What Every Candidate Better Know about the Coming Zombie Apocalypse

[private]If you’re a candidate running for office this election cycle, what do you need to know about what is being referred to all over the Internet as the coming “Zombie Apocalypse” – which was fueled last month by the case of a man who was shot and killed in Miami by a police officer who found the guy chewing off a homeless man's face?
I have no idea whatsoever.
But let me ask you this: Did that headline grab your attention and force you to read on to see what the heck it was all about? The fact that you’ve gotten this far indicates to me that the answer is: Yes.
Whether it’s the subject line of your emails, or the title of a campaign blog post, or the lead-in for a fundraising letter, you better have a “killer” headline that grabs your intended audience and immediately yanks them into the body of your message…or you’ll lose them.
Perhaps permanently.
Now let me tell you the two main reasons why the above “zombie” headline works so well…
1. This e-newsletter is primarily for and about candidates. As such, the headline makes sure that the intended audience KNOWS this email is something the intended audience should be interested in because I specifically say, in the headline, that this email is for…“every candidate.”
I’m telling you, folks; this stuff is not rocket surgery. You just need to think about it and do it.
2. If the headline referenced zombies any other time, it still would draw a little attention because, well, it’s about zombies. I mean, who isn’t interested in zombies, right?
But the real key here is that the zombie reference is of something that is in the news and people are talking about RIGHT NOW. So it’s not just attention-grabbing; it’s TIMELY.
Now if I was a conservative candidate running for office, say, in Topeka, Kansas – and wanted to write a blog post or fundraising letter tied to this decidedly attention-grabbing incident – I might go with something like: “What Every Voter in Topeka Needs to Know about Zombie Liberals.”
If I was a Republican and wanted to go partisan, I might use “Zombie Democrats” instead.
I would then go on to explain how supporters of my liberal opponent want to chew off through taxation every last cent of every voter in Topeka until there’s nothing left but empty bones – and that the only defense is to vote for me or send me money.
On the other hand, you could just stick with the same ol’ cookie-cutter pabulum like this: “Joe Candidate Says His Opponent is a Tax-and-Spend Liberal.”
Yeah, that’ll really get the attention of the press corps. They’ve never heard that one before, have they?
Look, if you want to rise above the clutter and stand out from the crowd…you’re going to have to do things differently that will cause you to…well, rise above the clutter and stand out from the crowd. Duh.
Now, will some of the unimaginative, straight-laced traditionalists and “professional” political consultants criticize you for throwing a healthy dose of spice and sizzle into your campaign messaging? You bet.
Should you care?
You better not. [/private]