Direct Mail for Political Campaigns: Winning Voters with Targeted Messaging

Political campaigns are probably some of the most complex operations known to man. They require strenuous planning and a way to reach prospective voters. One of the best ways to go about this is to use direct mail for your political campaigns. 

But are all things equal in terms of direct mail? Not a chance! Below, we’ll point out some of the differences between different types of political mail campaigns and discuss strategies for effective campaign materials.

Election Mail Vs. Political Mail

Political mailers are an effective means of conveying campaign materials to potential voters. But, it’s essential to note that there are two different types of “political mailers,” namely election mail and political mail.

Election Mail

Election mail is any type of mail sent by an authorized official in the political sphere with the sole purpose of enabling voters to participate in the voting process. 

Items that qualify as election mail include:

• Ballots
• Registration cards
• Absentee applications (created by political officials on behalf of voters) 

Political Mail

Political mail that isn’t election mail includes any type of political mailer sent by political campaigners to potential voters. This type of mail may be sent by the campaigner themselves, a campaign manager, a campaign party, or even a campaign committee.

The purpose of this type of political mailer is to promote a candidate or to promote referendums and campaigns.

Communications sent out by groups advocating a political cause (or another form of political action committee) also qualify as political mail. 

This article will focus on political mail, and especially communications used to communicate with potential voters.

Ways to Send Political Mail

There are different ways of sending political mailers, but many of them aren’t particularly cost-effective. Others may charge a standard rate, which isn’t effective when sending large numbers of small communications. Let’s look at some of the most common ways to send political mailers.

First-Class Mail

First-class mail, also known as standard mail or snail mail, is one of the most commonly used types of mail as a whole. When you buy a stamp, stick it on an envelope, and send it, that’s first-class mail.

It has a standardized price for packages under 3.5 ounces, which can be advantageous. However, there’s a disadvantage to this type of mail as well. Namely, you can’t easily send mail to all the people in a specific region since you’re sending it to a specific postal address.

USPS Marketing Mail

As the name suggests, USPS marketing mail is a type of mail service specifically designed to allow businesses to send marketing materials en masse. As long as you meet some basic requirements, it can also be an ideal way to send campaign materials. 

As with First-Class mail, you’ll need a mailing list to use this technique.

Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)

Every Door Direct Mail, also known as EDDM, is probably the best option for sending out political mailers. Instead of using a specific mailing list, it allows you to target a certain neighborhood, mail route, or zip code. 

As you might imagine, this type of arrangement is an ideal formula for getting in touch with prospective voters. For this reason, and because it offers low-pricing options for bulk mail, this is one of the most effective options for sending this type of correspondence. What’s perhaps even more impressive is the amount of personalization that you can add to your targeting list.

For instance, you can choose and target houses that are homes to large families or single couples. You can target people over the age of 60 or under the age of 30. You can even decide to send correspondence only to houses within a specific income bracket. Let’s take a closer look at how this ability can affect your campaign.

Tips for Using Political Direct Mail Effectively Using Targeted Messaging

Direct mail can be greatly effective when used to get in touch with prospective voters. However, there’s more to it than creating a great campaign and sending it out en masse. One of the keys to sending out political direct mail is to get it to the right people.

That, too, has more to it than one might think. Below, we’ll share some of the top points for using targeted political direct mail.

1 - Have More Than One Mailing Campaign

You already know that targeting your audience is an essential step toward a successful campaign. However, it’s also worth considering that not every campaign angle will appeal to every part of your overall target audience. 

For instance, your target audience might consist mainly of underprivileged individuals in a certain neighborhood. However, while young women and couples in that neighborhood might be highly passionate about matters like pro-choice and affordable healthcare for babies, it’s not likely to resound as deeply with gentlemen in their 70s.

On the other hand, elderly people may be highly passionate about affordable healthcare for the elderly and subsidized retirement homes. Young, married couples who don’t have elderly parents might not be too concerned about those things.

What’s the solution to this? Have several campaigns, and send them out to different parts of your target audience. Essentially, split your target audience into several smaller target audiences, treating each one as a separate part of the cohesive whole.

2 - Don’t Send Out All Your Mailing Campaigns at Once

While sending out different types of campaigning materials to different audiences is a fantastic idea, you need to be careful with the timing. If you send out multiple different campaigns at the same time, it can make you seem desperate or like you’re spamming people with junk mail.

Instead, start campaigning early so you can space your different mailing campaigns over the course of weeks or months. That way, you keep impacting different people in a household or community without running the risk of annoying people. Additionally, different people from different target audiences will discuss your campaign with each other (albeit for different reasons).

3 - Know Your Audience Well

As we mentioned earlier, it’s a terrific idea to have multiple campaigns running at once. However, you also need to know which parts of your campaign apply to which parts of your audience.

Fortunately, the EDDM platform allows you to narrow down your targeted recipients using a range of filters, including the following:

• Age
• Household Size
• Household Income
• Business or Residential Neighborhoods

How is this helpful? Well, when you know which portion of your target audience you’re trying to reach, you can use these filters to help narrow down recipients.

 For example,

• If you’re focusing on tax reductions for business owners who choose to use renewable energy sources, you can target business districts in a certain income bracket and age range.
• If your campaign focuses on planned parenting, you can focus on households with young and middle-aged people.
• If your campaign focuses on equal rights and eliminating racism, you can target the people living in traditionally non-white neighborhoods.
• If you’re trying to push for better schooling or better, safer environments for children to grow up in, you can target households with at least one child.

The number of ways you can use EDDM targeting to your advantage is nearly limitless. The key is to know your own target audience well enough to send political direct mail effectively.

4 - Accept That There Will Be Some Losses

Direct Political Mail is a fantastic way of reaching out to potential voters, and EDDM can make a campaign much more effective. However, any marketer will tell you that there’s a certain amount of loss to any campaign.

You absolutely will send out political mailers that don’t get to your target audience. That’s simply the way marketing campaigns work. 

There will always be outliers living in certain areas that don’t fit the statistical norm for that region. There will be dreamers, rebels, and free-thinkers that simply don’t agree with you. 

Before embarking on a campaign, and sending out direct political mail, acknowledge and accept that only a percentage of your campaign will be successful.

In some cases, it may even be a minute percentage. That’s okay! Your success rate will be significantly higher than if you send out general political mailers to every household and business.

5 - EDDM Can’t Be Your Only Point of Contact

While EDDM is a fantastic way of reaching out to people, you should use it in conjunction with other strategies, not as a standalone idea. People will be much more likely to take your political mailers seriously if they see you actively working in their communities and trying to make a difference.

Try to reach out to people in person through community events, social media platforms, and by being present in their communities. Your campaign will have much better success if they see you as a real person rather than just a political figure.

Conclusion

When you’re running a political campaign, sending direct political mail via Every Door Direct Mail gives you many advantages. Probably the most significant of those advantages is the ability to prioritize certain groups of people to receive campaign materials.

If you know your target audience well, and craft your mail campaigns to reach the people with whom they’re most likely to resonate, then your direct mailers can have fantastic results.

It’s certainly a massive improvement over past mailing campaigns where people sent out generic materials en masse.

Now, with EDDM, you can reach out to every person in their communities and talk to them about the things that matter most to them. No, your campaigns won’t be 100% successful. But, when combined with personal presence, and hard work in the community, many prospective voters will sit up and listen. 

Are you ready to start your political campaign? Taradel can help you sculpt your EDDM marketing so that it has the best possible effect. Don’t wait; contact us today.