Successful independent spending begins with planning
Here at Campaign Workshop, we’ve written a lot about independent spending strategies, but the key point never changes.
1. Know your goals.
2. Do no harm.
3. Don’t duplicate your efforts.
Today I would like to discuss that last point in a little more detail. Campaigns are complex creatures, and without careful strategic planning, there are a thousand ways you can end up with redundant tasks. Campaigns, on the other hand, are regulated by complex laws that limit what publicly available campaign information they can and cannot use when developing their own spending strategies. It is important to consult an election attorney about whether “Independent” in independent spending usually means not having contact with candidates or their campaigns, but often considering a campaign’s strategy and message from the outside and planning programs accordingly. That is acceptable.
So let’s talk about how to stay smart, creative, and legal while supporting candidates with a strong independent spend communications strategy.
A communications strategy is a roadmap for what a candidate’s campaign will communicate to whom, when, why, how, and how. Unfortunately, campaigns have little time or resources to deliver perfectly tailored messages to all communities through all mediums. Fortunately for IE, this leaves plenty of opportunities to strengthen the message of your preferred candidate without duplicating their work. A high-impact independent spend communications strategy is differentiated across four topics:
Message: Create contrast
At the heart of your communication strategy is your message. A strong message includes something you want to say about your candidate, your opponent, what your opponent is saying about the candidate, and what your opponent is saying about yourself. So we start with a message box.
Notice that three of these four categories involve messaging that anticipates and responds to objections. This is where independent spending comes into play. Candidate campaigns need to be clever about how they differentiate themselves, especially in primary or local campaigns where all candidates are well known or liked by community members. Independent expenditures are more direct in pinpointing contrasts between candidates.
For example, an independent expenditure operated by an environmental organization may run a communications program that compares the environmental voting records of the candidates it supports with those of the candidates it opposes. This draws attention to the failures of the opposition without affecting the candidate’s campaign itself.
There is one warning here. IE’s ability to craft sharp messages is a powerful feature, but it’s also an easy place to violate the second principle: do no harm. To avoid this, take cues from publicly available information about candidates’ campaigns. How do candidates frame their values? What accomplishments are they proud of? What topics do they typically try to pivot away from? You don’t want to run ads that lead the public conversation in the direction you want to go. Create contrast and use strong language, but always think about how your message will affect the candidate.
Reach professional audiences
Who is your preferred candidate talking to? The answer depends on your existing community, policy priorities, and organizational strategy, but there are a few things you can trust. For example, during GOTV, they’re talking to people who appear to be moderate turnout voters. An effective independent spending strategy prioritizes reaching specific audiences that you don’t have the resources to focus your campaigns on. In the example of an environmental organization, an IE might pursue a communication strategy focused on reaching voters who score high on climate change models. In this case, a stand-alone spending strategy may be focused on GOTV’s goals, but its messaging should be tailored to mobilize specific audiences.
convey a specific message
This leads to topical messaging. I mentioned the contrast with my opponent above, but as you know, candidates often have quite a lot to say about themselves. Candidates likely have positions on many issues, all of which they want to communicate to voters. A good campaign must make difficult decisions and focus communications on some of those issues in order to reiterate the message enough to penetrate voters. A strong independent spending strategy draws attention to specific issues that may not be the primary focus of a campaign, such as a candidate’s active voting record on environmental issues or long-standing membership in local conservation organizations. It will help you collect.
Dominate the neglected communication medium
There are many ways to get your campaign message across. These include mail, television, campaigns, text messages, and digital advertising. Candidates rarely have the luxury of doing all of that. A good IE strategy focuses on identifying techniques in which candidates are not invested and meeting those needs. An independent spending team might notice a wave of weekly emails from their preferred candidates without having to deal with a flood of airtime on local TV stations. If you have the resources for independent spending, TV ads can be a great opportunity to mirror the messages your campaign uses in other tactics.
This is also an opportunity to try new tactics. The world of political communication is constantly evolving. If you’re struggling to cut through the noise in an election, or trying to reach an audience that isn’t as receptive to traditional campaign voter contact methods, try segmenting your audience and trying different communication mediums. please. What you learn could potentially help you play an even more important role in the years to come, especially if your IE is operational across multiple campaign cycles.
Thinking through these independent spending best practices will go a long way toward making your campaign a success. In each of these categories, focus on what your candidate’s campaign can’t do and get creative to fill in the gaps.
Have more questions about strategic communications for independent spend campaigns, or are you interested in next steps? Contact Campaign Workshop.
