Remember these:

• Create a communication plan and communication calendar for yourself: think about which themes you wish to introduce, where and when.
• Draw up a marketing budget: which marketing devices you use, how much money can you use?
• Design a brochure and print enough copies. Your brochure does not have to include your candidate number. Voters can find the number on the wall of the voting booth.
• Make plans to street market with friends or other candidates. It is safer to campaign together – and twice as fun!

Generating Visibility and Reputation

The primary goal of communication and marketing is to gain visibility for you as a Green candidate. In other words, the goal is to let people know that you are a candidate in the upcoming elections.

Another goal is to acquire a specific reputation for you: you are a unique candidate amongst the other candidates. Your background, persona, and style are unique, you are part of certain groups, and you have your own political goals. A reputation is always built on reality. You cannot claim to be something you are not.

Communication and marketing are closely related but they are not the same thing. Simply put, the main difference is that attention from communication is free, but marketing costs. Still, both are needed – they are strongly connected, and they should be planned side by side.

Communication and Marketing Choices

Channels

The choice of communication channels depends on what kind of candidate you are and who your potential voters are. If you target your story (themes, communication style) to a specific group of people, who use the local newspaper as their main communication channel, you should be as visible as possible in that paper. If your focus group uses mainly web media you should be active in social media: comment, blog, update Instagram and Facebook, tweet on Twitter, and be generally in contact with people. Communication channels and marketing channels are usually the same. Active communication can be topped off with an efficient marketing campaign. Marketing is then coherent with the long-term communication that you have already done in that specific media focused on specific group of people. 

Marketing Choices

After you have drawn up the big picture of your campaign communication, you need to do some marketing choices. You can move on to structuring suitable marketing strategy for you when you have created your candidate profile.  The most central marketing choices are related to the utilization of mass campaigning and direct marketing. It is also recommended that you think about utilizing atypical marketing or guerilla marketing in addition to the traditional marketing methods.

Mass Campaigning

Mass campaigning refers to campaigning that is targeted to a wide focus group with one similar message. The effectiveness of mass campaigning is based first and foremost on quantity. For instance, if you try to reach 10 000 people in Turku region, it is probably necessary to rely on mass campaigning methods. If, on the other hand, you try to convince one hundred people to donate money for the campaign, it might be a better idea to use direct marketing.

You need mass campaigning when you are telling people that you are a candidate, and why they should vote for you. Although mass campaigning is directed to a wide audience, many communication platforms enable you to focus your message to certain age groups, genders, or based on interest etc.

Advertising and Media Campaign

Mass campaign is usually carried out as a media campaign. In other words, you buy ad space on mass media and publish ads that support your message, campaign operations, and goals. The aim of this kind of communication is to change or reinforce how the focus group reacts to you.

Advertising is all about emotions. Appealing to emotions is important even when advertising matter-of-fact questions. In most cases, it is more important to create an image and feeling that you are an expert than providing scientifically valid proof that you are one.

Media campaigns usually include Internet, newspaper, radio, television, and outdoor advertising. Think about advertising on several different media if you have enough resources. However, advertise only on media platforms that reach your focus groups best.

Media campaign is the fastest and easiest way to communicate with large audiences. It is also a noteworthy instrument in image advertising. However, media advertising can be very expensive. Particularly campaigns with small budgets can face difficulties in advertising and marketing. People often try to spare money in advertising. This often leads into situations in which real experts are not used and therefore most of the already small budget is spend on poorly executed advertising.

Another typical advertising mistake is to cram too much information into too small ad space or time slot. There should be a balance between how much money you use for the ad itself and its distribution. For example, you shouldn’t spend all your money on a commercial if you then don’t have the money to show it to anyone.

Direct Campaigning

Direct campaigning is always clearly focused. It is based on a message tailored for a specific focus group. Success of a campaign depends on how well the group is known. 

Direct marketing is the most known method of direct campaigning. It can include materials send in mail but other things as well; for example, emails, text messages, brochures placed on cars or bikes, inquiries, offers etc. It can also be, for example, an event in a specific place and targeted to people there. Direct marketing materials usually include some sort of return channel. In other words, they offer a certain manner to react to them: contact this address for more information, visit this web site and sign up to the support group, donate money for the campaign, come to a meeting to a specific place and at a specific time and so forth.

Direct campaigning is used to attract a target person into looking at the sent materials and spending as many seconds with them as possible. The longer a person spends with the materials the more likely it is to get them aboard. A fundraising message written by the candidate is a good example of direct marketing. Is has been focused or tailored to a specific recipient: the candidate has pondered why would these specific people support me whilst writing the message. The send materials should also include a return channel or instructions on how to support the candidate. The effectivity of the direct marketing actions can be measured by monitoring how many recipients react to the letters by donating money according to given instructions. 

