As we approach the 2024 general election, campaigns are starting to develop voter contact strategies. This post discusses why a vote-by-mail strategy is important, and how to do it right.
In the post COVID-19 pandemic era, voters have several options when it comes to casting their vote: Election Day, in-person early voting and vote by mail/absentee.
Only 43% of the vote was cast on Election Day in 2022, which makes pre-Election Day voting much more important than in the past.
As more people choose to vote by mail, it’s imperative that campaigns shift their plans to account for these voters.
So how do you build an effective vote-by-mail strategy?
Understand your goals
It starts with understanding your audience and likely vote behavior. Typically, there are two types of voter groups you want to incorporate into your vote-by-mail plan:
- voters who have historically voted by mail;
- low propensity voters your campaign needs to turnout.
If a voter in your persuasion audience has consistently voted by mail or is on the permanent absentee list in your state, it may be necessary to communicate with those voters earlier in the cycle before they return their ballot.
Likewise, low propensity voters will need several touches early and often to motivate them to turnout.
Research will help determine what messaging motivates these voters best. For example, we’ve found that communicating how an election could directly impact the voter is a strong message. Additionally, evidence shows that focusing on the convenience of voting by mail applies pressure to low propensity voters.
Build your voter contact schedule
Once you determine the right target audience, it’s time to build your voter contact schedule. This is typically broken into two phases:
- Vote by mail push; and
- Vote by mail chase.
The Push Phase
This is your opportunity to educate and encourage voters to vote by mail. The push phase typically starts with sending voters an application to fill out and return to the proper election office.
After years of testing, we have found that sending at least two separate applications yields the highest rate of return.
It’s critically important your campaign follows up on the application with additional touches on multiple mediums like digital, text message, and volunteer phone calls. Voters are busy and need to be frequently reminded to return their application.
The Chase Phase
A successful push campaign will build your audience for the chase phase. In the chase phase you are simply making sure voters who have received their ballot in the mail, fill it out and return it on time.
A healthy chase plan will incorporate several touches on your target audience across multiple mediums including mail, digital, text, phones and doors.
The correct mix of those mediums will depend on your race, district, and budget. But our research has shown voters will need anywhere from 8-12 touches before they return their ballot.
Conclusion
Building a successful vote-by-mail strategy can be challenging because of all the moving parts. Arena has decades of experience helping campaigns and national groups execute successful vote-by-mail voter contact programs. If we can help your campaign this year, please contact us immediately so we can get to work for you.
