Voter data: the lifeblood of a campaign

The saying “timing is everything” rings soberingly true when it comes to running a political campaign. Strategists are smart about when to reach out to the voting public. Too much communication can cause potential voters to click delete without even reading. That’s why savvy strategists are careful about the ways and means they use to communicate with prospective voters. They often choose dates around which they can easily build a theme, this maximized their potential to connect with would-be supporters.

The Republican National Committee site capitalizes on commercial holidays like Valentine’s Day to reach out to potential voters with their spoofy post cards that potential voters can send to friends. It’s just another way to get data from the public and create a little buzz in the process.

Targeting potential voters and collecting their data is critical to a successful political campaign.

A database of vitals on potential voters largely determines a candidate’s success at the polls. The more information they can glean about the voting public, the better their outreach strategy. Candidates want to know what’s important to the voters they are targeting: where they shop, religious values, educational values, income level, voting history, etc. It won’t be long before voters are receiving text messages from presidential candidates advising them that they are in close proximity from a polling site where they could go and cast their vote for the that candidate. Campaigning can be that exact with the use of social media. Blackberries and cell phones will become like human tracking devices.

This easy access to voter data matched with consumer behavior is only good if candidates are sincere in their intent to push issues by which their supporters are most affected. If it turns out that the candidate’s just in it to get their votes, voters might easily rally as smart mobs, exerting their power to advocate for their interests on their own terms.

Most social-media-savvy voters are very progressive; they have the power to advocate change and they aren’t afraid to use it. They aren’t shy about voicing their opinions. They know what they want and they support candidates whose core values and political interests best match their own. More importantly, they have the power to influence others and that can either help or hurt a candidate’s campaign.