No stamp required
After reading a study by Jacob Nielsen on the uses of email newsletters in the Kerry and Bush campaigns and how underestimated they are as a political tool, I began to question the role of email newsletters in a campaign. To be honest I did not really think much about their importance before, but after taking a few minutes to consider the situation my mind is made up. Email newsletters just make sense.
First off, I will re-state the importance of making an emotional connection with the voter. Email newsletters give the candidate the unique opportunity to speak directly to the voter, connect with the voter, and offer their views, policy points and even life stories.
In a saturated market where a political candidate can not possibly respond to every aspect of a campaign at all times, the newsletter provides an outlet to get the word out in non-traditional ways.
For these reasons and many others, it makes me wonder why campaigns are not putting money into email newsletters. A campaign will spend countless amounts of money sending direct mail to voters, but they do not invest enough resources into an online version of a similar product.
I believe that online newsletters should be targeted like direct mail. One of the best aspects of direct mail is the fact that very specific demographics of the country can be targeted and specific messages are crafted to suit that particular demographic. The same can be true for online newsletters.
The people who sign up for the newsletters most likely are interested in the race and support the candidate. It might be annoying for the voter, but why not ask these voters for demographic information when they register for the newsletter? I am not talking life story but certain key questions. This way the campaign can craft an email newsletter and target it to the demographics.
Email newsletters have one huge advantage over direct mail. A carbon copy can be forwarded to countless voters. If the emails are targeted, supporters can then forward it to people they know who have a stake in the issues. The people they forward it to, might already be supporters but some might be undecided voters. By targeting online newsletters a campaign has the potential to win undecided voters.
I believe email newsletters will one day become critical components to a winning campaign. Targeting is just the start of a new way of reaching voters.
And let's be honest, email is a whole lot less expensive than sending a piece of direct mail through the US Postal Service. No stamp is required.
First off, I will re-state the importance of making an emotional connection with the voter. Email newsletters give the candidate the unique opportunity to speak directly to the voter, connect with the voter, and offer their views, policy points and even life stories.
In a saturated market where a political candidate can not possibly respond to every aspect of a campaign at all times, the newsletter provides an outlet to get the word out in non-traditional ways.
For these reasons and many others, it makes me wonder why campaigns are not putting money into email newsletters. A campaign will spend countless amounts of money sending direct mail to voters, but they do not invest enough resources into an online version of a similar product.
I believe that online newsletters should be targeted like direct mail. One of the best aspects of direct mail is the fact that very specific demographics of the country can be targeted and specific messages are crafted to suit that particular demographic. The same can be true for online newsletters.
The people who sign up for the newsletters most likely are interested in the race and support the candidate. It might be annoying for the voter, but why not ask these voters for demographic information when they register for the newsletter? I am not talking life story but certain key questions. This way the campaign can craft an email newsletter and target it to the demographics.
Email newsletters have one huge advantage over direct mail. A carbon copy can be forwarded to countless voters. If the emails are targeted, supporters can then forward it to people they know who have a stake in the issues. The people they forward it to, might already be supporters but some might be undecided voters. By targeting online newsletters a campaign has the potential to win undecided voters.
I believe email newsletters will one day become critical components to a winning campaign. Targeting is just the start of a new way of reaching voters.
And let's be honest, email is a whole lot less expensive than sending a piece of direct mail through the US Postal Service. No stamp is required.
