage them to vote. Because of its conversational nature, peer-to-peer texting gives your agents the ability to answer queries and send follow-up get out the vote text messages.

Text messages are often overlooked in the realm of marketing, but they shouldn’t be. Text messages can be a powerful tool when it comes to targeting voters and supporters, especially when coupled with other marketing efforts. They’re personal, timely, memorable, and convenient.

Mukundan Sivaraj is a political and nonprofit communications expert at CallHub, an outreach platform that connects organizations with their supporters through voice and text messages.

Free Download [PDF]: Political Campaign Website Meets Text Messaging

New Service: Campaign Promo Video Creation

Need to kick off your YouTube channel and embed a video into your campaign website? We can create an intro video branded with your campaign and messaging.

Check out the example below to see what it’s like.

Sample Campaign Intro Video. Click to play.

How it works:

Order the Video Promo as a product addon to your website package. You can do this when you order your website package or at a later time.
You’ll be sent a questionnaire for your quotes and bio bullets.
We will need a few images, if we have not designed your website.

From there, we create your video. It will be about one minute in length and will follow the structure of our sample video. We send you a high-resolution version that you can use to start your YouTube channel, post to Facebook and embed in your campaign website.

It’s quick and affordable way for political video production. And it’s a great way to start another online promotional channel!

Price: $149

Already an Online Candidate client? Order through the Client Portal.

Not a website client? Contact us for ordering information.

Check out our other political campaign marketing services and our campaign website packages.

What You Should Know About Online Political Ads

Ready to jump in and promote your campaign online? Think you can just spin up some targeted text and posts to target a micro-audience with your message?

Hold on, there. This ain’t the 2012 elections! These days, political social media advertising isn’t nearly as easy as business marketing, where all you need is a credit card and something to promote.

Social media platforms have faced increased scrutiny since 2016. As a result, they have taken action to prevent the spread of misinformation through targeted political advertising. This has led to new rules and restrictions across all the major ad platforms.

But this hasn’t slowed up spending. It’s estimated that 6 billion dollars was spent on political media in the 2019-2020 cycle. This represents a projected 57% growth in political spending from 2018.

Many of our clients have a social media presence. Some choose to advertise, but they’ve been hitting some roadblocks in getting their campaigns verified and their ads approved. It’s been frustrating for some. Even a small campaign that wants to promote themselves with a few ads are finding themselves caught in digital red tape.

To help set the record straight, here are the current ad restrictions for the major social media platforms.

Please note that this information is subject to change at any time.

Google Ads

Google has limited election ads audience targeting to the following categories: age, gender and general location (postal code level) in the United States. Third party audience information is also banned. This applies to both Google search and display ads. This also covers ads on YouTube, which is owned by Google.

In addition, ads containing false or misleading information that could act to undermine participation or trust in an electoral process. This would include, for example, promoting a false election date.

Any individual or organization that purchases an election ad on Google or YouTube must provide information to Google confirming that they are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Google also requires all political ads to display a ‘paid for’ disclosure.

X/Twitter

As of this writing, X/Twitter is accepting political advertising. The site prohibits the promotion of false or misleading content, including false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election. They also provide a global advertising transparency center, similar to Facebook.

Facebook and Instagram

So far, Facebook has not implemented any advertising bans. However, Facebook now requires more disclosure on political ads and who purchases them. Users who want to buy political ads or promote their page must verify their mailing address. All political ads have a “paid for by” disclaimer and are be placed in a political ad archive.

Facebook requires verification from you or a member of your campaign if you want to advertise through the platform. We’ve found this article to be helpful for those who want to begin the verification process.

Paid post loophole?

“Branded content” on Facebook consists of sponsored items posted by ordinary users who are typically paid by companies or organizations. Influential users are directly paid to post about a brand or product. Because Facebook makes no money from paid posts, it does not consider them advertising. (Unless the posts themselves are promoted via Facebook advertising.)

As of now, Facebook will allow campaigns in the U.S. to use this type of paid promotion, provided they’ve been authorized to run political ads and disclose who paid for the sponsored posts. How this change in the rules will be used or exploited by campaigns remains to be seen.

Spotify

While Spotify was never much of a player in political advertising, the company has suspended all political advertising on its platform. The company has stated that it does not have the ability to properly screen the content.

Pinterest, Twitch, and TikTok also prohibit political advertising.

Even if you are interested in other types of digital marketing, like IP Targeting, you will need to provide disclaimer and purchasing information.

While down-ballot and local campaigns may find their online ad options limited, it’s no reason to give up on social media altogether.

For example, on Twitter there are no restrictions on what individual user accounts can post or share to followers. Growing your social media presence will help keep your followers informed and can lead to ‘earned media’, where your content is shared to others beyond your own followers.

If you are planning on running online ads, you should certify your campaign on these platforms as soon as you can.

Start early, as it may take days or even weeks for your organization to be certified. If you wait too long, you may not be able to run ads when you need them.

AI and Political Advertising

Recent artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics advances marks a massive shift in how campaigns will connect with voters. AI provides campaigns with the ability to analyze voter data for insights into voter preferences and behaviors.

But the real power of AI lies in its predictive capabilities. Campaigns can anticipate and measure voter responses to targeted messaging. Highly tailored content and ad creative can create powerful influence.

Whether this will be used for good or negative purposes remain to be seen. However, as 2024 roll around, we’ve already seen signs that AI will be used to create massive amount of content with the goal of misinforming the electorate.

A campaign website is the hub of your online campaign. Online Candidate makes it easy to start your website and get your social media accounts set up. Find out now which package is best for you.

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