Only 27% of registered voters view the Democratic Party positively. That’s not just a poll result - it’s a brand in crisis.
That dismal perception is compounded by the increasingly loud critique of the party being a gerontocracy, and one unable to rise to meet this moment. The party (brand) needs rehabilitation, not just in terms of its public perception, but also with defining what it stands for, and reconnecting with voters.
Trump and Republicans are taking a hit too, but thus far, not as severely as Democrats. In an AP-NORC poll from May, 35% of Democrats are optimistic about the future of the party, and when that widens to include everyone it drops to 17%, lower than the 25% for Republicans.
Whether looking at last year’s election results or polling since, it’s clear that we’ve reached a critical juncture for the Democratic party, and this is especially important now when politics have become so nationalized and brand (party)-driven.
Modern Media Mix
The old complacent approach of running ads for six or eight weeks before election day with a predictable media mix must be reevaluated. Often this is a result of fundraising and not having the budget to start earlier, or having the funds but the campaign misunderstanding how best to utilize them and treating digital as an afterthought. Even well-funded digital efforts too often default to this outdated approach.
It’s condescending to think a candidate can just show someone so many ads over the course of a few weeks to secure their vote. What we need to be doing instead is building relationships, because even if this copy and paste media plan approach to digital does work by just burying the opposition in higher frequencies, these efforts aren’t going toward building anything sustainable.
Ongoing Voter Relations
In commerce, a sales funnel is utilized to generate not just sales but customers. A sale, like a vote, is a one-off. A customer is so much more than that - this is someone whom the brand is having a reciprocal relationship with. The brand empowers the customer to return through sales, promos, and providing information. By not just blasting them with sales offers but also reminding them about the benefits of the product(s), the brand is creating a relationship with the customer. Some customers will even go on to become evangelists for the brand, spreading their passion for it to anyone willing to listen. Campaigns should do the same - treat voters not as one-time conversions, but as lifelong supporters and a valued part of the community.
Upper Funnel on the Issues
Politics can learn from this approach to marketing. Most political ads now are either intended to persuade or solicit donations. But if ads were reformatted to connect, rather than remind, then the dynamic would change. A broad top of funnel approach could be informing the populace as to what’s going on in the congressional session, either on a state or national level. By highlighting issues relevant to the community, the public would now be better informed and would know where each party stands on the key issues, who is actively fighting for them, and who is working against their interests.
Earned media is getting harder to generate for most candidates and causes, so paid needs to help fill that void. But it can’t work in isolation. In commerce, moving prospects down the funnel is done through the coordination of various channels such as search, social, email, and text. Coordination is key, as these efforts must be working together rather than in isolation.
Paid digital with a strong CTA can help drive traffic to a landing page optimized to build a list that can later be used to recruit phone bankers and block walkers. CTV ads can help generate more Google searches, where paid search can help funnel people to the appropriate landing page. These are strong first steps to build a coordinated marketing effort that can maximize impact and help build relationships that transcend one election cycle, because even after the election, these efforts must continue.
The hurry up and wait approach to running campaigns where different vendors do different things with little coordination and hastily throw everything together at the last-minute results in missed opportunities. Blasting people with ads for six weeks before election day breeds cynicism.
The Democratic party has a brand image problem, and one way to address this is to build relationships with the public through marketing. Speaking with people over months, or ideally year-round, and keeping them informed and engaged builds trust and relationships. To turn the perception of the party around, Democrats need to learn from commerce marketing – stop chasing transactions and start building a brand.
