The Campaign Workshop Blog

When people hear the terms “grassroots organizers” or “community advocates” they often do not see themselves reflected in those descriptions. However, very often they have already been an advocate without even realizing it.

When it comes to political direct mail printing paper, there are as many choices as there are types of coffee drinks at your local Starbucks. Each paper type has specific characteristics that influence printability, color, texture, and price. Which option you choose depends on your budget, design, and overall goals. 

Whether you’re running for your local school board or the U.S. Senate, social media will likely be a prong of your political digital campaign strategy. Strong digital campaigns meet people where they are online, and the numbers don’t lie—social media remains an omnipresent force in our world, with more than half of the global population projected to use social platforms by mid-2020.

The world of political printing is varied, vast and mysterious for many. But it doesn’t have to be a mystery (unless you’re into intrigue, in which case, I’m sure you can keep the mystery alive in whatever manner floats your boat)—this blog will help you navigate the ins and outs of choosing a printer for your political work. From direct mail, to yard signs (buyer beware, they don’t vote!) to walk lit, the world of political printing comes down to a few important (and common-sense) criteria.

When entering  the digital advertising world without any prior experience or  background in the field, one of the largest challenges you will face would be getting the hang of all of the digital advertising acronyms. Digital advertising has its own language DSP, DMP, CPM, CPA, CTR... What do all these ad terms mean?

Regardless of how you cut it, writing and producing quality political direct mail and doing political printing is no easy task. There are a lot of things that go into quality political printing, and it takes quite a bit of time and practice to be able to do it well. With that said, below is a quick list of dos and don’ts to producing quality political printing.

By using presentation tools, you’ll never give a bad or boring presentation again. Well, we hope not! The reality is that presentations don’t always take priority when you’re busy trying to run a campaign, manage a business or non-profit, or build an advocacy network.

Digital campaigns for political causes have come a long way since we ran our first one in 2003 for the League of Conservation Voters in Colorado. We created a pretty rudimentary animated flash ad of gas spewing out of a car driven by Pete Coors.

As a Democratic consulting firm, we are frequently asked if there is a partisan difference in political direct mail. The short answer? Not really. Of course, there are vast differences when it comes to message, but regardless of party, both sides use similar strategies to reach voters. From a design, creative, and targeting standpoint, there is little disparity between Democratic and Republican direct mail.

With what feels like the entire country moving to remote work, I have been thinking a lot about what a successful culture looks like when it comes to remote work for non-profits.

In the last few weeks, a lot has changed in our world, and we’ve gotten numerous requests for more information about coronavirus digital trends and changes in media consumption in general. Never one to stand between people and what they want, I’ve pulled together a list of some of the things we’re seeing in our work, and from partners and clients.

Whether you are working on a political or advocacy campaign, a digital campaign will likely be a major part of your communications budget. If executed well, digital—from organic social media posts to programmatic advertising—gives you the ability to communicate with voters that you never could otherwise reach, and to hyper-target ads to specific lists or segments of voters.

Alan Secrest has been polling for 35 years and reached out with some insights into political polling during a crisis: