Election season is a crucial time to mobilize your base. Text messages are an effective way to drive voter turnout, making SMS a critical component of your GOTV strategy for any election, particularly as COVID-19 impacts voter outreach.
Check out 6 simple ways a mobile campaign can help drive your constituents to the polls.
1) Direct people to the correct polling place
Every year, thousands of citizens don’t vote because they simply don’t know where to go. With our polling place locator, your constituents can just text in their address to receive the location of the proper polling place. Email your account representative if you want more information about our polling place locator.
2) Text out reminders on Election Day
A text message can be a painless reminder to motivate someone to cast their vote. Cision reports nearly 40% of respondents felt influenced to register to vote in the 2020 presidential election because of political text messaging campaigns pre-election. On top of that, a mobile campaign drives voter turnout at a significantly lower cost per vote than any other medium.
3) Spread the word with tell-a-friend
With tell-a-friend, it’s easy to take the “Text Out The Vote” message viral. Ask constituents to pass along your text messages – passing along information about both your organization and the urgent election issues.
4) Encourage voter registration
Before people can vote, they first need to register. Send targeted messages informing voters about state deadlines, reminding them to attend registration events, and providing direct links to web registration. Learn how to League of Conversation of Voters informed voters about their options via text.
5) Create a mobile voter’s guide
Send out election-themed messaging to keep your members up to date on campaign issues. Create a voter’s guide to let people know where the candidates stand – or just send out a list of candidates you support. You can also send texts targeted by zip code to direct people to rallies and phone banks near to them.
6) Send out early voting and mail-in ballot information – targeted by state and district
Encourage your members to get their votes in early. Every state has different rules about early voting and voting by mail, but you can make sure your constituents get only the information that matters to them with a zip code-targeted campaign. With more voters voting by mail, providing voters with the information they needed is critical.
Remember – you can customize your messaging for each recipient to direct people to the action best suited for them. For example, send registration reminders only to those who haven’t already registered. For those who have, educate them further with a voter’s guide.
For more tips and strategies to get out the vote, watch our on-demand webinar, Integrating SMS within Your GOTV Strategy.