While all of us want to believe Direct Mail in political campaigns is a thing of the past, you couldn’t be further from the truth. When targeted at specific voters, especially likely voters, it is quite effective, and believe it or not, very affordable.
This is what the United States Post Office says about it;
Why use it?
Direct Mail is one of the most powerful tools to get your message to voters. Your mailings will be:
- Cost–effective by mailing to specific areas or addresses, and the format can be as inexpensive as a postcard.
- Personalized with messages and graphics to tell the story of your candidate or message.
As a person who has worked in Graphic Design and specifically direct mail for over 22 years, I have seen the positive effects of strategic direct mail campaigns.
The Wellstone organization, who is the leader in grassroots campaigns has said this about direct mail;
TIP #2: BEGIN WITH A GOOD PLAN
- Strategic universe: Make sure you define who your targeted voters are using the voter file. If you have a mail consultant, he or she can help you figure out your universe.
- Repetition matters:Â Your mail plan must include multiple contacts with targeted voters over a span of time building toward Election Day.
- Complements other media: To support the campaign message your direct mail must complement all other communications – not just paid media, but what the candidate is saying on the stump, what volunteers are saying at the doors, etc.
- Thoughtful timelines: Your plan must balance resources with repetition and timeliness of your mail. Most voters aren’t paying attention to a campaign until the last 90 days. The challenge in waiting until voters are tuned in is that you will be competing against the clutter of everyone else’s mail; you’ll want to make sure you have a big enough program with enough repetition and creative design to break through the clutter.  If you start too early, without a large enough program to sustain consistent contact throughout you risk being forgotten or will not have the repetition during voters’ key decision time.
So what I can’t figure out is why the South Dakota Democratic party steers away from those campaigns, or has weak ones? The SD Republicans always use them, and quite effectively. Guess what? They also win.
The SD Democratic Party needs to wakeup and embrace the power of direct mail.