Atypical campaign – Guerilla Marketing

Guerilla campaigning or marketing refers to clearly focused marketing solutions that pursue maximal efficiency. Guerilla marketing requires exact planning. On the other hand, it does not require substantial economical or material resources. Guerilla campaigning is all about creativity. The message needs to be precisely focused to a specific focus group and it should also be somehow interactive. It is often similar to direct marketing but with a twist.

Guerilla marketing is a difficult marketing method. It is not reasonable to assume that a whole electoral campaign could be built on it. However, a small but a good idea can be used to achieve smaller goals with good results.

Examples of Guerilla Marketing

One example of guerilla marketing could be to cover all the saddles of bikes parked outside of higher education institutions with saddle covers promoting the Green look. You can place brochures targeted to students underneath the covers. In this way, the voters get durable and useful saddle covers and the candidate gets their message delivered to cycling students.

Another example could be to pack instructions on sustainable motoring and a brochure of the candidate into a small plastic bag. You can place these bags for example on car mirrors with rubber bands or under the windscreen wipers similarly to parking tickets. Note that people need to quickly realize that they have not actually received a parking ticket. The content of the brochures must be easily understood, and it should neutralize the shock you gave them by mimicking the look of a parking ticket.

Communication and Marketing 

Planning

When you are planning the campaign’s communication and marketing strategies, write down the general solutions but also what you are concretely going to do. Think about the following:

•   what are you going to do (e.g. newspaper add, event, opinion piece)
•   what channel you will use (where communication/marketing takes place, e.g. which media)
•   timing
•   participants (alone or with someone)
•   what is the main message
•   who is responsible for content/coordinating
•   marketing (newspaper add that invites people to the event), if it is not an image ad

Communication and Marketing in Action

When you are planning communication and marketing, it is good to know what political communication and marketing usually includes. Here are some traditional communication means. Note that new and innovative means are also worth a try!

Opinion Piece

Opinion piece is a text in which you present your opinion or solution to some current or local issue. Opinion pieces can be efficient campaigning tools that reach those who follow the media in which the text is published. It is free and you receive a fair amount of attention even with minor input. 

A good opinion piece is well written, short (about half a page) and its topic is current, concrete and deals with local issues. Opinion pieces, particularly in smaller newspapers, are usually quite popular. Usually, one text should focus on one issue – do not cram multiple ideas into same opinion piece. Note that the candidate does not need to write all their opinion pieces alone. You can ask your support group members to write draft versions and templates! You should always answer opinion pieces that address the Greens whether they were about local or national politics. You can ask members of parliament, council member, or other known politicians to join your opinion piece to raise its profile. 

Events

Various events are essential elements of many campaigns. The nature of an events depends on the goals of the campaign. Parties, concerts, press conferences, seminars, guided expeditions et cetera are all very good ways to campaign. When you are organizing events remember to ponder why the members of your focus group would attend it? What do they get from the event?

It is not difficult to organize a successful event as a part of your campaign. You just need to properly plan and market it. It is a good idea to organize an event in a place where there’s already people. It makes it easier for people to participate. Remember to guarantee accessibility of your events!

Make your events visually interesting and active, especially, if you have invited media. Don’t just talk about your political agenda, do something! 

Joint event with candidates from other parties have proven their worth. You should agree on a current or local theme that interest people and reporters. It should also include some sort of political tension. You can invite for example a local radio host, an editor of local newspaper or some other neutral and quick-witted person to be your presenter. Market the event on the papers, invite people to the event on Facebook, put the event in order and start the debate! You can advertise the event for free with leaflets, online event lists and on Facebook or pay for advertisements. Sufficient communication and advertisement are essential for the success of the event. Create social media presence for your event as well. You can expand your audience for instance by using Facebook Live.

Panels

Participate in panels if the arrangements seem to be in order and you have something to say about the topic. Prepare yourself by thinking what you would like to say, what others are likely to say, what the situation will be for you emotionally, and how you will position yourself in relation to others.

Note that most people are nervous about public speaking. It is not dangerous; it shows that the situation is important to you and you are taking it with appropriate seriousness. If you get too nervous, try to think about your role as a political figure and less about your personal character. You are a candidate about to tell something important; try to tell your political message as convincingly as possible. Remember, that in most cases people cannot see if you are nervous and if they do, they are on your side. Be bravely yourself!

Brochure

Although people are campaigning more and more on the web, street and marketplace campaigning have not disappeared. Direct contact with voters is often more efficient than visibility on some communication platform. Remember to reserve enough time and resources for producing high-quality materials, such as brochures. Your electoral brochure should include first rate texts and photos but also professional layout and print. Make sure you have enough time to make the brochures and ask for help if you need it. The Party has useful tools to help for instance with the layout.