Political campaign strategies should be 20% strategy and 80% implementation. That said, as you set out on your campaigning journey.

The earlier you start campaigning, the better. The best politicians are always managing their distributed organizing campaigns by building relationships, figuring out their future campaign stance based on what they hear, and so on. However, if we are talking about the upcoming general election then we will want to start assembling the campaign team and figuring out campaign strategies as early as is allowable. All the campaign elements like number of campaign team members, donations, voters contacted, etc. will benefit from having a longer lead time.

Competitor analysis is essential in any contest. A good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents can give you a huge advantage in building your campaign messaging, and campaign strategies, in head-to-head debates, and in undermining their campaign message when necessary.
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Develop your competitor analysis worksheet to capture where you stand in relation to other candidates in the race. On a spreadsheet list strengths and weaknesses of all candidates including yourself. On the same spreadsheet itemize each candidate’s position on the key topics in the election. In this way, you will clarify where you are strong, and where you are vulnerable and be clear about your campaign messaging in relation to your competitors.

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Before any political campaign strategy is put to paper, it is worthwhile really considering the political landscape that the election will be fought. Are the demographics of the area changing.

Remember, if you can understand what voters think and you understand the way in which media narratives dictate or undermine what voters think, then you have a much better base from which to develop your election strategy.

Digital Tools political campaign software is a powerful way to take your campaign to the next level. There are a variety of political campaign tools your campaign strategy will benefit from. They are usually based around giving your team a better shape and organization, or they are designed to improve your ability to communicate.

For most political campaign strategies, field campaigning is a must. Whether this is done door-to-door or through ‘hot-spot canvassing’ in the community, it is proven to be an effective form of voter persuasion and GOTV strategy. Field organizing strategy needs to be built by someone who has experience with voter targeting, canvassing techniques, and the tools that facilitate this.

Voter targeting is important in any political campaign,do you know how many voters there are in your local government or state? Do you know how many are likely to vote, or who are likely to vote for your opponents? Having answers to these questions will really help you refine your political campaign strategy.

Everyone running for office has a ‘sense’ of what the electorate thinks, and they usually try to respond to that understanding of voter issues with campaign messaging in order to represent those views. All of this is great, but in a digital era, it is possible to be a bit more rigorous about this and to capture voter issues in a way that accurately reflects those concerns and helps the campaign am. There are a number of ways this can be done, like online surveys, canface-to-face canvassing, market research and social media interaction.