Despite the multitude of ways you reach voters, it is now harder than ever for a candidate to make a connection with a voter.
That’s why it’s vitally important for a political candidate who is serious about winning to utilize both repetition and consistency in their campaign materials.
Let’s start with the problem of connecting with the voters in today’s America.
We’re all being deluged daily with advertisements on Facebook, the websites we visit, on television, radio, in the mailbox, everywhere.
The marketing messages coming at us are absolutely relentless
And that’s just from businesses pushing their brand and its products.
Now add your campaign messaging materials into the mix as Election Day nears.
Do you see the problem now?
People have to sort through thousands of marketing messages each day.
The vast majority they ignore. They simply do not have the time to deal with them all.
Think about all of the email you ignore or delete every day.
There’s a very good chance your campaign message isn’t going to punch through to the folks.
It’s an old cliche in the advertising world that you have to touch a person seven times to make an impact.
That’s an old formula that’s becoming out dated as each year passes.
It’s closer to thirty touches today before an ad or message can break through with someone.
On top of that, every three ads put before a person, they see only one of them — if that.
That’s why you must be obsessive with the repetition and the consistency of your messaging.
You can’t trust that voters heard or saw your message the first time — or even the second.
You need to connect with them a third and a fourth and more to make sure they hear from you.
And you can’t drastically change up your message each time you design a new mailer or put a new video on Facebook.
The central message of your campaign needs to be the same on each one of your mailers, no matter how many you wind up sending.
Because that one particular mailer may be the only one that connects with a certain voter and has a chance to sway them your way.
But that’s not solely true for your mail.
You must repeat your winning message over and over and over again in all media your campaign uses.
What you say in your stump speech before the firefighters union, must line up with the text of your mailers.
What’s in your mailers must align with what you’ve put up on your website.
What’s on your website must be the same as what you say to the voters when you go door-to-door.
What you’re saying at the door needs to be the same as what your phone callers are saying to voters.
What voters are hearing on the phone has to match up with everything you share on Facebook.
What shows up in the Facebook news feed from you should be in line with what the local newspaper reported about your positions.
And all of it must be consistent.
You can’t have a different style, look, or wording with the various messaging tools you’re using.
Use the same pictures. Use the same logos. Use the same words and phrases.
People close to you will tell you that you’re saying the same things over and over again.
That criticism should be taken as a compliment.
It means you’re working against an extremely short attention span in the public.
Most importantly, by using repetition and consistency in your campaign, you’re also staying on message.
And candidates who have a winning campaign message and stay on it tend to get elected to public office.
Stay focused.
Work hard.
Use repetition.
Stay consistent.
Go win.