Content is the fuel that drives your campaign’s social media marketing. Blog posts, photos, graphics, and videos all play a role in engaging your audience and driving them to action.
Don’t lose sight of your campaign’s primary objective, however, which is to win an election. The content you create must always be in service to – not a distraction from – this goal.
Have a Schedule
Your campaign should post 3-5 times every day on Facebook and 7-10 times daily on Twitter. That’s between 21 and 35 Facebook posts and 49 - 70 Tweets per week. Before you panic, that can include retweeting or sharing others’ posts.
But the only way you’ll be able to stay on top of it is to have a schedule. Using social media scheduling software to automate the process is one way to keep your posting consistent, but you’ll still need a plan to create your own content.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the types of content you need to create and how to do it.
Petition and Survey Topics
It’s easy to overlook your email list building messages as a content type, but they’re essential to the overall success of your social media marketing strategy. Your campaign engages on platforms like Facebook to drive supporters to take additional actions, like volunteering, attending events, and donating. That journey begins with an email signup.
A campaign’s goal with petitions is not to its own message, but rather to surf the wave of what’s already trending online.
- Check for trending topics on Twitter.
- Keep an eye on what grassroots activists are sharing on their own pages and groups.
- The homepage of Fox News is another good barometer for what’s trending broadly.
Blog Posts
Posting regular, brief blogs updating supporters about your campaign is a proven method for driving traffic to your website from social media and search engines. Once they arrive, a visitor should be encouraged to provide contact information to keep in touch.
You can also retarget site visitors for later advertising on Facebook and other platforms.
- Rewrite press releases to a blog format and summarize news reports about the campaign to create blog posts.
- Use a plugin like Yoast to customize how your blog post appears on Google, Facebook, and Twitter.
- Check links before you post them with the Facebook Sharing Debugger and the Twitter Card Validator to make sure you display the correct image.
Photos
Photos are an important way to show campaign activity, but far too often political social media photos look nothing like the photos social media users normally share. More selfies and fewer group shots.
Graphics
Graphics are another staple of social media marketing. They should summarize an idea or concept visually so a supporter stops their scrolling and takes time to learn more.
- Square graphics are better because they occupy more real estate.
- Use an affordable, easy-to-use design platform like Canva to quickly create social graphics.
Videos
Videos are the most engaging type of social media content. Like photos, they should be similar to other types of videos commonly seen on the platform. Videos that use professional graphics and editing aren’t seen as authentic as simple selfie videos.
- Most videos on social media are watched with sound off. Use software like KapWing to add captions or titles.
- Make your video brief and front load your most important parts.
- Use live videos to interact directly with supporters in the comments section and drive engagement.
While the amount of content you need to create for your campaign’s social media marketing may seem overwhelming at first, once you have a schedule and develop a workflow for creating, it will become a habit. Soon, you’ll also see the results of your hard work pay off in the form of new email signups and donations.
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