The Political Consultant's Guide to Direct Mail Campaign Outreach

7/16/2024 Ian Redmond

When looking to engage with voters, direct mail is one of the most effective and efficient outreach channels, enabling your client’s campaign to easily reach out, interference-free, to their intended audience. Direct mail can effectively introduce their candidate or issue, compare/contrast candidates, provide differentiating information on opposing candidates’ positions, and even inform voters on where and when to vote. 

A campaign plan is likely to also include a mix of canvassing in the field, media advertising, press releases, speaking engagements and other events, and more. But direct mail, when planned for and executed correctly, can be a campaign difference-maker when it comes to voter outreach. According to a joint white paper from the USPS and the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), 75% of surveyed voters said that direct mail provides a helpful starting point to learn more about candidates and their positions on issues.

In creating a direct mail political campaign, primary considerations should include:

• The message — single or multiple messages; persuasive or get out the vote (GOTV) intent
• The election cycle — identify key dates within that cycle
• Targeted voters — demographics, geographic area, voter history
• Resources, logistics — budgeting and securing assets
• Vendor selection — identifying an experienced partner

Message timing, volume, and more

Once your client’s direct mail messaging strategy has been determined, it’s important to keep some key dates in the election cycle uppermost on the campaign’s radar, including:

• Early voting dates
• Registration deadlines
• Vote-by-mail application/ballot deadlines
• Election day

Whether your client’s direct mail campaign comprises two, three, or a series of multiple messages, and whether the intent is to persuade or provide crucial voting information (GOTV), you’ll want to ensure that the campaign messaging schedule is built around the above dates and deadlines. 

Timing is also key. You can make the argument for sending very early in a campaign for name-recognition purposes, but many voters do not pay much attention to political races until it gets closer to an early voting date — or the actual voting day. Send the message too early and it could very likely end up in the “circular file” upon arrival. However, a piece of direct mail sent too late could receive a similar circular-file fate. 

Consider these additional messaging best-practices tips:

Message volume: Have a planned cadence of multiple direct mail pieces throughout a campaign. Generally, the more messages that get in front of voters, the better. 

Direct mail budgets: Be sure to account for the various components that make up the overall cost of a campaign's direct-mail efforts — printing, mailing services, postage, and drop-ship freight, among others.  

Branding: Ensure the campaign branding on all direct mail is consistent across the messaging.

Multimedia: Consider how the campaign might benefit from combining a physical direct mail piece with social media or other digital effort(s). Leveraging direct mail engagement tactics like QR codes to create an on-ramp to a campaign's digital presence can provide significant boosts to the effectiveness of all channels. 

Partner considerations

While it’s possible to go it alone when it comes to architecting and then carrying out a direct mail political campaign, working with an experienced direct mail partner has many advantages. 

An experienced direct mail partner can: 

• Ensure the artwork you’ve prepared for your mail campaign is of sufficient quality
• Aid you in designing your direct-mail piece(s)
• Provide copy and/or editing assistance for your client’s message
• Print your direct mail piece(s)
• Help you schedule your direct mail campaign and work with the post office to ensure voters receive the piece(s) at the correct time

Once you have decided that it is indeed in the campaign’s best interest to source a direct mail partner, make sure that you do your due diligence. Here are seven primary factors to take into consideration when selecting a partner:

Expertise with direct mail — Knowledge of USPS requirements and relationships; in-depth knowledge of postal regulations, promotions, Informed Delivery, Share Mail, USPS Tracking, etc.

History of executing political direct mail — Experience with the pace of political direct mail as well as unique sort and drop shipment expectations, consistent communications, and procedures. Your partner should be able to stay one step ahead of your concerns and challenges throughout the campaign cycle, answering your questions before you have them. 

Ability to produce direct mail in various geographic regions — A partner that can support you in more than one region can help improve the efficiency of managing your campaigns. National coverage in many regions ensures you can enter mail either same- or next-day into USPS Sectional Center Facilities (SCFs) within your voter districts. 

Range of capabilities — Your partner should be able to support highly personalized/variable and targeted digital print projects as well as longer runs utilizing offset printing as needed. Plus, consider their team depth, which can come into play for support during “crunch time.” 

Data security — Is your partner SOC2 compliant? Protect personally identifiable information (PII), including names, addresses, party affiliations, voter data, etc., of your target audience. In addition, make sure they can protect the campaign from the risks associated with data breaches. 

Experience with all channels — Your partner should be experienced at leveraging and integrating with digital channels, providing a full range of seamless voter engagement across direct mail as well as such digital channels as email, social media, websites, and others. 

New technology — A partner should be constantly innovating and sharing new concepts, ideas, technology, and trends, allowing your firm to stay ahead of your competitors. 

Resonating with voters

Voter outreach is critical for every political campaign, and direct mail should be a significant component of your client’s messaging efforts. By utilizing direct mail, you can elevate the campaign’s visibility, providing voters with detailed information on the candidate or issue.

Moreover, direct mail allows you to offer a personal touch that can truly resonate with voters. As the 2024 voting season ramps up and the campaign team finalizes its messaging strategy, how your client communicates with voters will go a long way in determining the outcome.
 

RRD is one of the nation’s largest mail providers, producing 5-6 billion pieces of mail each year in its facilities across the country. Our Postal Affairs Team can assist political consultants and political campaigns in putting their best foot forward in voter outreach. For more information, contact Ian Redmond, RRD’s RVP Strategic Growth.