Political Email is Getting Bigger Every Election Cycle April 12, 2019, | Posted by erin

As the private sector goes, so does--in many cases--the public sector, and what has proven to work for brands looking to reach out to consumers is quickly becoming the go-to tool for politicians of all stripes running for offices on all levels. Email marketing is a trusted channel, a place where people are already primed to read information in brief, and a political campaign is not all that different from an advertising campaign. Site Impact has been watching the growth of political email marketing campaigns, and the trends we have been noticing definitely point to that channel only becoming more important for candidates to participate in.

Email spend is going up for political campaigns

The 2018 elections saw major investment in email on both sides of the aisle; Democrats and Republicans alike pushed email for candidates going for the Senate and the House alike, along with smaller state and local elections. We covered some of the major email campaigns, including some of the faux pas that candidates made in their email efforts. Historically, Democrats jumped into email more readily, going back to the Obama campaigns--but the GOP has spent millions on email efforts targeted at their prospective voters in more recent campaigns, as well.

Studies show email is a better channel than many others

While politicians may have balked at using email to reach out to voters in the past, seeing it as impersonal, the studies show that voters are definitely interested in hearing from politicians--not just brands, friends, and family--in their inboxes. Signups for different candidates’ email lists have been big, and even post-election, engagement is high. Campaign teams have begun reaching out to email marketing agencies and consultants alike to get more expertise in-house when it comes to the channel, and it only makes sense that the most successful political campaigns have also had some of the best email campaigns.

Email supports other efforts

Email marketing has a track record of being an excellent lynchpin channel--a good centerpiece for multichannel marketing efforts. In an age where voters are scattered across multiple social media platforms, and a large chunk of the electorate no longer uses cable TV services--or, just as bad, skips all commercials--email is an effective tool for uniting your efforts across several channels, bringing everything together. Email campaigns can incorporate content from political ads, or video from Q&A sessions, infographics and other information from websites, and more--making it possible to reach every demographic and as many voters as possible with a combined effort. Email does a great job of bringing it all together, which is why the GOP and the DNC are both pushing more of their budgets in that direction.

Whether you’re a candidate for a small town mayoral election, running for the school board, or aiming for Washington, it’s obvious that email marketing is only becoming more important as a tool to reach out to constituents and potential voters alike. The spend that’s already going into it from the top levels of the parties, the ability to reach voters in a space where they’re receptive, and the flexibility to make one piece of advertising do twice the work all combine to make email the big solution to a thousand problems that candidates run into on the campaign trail. Contact Site Impact to learn how we can help you put email to work for your efforts to get elected.