| Every campaign needs a robust political | | | | audience is very limited. |
| communications arsenal to get the message out. | | | | Newspapers: Subscriptions continue to decline as |
| And every fall, thousands of campaigns from | | | | society finds other ways to get its news. Political |
| coast to coast scramble against the clock to | | | | ads can become easily lost. |
| maximize the resources they have to pull off a | | | | Mailers: Sending large postcards can be very |
| victory. | | | | effective, however, many look at it as "junk mail" |
| The best strategy is simply to plan ahead well in | | | | and many are tossed in the trash. Hiring an |
| advance and arm yourself with the most | | | | experienced print and mail shop can save you a |
| effective communication tools you can. Here is a | | | | fortune because of they have access to special |
| quick rundown on various tactics: | | | | postage rates and know the ropes. |
| Television: It gets the widest possible exposure. | | | | Robocalls: These are pre-recorded messages sent |
| However, it cannot target any specific groups. In | | | | by phone. Studies show mixed results and some |
| fact, most of the people who watch political | | | | states have restrictions. Many experienced political |
| commercials don't vote. Regardless, television, | | | | consultants use robocalls because you can easily |
| while expensive, gets high marks for generating | | | | target groups and it is the technology that |
| name recognition for any candidate. But | | | | requires the least amount of ramp up time and is |
| remember that television viewing habits have | | | | the most inexpensive since you only pay for the |
| changed dramatically and local stations don't get | | | | calls that get delivered. Also, it is the technology |
| the audience they used to. | | | | that can be used at the very end of the |
| Radio: You can target radio to your demographics | | | | campaign to respond to last minute attacks. A |
| much better than television and it's cheaper than | | | | drawback: Most of the 30 and under crowd don't |
| TV too. Works better in larger metro areas. While | | | | have landlines and their numbers are not listed or |
| smaller communities have radio stations, the | | | | available with the voter registration records. |