Snow Day
It’s a cold day in Houston, after getting four inches of snow on Tuesday. Perfect weather for making a pot of beans, working on some writing, and checking-in on clients and friends. Local weather is more interesting to watch than cable news, anyway.
While it is a snow day for many, the calendar does not take a break. It ticks away closer to the next finance deadline, media interview, or election. In other words: There’s no time to waste.
We believe a campaign is largely a schedule and a budget. The campaign plan is a reflection of your budget, and the timeline is not only driven by concrete deadlines, but what’s happening in society outside the campaign.
A year away from an election, campaigns can be thinking about the calendar with care. Use this time to
Determine filing requirements, deadlines, and find a treasurer
Build your finance operation, including database and bank account
Develop branding, like your logo, and the website
Draft the campaign plan, including budget and schedule
Hire key consultants and staff to assist with the organization build-out
When we are closer to Election day, late spring, campaigns really have to develop their paid media. That means time to ponder
Building baseline and message polling
Fine tuning messaging and campaign literature copy
Developing political media like mail and video
Examining the media plan to insure it still meets campaign objectives
Despite what you think, I am not arguing for a “burn it at both ends of the candle” mentality. However, your campaign should be the first and last thing you think about each day. If it’s a priority, make it one.
Today (and tomorrow) I am telling people to dedicate time to planning, and putting something on paper. Take advantage of a slow and less stressful time in a campaign, the perfect opportunity to focus on the big picture as well as the action items that make it happen.
While a lot of our work is direct mail and video for TV and online advertising, we also help candidates and causes tell their stories in the press. It is because we see value in earned media that we argue the schedule is important. Paying attention to your surroundings and finding opportunities where others see roadblocks should be standard. It is for us.
It costs a surprising amount of time to build this kind of mentality, which ultimately has a long-term goal of storytelling. Finding and creating those opportunities, and then figuring out how to fit them precisely in the media universe, is more art than science.
When done successfully, the news clips and tv interviews provide proof points that can be used later in paid media advertisements. This is no secret, but not a lot of mail vendors offer it as a strategic service to bolster the paid media.
Our advice is to get started early, put a plan on paper, and delegate to your team.
If you want to talk about your campaign, send me a note at Michael@CN4partners.com. If it’s still freezing outside, I’ll probably be near my computer.
-Michael