Political Campaign Twitter for Candidates
Your political campaign Twitter account is a free and easy way to engage with supporters online. As a candidate, you’re going to get a lot of advice on how you should run your campaign and engage with voters. Some of this advice will be solicited, some of it, not so much. But one of the top political campaign tips we give candidates is making sure they embrace social media, namely Twitter. Twitter is a great way to share news and your messaging with supporters and voters. A lot of reporters are also on Twitter, so it’s an effective means to drum up some earned media for your campaign as well. Below are a few of our top best practices for Twitter for candidates.
Make sure you are engaging with voters
The mistake that some candidates make is simply sending out social media posts just for the sake of it, rather than really engaging with their supporters online. Some candidates also have a tendency to just repost the same content they posted on their Facebook page. Authenticity matters online, so make sure your tweets are genuine and engaging. Real engagement goes beyond sending out a tweet here and there; it means that you’re having a real conversation with supporters, organizations that have endorsed you, and other local leaders. This could mean responding to their tweets or retweeting them to make people feel connected to your campaign and get your campaign more exposure online.
Don’t let your Twitter account go dormant
We get it, campaign life can be hectic and there’s only so many hours in a day. When you’re running a campaign largely by yourself, it’s easy to prioritize call time or a big campaign event over sending out a tweet. But it is important to maintain a consistent presence on social media. Tweeting often optimizes your account and allows your message to reach a larger audience. We recommend that you post on social media at least 3 times a week and increase the frequency to every day as you get closer to Election Day. One thing that can help make your life easier is scheduling posts in advance, so even when you have a busy day, your account can still be active. You can use tools like Tweetdeck to schedule ahead of time and keep track of your mentions, hashtags, direct messages, and more, all in one place.
Embrace the hashtags
If you’re new to Twitter, there can be a tendency to forget to include hashtags in your posts. But hashtags are important and can make sure that more people see your post and increase the likelihood that your content is shared or retweeted. One easy way to embrace hashtag is by utilizing trending hashtags. Check which hashtags are trending and use them in your posts when they are relevant to your campaign messaging to help your tweets gain more exposure. But be sure not to overdue hashtags. Research shows that using more than 2 hashtags in your tweets leads to decreased engagement.
Post timely content
While it’s great to schedule tweets in advance, it’s also important to make sure you are posting timely content as well. Twitter is a great place to post campaign news and amplify any earned media or articles that mention your campaign. You should also use Twitter to promote content such as an endorsement, an upcoming event, or a blog or op-ed you or a supporter wrote. And be sure to take advantage of trends. Trends, which you can find on the left side of your Twitter feed, are determined based on your interests, accounts you follow, and where you are located. You can boost your account’s visibility by incorporating trending content in your tweets.
Have other questions about how you can get your candidate campaign off the ground? Reach out to The Campaign Workshop!