Rubber, get ready to meet the road.
The final laps of the 2024 election cycle are about to begin in earnest, right after Labor Day. And with that in mind, a quick word about social media…
Some “professional” consultants don’t consider posting campaign information on social media to be “campaigning.” They couldn’t be more wrong. Voters are there, so you need to be, too.
I came across this tweet over the weekend from a state legislative candidate in Nevada, and she did it almost perfectly.
Remember: The election isn’t about YOU. It’s about THEM.
People following Annette already know she’s a candidate. That’s probably why they’re following her in the first place. So no need to insert self-promoting campaign pablum in here.
Instead, Annette made the VOTERS the hero of her tweet: “Thank you for giving back to our community!”
People vote for people they like, even if they don’t always agree with you on every issue. And people like people who talk about them instead of themselves. Ditto saying nice things about their business, their organization, or their family.
Now, when I say this tweet was “almost” perfect, here’s what I suggest would have made it better…
1.) I checked, and this business didn’t have a Twitter/X account. But it does have a website. I would have dropped their website address into the tweet.
2.) I would have gotten the names (or, better, their own Twitter address if they had one) and included it in the tweet.
As Dale Carnegie said: “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language”
So while you’re out on the campaign trail, take LOTS of photos like what Annette did.
Every house, every business, every meeting, every event. And post them. No limit. The more, the merrier. It will demonstrate momentum, activity, and energy in your campaign.
And by including the names of the “heroes” in your posts, it’s more likely they’ll share it with THEIR list of followers.
This is a quick, easy, and cost-free way to expand your communications network and get your message out to more people who might otherwise be hard to reach.
And if you want to create “buzz” for your campaign, make your campaign communications about the VOTER, not you.
And yes, this IS campaigning. So get on it.