Most campaign activity – especially online – is geared to the voters you actually hear from. They’re engaging with the emails, replying to texts, attending events, and commenting on posts, but these highly engaged individuals make up a small minority of the electorate.
The Pew-Knight initiative sorted Americans into four engagement groups based on 19 measures of political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance, and attention to news. Mobilizers make up 9%, Connectors 28%, Spectators 31%, and Outsiders 31%. These groups each have a different relationship with public life, including political campaigns and elections, but most campaigners focus entirely on the Mobilizers. So what can you do to make sure you’re reaching the rest?
Mobilizers Need Assignments
Mobilizers are doers. Sixty five percent (65%) contacted an elected official in the last 12 months, 74% put a sign in their yard or a bumper sticker on their car, and 21% volunteered for a political campaign. They’re also news junkies, with 61% of Mobilizers saying they discuss news every day – more than double the next group.
Campaigns focus most of their attention on Mobilizers, but the mistake is making the ask all about fundraising. Yes, they do donate, but they also want to do more. Mapping out additional tasks like relational organizing, posting on social media, creating content, and attending events will increase Mobilizers’ satisfaction and engagement with your campaign. A consistent, content-focused email newsletter is one of the best types of content to create for this group.
Connectors Bring Community
Connectors are triple the size of the Mobilizers and they vote at the same rate: 87%. Ninety percent (90%) of Connectors reported making a non-political charitable donation in the last year (the highest of any group) and they follow the news closely (88%), they’re not as politically engaged. Just 14% said they displayed a yard sign or bumper sticker.
However, this group leans Republican, 51% to 43% and their personal and professional networks can be significant assets to a campaign. Rather than trying to convert them into activists, your campaign should share messages and content that’s worth passing along to the networks they already belong to.
Move Spectators From The Sidelines
As their name suggests, Spectators follow the news – 84% say at least somewhat closely – and not much else. Just 49% voted in 2024. They’re also the youngest group with 28% under 30 and 64% under 50.
But online they’re highly engaged. Seventy five percent (75%) liked or saved posts about news in the last week and 85% said they chatted privately online about news in the same time frame. If you want to move Spectators from the sidelines and get them to vote, your campaign needs to create content in the right format and have a coherent group chat strategy.
Don’t Write Off The Outsiders
Despite being the least engaged group of the four (just 3% said they contacted an elected official in the last year) and least likely to follow the news (41%), discuss it every day(6%), or like/save social media posts (7%), Outsiders still vote (41%).
These voters aren’t seeking out political content on their own so it’s the group you need to reach with mail, canvassing, and paid advertising. They’re not going to be motivated by ideological arguments or detailed policies. They need concrete actions like confirming voter registration and polling place.
Conclusion
For most of us working on campaigns who find ourselves in the 9% as Mobilizers, this breakdown of the American public will be eye opening and it should cause us to re-evaluate our strategy.