Importance of Communication in Election Campaigns
There is no doubt that good communication is the key to win an election campaign.
From there, then it is vital to design a communications strategy that will guide you through the whole process and that the campaign does not become a contest of occurrences, mainly from the enormous amount of "strategists" of coffee, and friends and family members, with the best intention to bring the candidates' advisers.
In terms of political communication, improvisation is equal to defeat.
Be prepared from the start of a communication strategy, which is a written document containing the basic tactics and activities that will set the course of the entire campaign. Yes written, because the plan which is not written simply does not exist.
The communication strategy should answer the following policy.
Questions:
1. Campaign messages: What does the candidate have to say?
The key messages to be used by candidates in their speeches and in all advertising must be clearly defined in advance and should not be more than three. Remember the principle of targeting: Few things, that many times and through many means.
What brings this? To generate positioning, is to place the name, photograph and message of the candidate to occupy the minds of voters compared to the other contenders.
2. Target Audience: Who are the voters?
Not all qualified voters vote for your candidate. Therefore, you must choose a target group of people across the electoral market, and direct them towards your communication.
The definition of a clear target audience helps us to:
' Focus on communication.
' Define where will the votes needed to win come from.
' Strengthen the real supporters (hard vote).
' Winning at independent and undecided voters.
' Implement programs to bring those voters to the ballot box.
' Set voting targets.
' Campaign registration.
3. Communication tools: What media and why should we chose it?
By having clearly defined our target audience, we can choose precisely the tools and media to effectively carry the messages of the political campaign.
Posters, stickers, billboards, radio campaigns, press, TV or even internet, may not always work for everyone, so it is important to define the market segment that will arrive at election, and even optimizing the advertising investment without wasting resources.
4. Timeline of activities or communications agenda:
Who, when and where to say?
And taking clear messages, target audiences and communication tools; what now remains is to write a timeline of activities, to enable us to give order and consistency to work and sequence of communication.
In an election campaign it's very important that the "noise" of advertising or communication which is increasing often lags the electoral process.
When developing the schedule of all activities of the communication strategy of the campaign, the intensity should be well studied.
