How do political parties use their political SMS messages?

As political parties are looking to move their political SMS messages out, people are choosing to receive those messages via text message. If political campaigns are not texting their addressees, then they are already behind their opponents and possible opponents that could always come out of the woodwork. There are several reasons political campaigns use SMS messaging.

Besides, political text messaging is not done professionally with proper SMS etiquette. It can be met with mixed feelings, especially if it did not come across as genuine. There are right ways and wrong ways for political campaigns, staff, volunteers, and donors to communicate via SMS.

If a political campaign organizes well, they are already using Celcom Africa to help them send and manage proficient outbound, as well as inbound, bulk SMS messages.

Celcom Africa texting web makes the most sense for political campaigns because it is a simple, out-of-the-box solution that is contract-free.

Since emails have about a 20% open rate and SMS messages have about a 90% open-rate, winning campaigns are opting in to Celcom bulk SMS. Campaigns that use SMS as a communication medium know that open-rates are much higher. Open-rate is only one of the major reasons political campaigns use bulk SMS messaging.

10 Reasons Political Campaigns Use Bulk SMS Messaging

There are several reasons that SMS messaging is a legitimate and effective avenue for political campaigners to get their text messages out. Here is a list of 10 reasons to use bulk SMS.

1. All Election-Related Reminders

Reminding people of not only the person to vote for but also the place and time to vote, as well as offering registration communication, is a practical way to inspire voters to do their civic responsibility. Reminders are used for timely purposes like events and meetings.

They are also used in the days or even hours leading up to the voting period to reassure people to decide who they’re voting for, as well as strategize on extra time and voting day.

Since political campaigns are continuously counting down the days to the election with limited time remaining, these SMS reminders assist in keeping all staff, donors, volunteers, and supporters on track with the goals they are supposed to meet.

2. Reaching a Younger Demographic

New York Times article by one political operative, no one under the age of forty-five wants a phone call. Ever since peer-to-peer (P2P) texting became commonplace in the 2016 election, mobile has been a popular method for getting the word out.

The SMS marketplace is always changing, contenders need to keep up with market trends. These trends not only help you reach your targeted audience, but they also help you stay compliant and keep your number/sender ID from being spam filtered.

And younger voters (aged 18–29) are almost entirely tapped into technology, so campaigners must use every tool in their wheelhouses to grasp this demographic.

At Celcom Africa, our customer support representatives will help walk you through all the best practices, set up custom set-up and training, and help you succeed. After all, when you succeed, we do too.

3. Bulk SMS for Fundraising Purposes

Political parties can use text messaging to petition and gather donations. Also, SMS can be used as part of a follow-up strategy for those who have chosen to contribute via another channel. Check out this example texts for political candidates’ fundraising communication.

Instead of a simple “thank you,” consider using MMS messaging to say precisely what their donation contributed to, for instance:

[Insert the first name], your generous donation helped us raise enough that we could buy pizzas for these cold and tired canvassers who knock on doors for [insert candidate name] in [insert recipient’s neighbourhood].

4. Bulk SMS open rate

Is probably the most vital reason political campaigns use SMS messaging. For decades, campaigners contacted voters primarily by knocking on doors and by making phone calls.

That means for every hour of human labour; you are only connecting with 5–10 voters. That means it will take a lot of hours of labour to reach enough voters to swing an election. Phone calls are even worse. Although you can contact more people per hour by calling them, they are less likely to be convinced, and the contact percentage can be as low as 2–3%.”

5. Notify Voters of Meetups and Events

The Internet is a cluttered place, and many people do not even notice requests for events. Facebook users can easily get mixed up between groups and pages and may not go the extra mile to check out a group’s event category on the page. A simple SMS message can help change them in the right direction. Notify your volunteers of your next rally and get your message read fast!

6. Fast Responses Rates!

The average response rate of the text is 45%. Being that time is of the essence on a political campaign, you need to get your message read, and often you need a response! Good political field game listens to voters and collects information about who they are supporting and what issues they value. Celcom Africa allows political staff and volunteers to easily communicate with their base.

7. Cost-Effectiveness

Simply put, SMS messaging is a simple, inexpensive, and direct method of reaching a massive number of people with essential or urgent information.

8. Easy Follow-ups

People appreciate a direct acknowledgement of their actions, particularly if they’re doing gritty work like fund-raising, even if it’s as simple as thanking people for the $5, etc.

An example of an effective “thank you” message to this end could be:

(Name here) would like to extend a sincere “thank you” to all of their supporters and campaigners for the hard work they put forth this season. Even though we didn’t win this time, we’re still dedicated to helping (community) with (1,2, and 3).

9. Meaningful Slogans

Because of its succinct nature, SMS is the perfect way to direct meaningful campaign slogans to people on your lists. You may also choose to tactically incorporate mantras into engagement messages to help voters understand that you’re taking the slogan and its meaning seriously.

10. Registration Information

SMS messaging is an excellent method of sharing voting information, including registration information, to voters on your list. People appreciate a simple reminder and link for such things since sometimes instructions on voting materials sent in the mail or even online can be a little bit unclear.

How to Write a Compelling Political Campaign SMS Message

The people in charge of writing for a given campaign should have a grasp on the overall campaign message they are trying to convey to volunteers, donors, and voters. The tricky part is developing concise, engaging, and value-based messages. The simple part is typing that message into Celcom Africa and efficiently getting that message out to your audience. Be sure to keep an eye on our SMS segment calculator.

Of course, the topics could change from candidate to candidate, but here are a few examples of messages that would be good to send via SMS:

Example Texts for Political Candidates — Issue Topics

· Healthcare: Campaign promises

· Security: Financial, crime, etc.

· Morality: Comment on current or past leaders.

· Education: A brief point about specific improvement.

· Jobs: How they look now and how they will look in the future.

· Campaign Events and Rallies Events and reminders.

· Election Day, GOTV, and voter reminders.

Persuasive writing taps into people’s emotions and pain points and then offers a solution. By acknowledging a topic that speaks close to the heart, rather than just saying “vote for this person,” you have a better chance of piquing their curiosity and encouraging them to follow the next steps without sounding pushy.

You can think of it as framing a conversation based on mutual concerns or gently make them aware of a pressing issue or problem, rather than “telling” someone else who to vote for.

Example Texts for Political Candidates — Campaign Call to Actions

· Political Volunteer Event Reminders

· Fundraising Event Reminders

· Any and Every Event Reminder!

· Donation Requests

· Contribution Thank You notes

· Volunteer Thank You notes

· Voter Registration Information

· Important Voter Deadlines

· Polling Place Information

· Driving People to The Polls Logistics/address.

Example Texts for Political Candidates

1. “Uhuru, Text “2020Win” to 123456 to opt into our volunteer alerts. Texting in will also enter you to win a chance to have dinner with the candidate.”

2. “Dear Sarah, Thanks for coming to my event yesterday and donating $10.00. I have your email address sarah@example.com and I will follow up soon. Reply Win2018 to stay informed of campaign events via SMS.”

3. “Jacob, your polling place is 1234 Example Lane, Example, CA and it closes in 1 hour. Did you get a chance to stop by and vote? Can we offer you a ride?

4. “Dear Jonathan, Thanks for opting into my healthcare alerts. Please know that I voted no on SB 2018 because I feel that this is best for people like you. Don’t hesitate to reply here via SMS or call the office if you would like to share your thoughts with me. I want to hear from you. Text STOP to end. “

5. “[Insert Name], your generous donation helped us raise enough that we can take our campaign to [insert region].

6. “Today, I told [insert political party] leaders that we need to stand strong on the healthcare legislation. Text YES if you agree and NO if you disagree. “