Political Email
Email in Modern Politics
In the 21st Century political candidates for office, from President on down to Dog Catch, are marketed like products you buy in the store. Email campaigns have become a key element in the modern political campaign. Whether it is to generate awareness, solicit funds, recruit volunteers, acquire members for the party or disseminate information and calls-to-action or get out the vote, email has become a workhorse supplementing what used to take shoe leather to do. It is another arrow, albeit a cost effective arrow, in the quiver of a candidate’s election committee.
What is Good For One is Good For The Other
There are Federal Rules that guide the use of email for commercial purposes. The Federal CAN-SPAM act lays out in detail what is required when a commercial entity sends out emails that would be considered an advertisement or for promotional purposes. One of the elements is that the email must contain an opt-out clause. Notice that there is no requirement for the recipient to have opted into the list. Therefore, just like you would purchase a list and send out postcards to all of the homes in a geographic region or to a list of registered voters, you can purchase a list of people who have opted-in to receive third party communications for political campaign purposes. Keep in mind that your bounce and SPAM rate will probably be higher than if the list was opt-in directly only.
Build the Subscriber List
People who feel strongly about political issues give everything from $1 to the full limit of campaign donation laws. Political campaigns, like commercial campaigns, work very, very hard to gain, and then keep, subscribers (donators). The campaign must know who the “base” (customer) is and focus on promoting the strengths of the candidate. Make the emails clear and concise with focused on calls to action that could include writing campaigns, donations or volunteer work. Keep the subscribers engaged and keep connecting to your constituents in your district.
Does email play a big part in either your campaign or how you interact with your candidate?
Stewart Friedman
