In It To Win It! Political Campaign Strategies.

THE CONTENDERS:

U.S. Congress
Michigan Congressional District 9

Gary Peters (D) incumbent
Gene Goodman (R)
Andrew Raczkowski (R)
Gene Taliercio (R)
Paul Welday (R)

Campaign season is here! Everything from local school board elections, to state senate, state representative, and a new Governor. Primaries are in August and elections to follow in November. How will you contend in the race for the seat?

Visibles Marketing has a few tips for running a successful political campaign.

Of course campaign issues and party affiliation matter. But it’s when you need to beat out fellow party members or win over undecided or unaffiliated voters where winning votes boils down to who had the most overpowering campaign.

There have been times (and I'm not proud of this!) that I've gone into the voting booth and come across an office with a candidate that I was not informed about, but voted for them anyway. Even though I had no idea what the candidate stood for. I did this based on the simple fact that I recognized their name - which I guess made me feel qualified to fill in that little bubble.

Where had I seen the candidates name so much? I saw it when I walked my dog or went to the corner store - on a big wire yard sign.

VISIBILITY is important. Visible begets recognizable, recognizable begets trust, and trust begets votes.

I firmly believe that no matter how hard you campaign you will not win unless you have yard signs up on every easement, business, and home yard you can get your hands on. You should be giving yard signs out to every single volunteer who knocked on a door, wrote a letter, or made a phone call on your campaign.

Along with yard signs; bumper stickers, buttons, and t-shirts are not too expensive to purchase and are easy to make into a campaign fundraiser. Raising campaign funds and spreading the word about your candidacy? Awesome! Buttons are my favorite, they are great campaign souvenirs for volunteers and collectors.

Promotional products (like campaign items) have the highest return on investment of all marketing mediums according to an LJ market research study. Now if this applies to dollar return for companies, why wouldn't they bring voter return for political candidates?

Aspiring congressmen, it's time to kick it into gear! Make sure your supporters can show their support. To those running for local office: don't ignore campaign item staples! It’s time for everyone to begin placing their orders for campaign products, and announcing their candidacy to voters in their districts loud and clear!