How Personal Introduction Letters Help Political Candidates Win Elections
As a candidate for office, you need to introduce yourself to the highly likely voters in your area or district as quickly as you can.
One of the best ways to do this is with personal introduction letters.
Don’t listen to the nattering naboobs who will tell you “nobody reads mail.” They know not of which they speak.
Direct mail is the most effective way to communicate with the voters, especially in a local or a legislative contest.
Your campaign can send your mail specifically to the voters you want (and usually need) to communicate with.
And when most campaigns are only sending out tons of glossy mailers, personal letters sent directly to a voter stand out.
That’s why such personal letters are a great way to introduce yourself and start your voter persuasion efforts.
Who should you send the introduction letter to?
Your introductory letter should only be sent to people who are definitely going to vote in your election.
That’s why this letter is targeted solely at the highly likely voters.
This group of voters often determine elections. You want to communicate with them early and often.
A personal introduction letter is a great way to put yourself before them early.
These highly likely voters would definitely be those who voted in all four of the last four elections.
You might also define it as all three of the last three elections.
If that mailing universe seems small, don’t worry about it. These voters are that important.
Not only do they always vote, but they also are the ones most likely to complete the entire ballot and not skip any races.
In a close race, you need them to be casting their ballots for you.
When should you send the introduction letter?
Being that this is likely to be your first piece of mail, this letter will come very early in the campaign.
I recommend sending it about 8 weeks before Election Day. However, if you are in a hotly contested race, you should consider sending it even earlier than that
Highly likely voters tend to make up their minds early and not change them.
The more of these voters you can lock up as quickly as possible, the greater your chances of winning are.
Who should the introduction letter come from?
The introduction letter will come from your campaign and the disclosure/disclaimer information needs to indicate that.
Yet, the letter itself may or may not come from you.
You indeed can be be the sender and the signer of the introductory letter. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Another way to do it is to have the introduction letter from from a prominent third party endorsement.
This could be a respected community leader or group. It might be the incumbent who has decided not to run again but has endorsed you.
Third party credibility works very when it comes to being introduced to the voters.
If you there isn’t any person or group that has big enough name recognition or cache to make the introduction, don’t shy away from sending an introductory letter directly from yourself.
What should be written in the introduction letter?
Remember your introductory letter is a personal letter, so start things off personally.
Do not have the salutation read Dear Sir or Dear Madam.
Don’t think about any combination of Dear Voter/Friend/Neighbor/Patriot.
Don’t even have it refer to the voter as Mr., Mrs. or Ms. with their last name to follow.
Your salutation for each letter should be to the voter’s first name. Or first names if there are multiple highly likely voters at the same address.
A letter starting off with Dear Brian is going to get my attention a lot faster than one that reads Dear Mr. Floyd.
Remember, the purpose of an introductory letter is to introduce yourself to the voters. It is not to go hard at them with your campaign pitch.
The letter needs to tell the voters who you are and why you’re running.
This shouldn’t come off as bragging in any way.
Like Tim McGraw’s been singing,”always be humble and kind.”
Keep this short and too the point. This shouldn’t be more than a paragraph or two.
The letter should then state what your main goals are for if elected to this office.
This is the perfect spot to drop in a bulleted Three Point Plan.
And whatever you include, please be sure that it aligns perfectly with your campaign’s message.
After the signature, include a Post Script(P.S.).
In the P.S. state that you (or the signer for your letter) would honored to have the voter’s support for your candidacy.
You also want to include a telephone number and an email address, inviting the voters to contact you with any questions they might have.
Most will not call you or email you.
However, they will like that you easily provided your contact information.
It subliminally sends the message that you are open and transparent.
What else should be sent with the introduction letter?
The best thing that can happen by sending out these personal introductory letters is gaining support.
You want the voters to read it, feel a connection with you, and believe that you share their priorities.
You want to encourage them to come forward and support you.
That’s why you include that subtle request for support in the Post Script.
And you want to make it easy for them to support your candidacy.
The easiest way to do this is to provide an endorsement card as an enclosure.
Voters can then fill it out showing their support for you.
This will help you grow your endorsement list and will identify potential locations for yard signs.
Should you put a stamp on the enclosed endorsement card?
Never!
Paying for postage and putting them on those endorsement cards is a waste of money.
I wish I could tell you that a large amount of voters will send an endorsement card back to you.
They won’t.
If you get endorsement cards back from 10% of the voters you mail this to, you’re doing great.
You’ll likely get anywhere from a 1 to 5% return of endorsement cards.
Don’t let that discourage you.
You now have a larger list of supporters than you had before.
Plus these supporters are highly likely voters.
Highly likely voters make a larger impact on elections than those who vote less frequently.
This isn’t merely because they always vote.
It’s because they have strong opinions and will tell their family members and their neighbors who they are backing.
Every one of these voters out there advocating for you on their own volition is a big part of building your support base.
And the candidate with the biggest support base that turns out to vote is always the winner on Election Night.