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Launched in 2006, Epolitics is written and edited by Colin Delany, who has worked with nonprofits and political campaigns to help them use digital tools in effective and creative ways since the early days of the political internet. He is also a frequent speaker and trainer and the author of How to Use the Internet to Change the World – and Win Elections. Contact him at cpd@epolitics.com.
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You Are Not a Presidential Campaign
I’ve been lucky enough the last several years to get to conduct a training for doctors who either are running for office or may in the future. Every spring, a national organization brings a couple of dozen of them for a weekend in DC to learn about fundraising, grassroots organizing, digital campaigning and more.
My digital-politics training was often followed by a presentation from Democratic ad guy J.J. Balaban, who talked about TV. He always led off with a singular observation: You are not a presidential campaign. Genius!
What did J.J. mean? Presidential campaigns have to do everything. TV ads. Streaming ads. Facebook ads. YouTube ads. Digital organizing. In-person organizing. Influencer outreach. Social media outreach. Ambassador/super-volunteer programs. Content-creator programs. Etc ad nauseum.
Naturally, presidential campaigns can only do everything if they raise enough money, and even presidential primary candidates may have to pick and choose which avenues to emphasize if they don’t have the resources to do it all. And unless we have access to vast sums of cash, down-ballot campaigns have to make the same kinds of decisions. After all, we’re not presidential campaigns.
I can remember hearing former Obama, [Hillary] Clinton or Biden staff describe at conferences telling their more-junior compatriots to enjoy the experience of having massive resources at hand, because it wasn’t likely to happen again — unless they joined another presidential campaign. The rest of us, meanwhile, may have to beg for a few thousand dollars to run digital ads at all.
down-ballot campaigns (usually) don’t have the resources to be everywhere and do everything. They have to pick and choose. And the choices that make sense for a well-funded campaign may be a distraction for someone down-ballot, no matter how often a client may point to something a presidential candidate did and ask for the same.
For example, a few weeks ago I watched an online discussion sponsored by Campaigns & Elections and featuring Democratic and Republican ad-buyers from prominent firms. They agreed that for their clients, which I assume are congressional or state-level races with the money to hire them, Facebook ads served mainly as a fundraising tool. Their voter-facing ad money was mostly going to YouTube and streaming services.
Farther down-ballot, campaigns may wish they had the resources to spend big on streaming! For someone running for city council or state legislature, unless they’re in an unusually high-profile race, Facebook/Instagram may be their first option for digital voter contact, not a channel relegated to the fundraisers. Facebook ads are relatively easy to buy and target, and a few hundred or a few thousand dollars in a small district may be enough to get a candidate in front of a lot of potential voters. Properly targeted, they can also “prime the pump” for field organizers.
YouTube ads are often cheap, but Google restricts our political targeting options, meaning that a campaign may have to run a lot of ads to reach the voters they need to mobilize or persuade. Streaming ads are generally more expensive than other most other digital ads, meaning that a small budget may not equate to many voter contacts at all. And of course, campaigns also need to have compelling video for either channel in the first place.
With limited resources, down-ballot campaigns have to ask the right questions. Whom are we trying to reach? What are we trying to get them to do? Where do they spend time both online and in real life? What are the most cost-effective ways to reach them? What’s actually attainable considering the resources we have? What do we do if more or less money comes in than expected?
In practice, local campaigns are likely to rely on a mix of friend-to-friend outreach, local influencers, field organizing and Facebook as a baseline, with larger budgets allowing video ads on local TV, YouTube and streaming services. Even larger budgets allow more-exotic channels, like digital billboards and the screens on pumps at gas stations.
Regardless of the specifics of the race, successful strategies come down to managing and allocating the resources you have to maximize the benefits they can give you. One campaign’s trash may be another campaign’s treasure! Just remember, no matter how much the candidate may want that top-of-ticket bling, you are not a presidential campaign.
Unless you are. In which case, drop me a line — I have a surprisingly reasonable hourly rate.
– cpd