As you probably heard or read, Twitter recently announced it will no longer accept paid political advertisements on its platform. Many believe it’s just a matter of time before Facebook and YouTube follow suit.
And I can tell you from first-hand experience that your email provider is ready, willing and able to shut down your email list if your messaging crosses over into something they, and they alone, determine is a violation of their rules.
Which really sucks for you if your campaign was relying on such digital media for your campaign’s success.
My friend Richard Viguerie is a master marketer known as the conservative movement’s “Funding Father” for his pioneering work in the late-‘70s/early-‘80s using small-dollar direct mail letters to raise money, spread the conservative gospel and help elect Ronald Reagan.
So when Richard casts out pearls of wisdom, you’d be crazy not to gather them up.
In a column this week Richard writes extensively about the danger to campaigns which rely on the digital platforms controlled by private entities who can censor your messaging or cut you off from your supporters and prospective voters without a moment’s notice – or even an explanation.
On the other hand, “snail mail” is handled by the United States Post Office. And anybody, regardless of political persuasion, can use it. All you have to do is pay the postage.
“Used properly,” Richard points out, “direct mail isn’t just a means of raising money, it is also a form of media that the Left does not control and cannot censor.”
Sure, it costs more to mail a letter than to send an email. But consider the “cost” if your email never gets delivered!
As Richard notes at the conclusion of his column: “The one sure way around them (private digital service firms) is direct mail, the media that built and still sustains the conservative movement.”
There’s a LOT you can learn from this column. Click here
Cheers!
Dr. Chuck Muth, PsD
THE CAMPAIGN DOCTOR
Professor of Psephology*
(homeschooled)
P.S. When consulting with candidates and recommending various “stuff” to them, including using snail-mail, I often hear: “We can’t afford to do that.”
Wrong attitude. Stinkin’ thinkin’.
If “that” is something that will help you win your race, the correct attitude is: “We can’t afford NOT to do that…so how do we raise the money?”
Make this one change in your mindset and you’ll be well on your way to far greater success than you may have ever imagined.
* Psephology (see-follow-gee): The study of campaigns and elections