Technology is rapidly changing the political game. Traditional methods of reaching voters, from radio and TV to direct mail, don’t resonate as well in the digital age. This is particularly true with young voters.
That’s not to say that traditional mediums are dead. Live TV, for example, isn’t going anywhere fast because it still reaches some 70 percent of Americans, according to a poll from Public Opinion Strategies. But traditional methods are no longer enough. They have to be part of a comprehensive strategy that includes the latest advancements in technology, from software to mobile apps.
There are countless new technologies available to political campaigns – way too many to list here. So we’re going to focus on three that produce a lot of bang for the buck: digital reporting apps, cloud-based calling software and social media monitoring. These technologies will help streamline your campaign and secure votes without putting a big dent in the budget.
Digital Reporting Apps
Digital reporting apps provide campaign managers with real-time information about what their staffers and volunteers are doing in the field, and what kind of feedback and results they’re getting. The information is useful not only in tracking campaign workers, but in shaping the campaign message and addressing issues that come up in conversations with voters.
These apps track campaign workers and volunteers in the field via GPS on their mobile devices. The campaign worker inputs information such as the name, age and party of the voter, as well as information about how the person answered survey questions and how they’re feeling about the candidate.
Digital reporting apps stand to eventually replace paper logs, which are time consuming and don’t always get analyzed in a timely fashion. Campaign managers have real-time access to exactly what’s going on in the field so they can get ahead of issues and adjust campaign strategy on the go.
Cloud-Based Call Center Software
Political campaign offices have long used call center software to manage their inbound and outbound calling. But traditional on-premise calling software (and the hardware required to go with it) is not only expensive and labor intensive; it’s outdated.
With cloud-based call center software, political campaigns have access to all the calling features they need, from predictive dialers, call routing and automated answering to real-time statistics and reporting, for as little as $100-$200 per user per month. The calling software is managed by a third-party provider from an off-site location, so there’s no expensive equipment to buy, update or manage. Your IT manager is free to focus on other technology initiatives.
Social Media Monitoring
By now, almost every campaign has figured out how to use social media to reach voters. That’s nothing new. However, while most campaigns are adept at using social media to spread messages, fewer have mastered something equally important: using social media to listen to what voters are saying.
Social media monitoring tools are widely used by businesses to track what customers are saying about the brand (and respond to those statements), gain a better understanding of brand image and shape future marketing strategies. The same can be applied to political campaigns. If a false rumor about your candidate is spreading on Twitter, you need to know about it and address it.
There are free tools like HootSuite and Social Mention, which are appropriate for small political campaigns or beginners. Enterprise-levels tools, which can cost hundreds or thousands per month, are a better pick for national campaigns because they provide much more in-depth analysis and reporting.
Kunnect sells 100% cloud-based call center software to businesses and political campaigns. Our software, hosted in the Amazon platform, seamlessly manages all inbound and outbound calling for a flat rate of $125 per user per month with a flat deposit of $125 per user.