I noticed this post about the Yankton County Democratic Party Chair Candidate forum on Saturday. First I want to say I don’t have a dog in the fight, not only am I NOT a delegate, I’m not a registered Democrat (just a very bitter and cynical indy). I also have no issues with Paula Hawks, though I think the best person for the chair is John Claussen. I think Paula had her shot but screwed it up so badly it should disqualify her. But I wanted to pick apart some of the things she said on Saturday;
Paula Hawks asserted that the party needs to give members something to believe in rather than just issues to fight against. She also said that party lacks a central message and has not done a good job of showing what it means to be a Democrat.
I agree that the party needs a central message like farming, affordable healthcare and better wages but I also think each candidate needs to mold a special message for the district they are running in. I have felt that the SDDP has too often tried to create the message (simplify it) for each individual candidate. This is painting with too broad of a brush. I think the state party needs to concentrate on raising money for candidates and let the individual candidate create their own unique Democratic message in relation to their district, or even the office they are running for (legislator, city councilor, county commissioner, etc.).
Finally, she claimed that the state party needs to do more with both social media and mainstream media to get the message out. She pointed out that many young voters have moved away from Facebook and rely on Snapchat or Instagram and asserted that the party needs to fashion a message to fit those platforms.
This is where the party has been f’ing the chicken for several years. They keep thinking that the only way to bring in younger voters is by posting on Social Media. While it’s ok to campaign on social media (it’s mostly free) you have to tie it in with a strong direct mail strategy and campaign. In fact, several experts who study direct mail found that the younger generation 18-35ish love getting direct mail, in fact they read it more than voters 55 and older (which come in 2nd place) while middle age has continued to be flat.
A variety of studies have concluded that millennials favor and even enjoy receiving direct mail. InfoTrendsconducted a survey finding that while only 26% of millennials prefer email marketing, 38% prefer direct mail pieces. In addition, millennials are more likely than any other generation to read their mail, in great part due to the fact that they actually enjoy receiving mail; in fact, this study found that 25% of millennials consider reading direct mail a leisure activity. The USPS found that 47% of millennials look forward to checking their mailbox each day, which Harris Diamond, CEO of the global advertising network McCann, affectionately refers to as “The Mail Moment.†It’s important that companies attempting to target millennials effectively tap into this moment.
Not only do millennials like to read their mail, but they also pay closer attention to it than any other age demographic. In 2016, the USPS found that 40% of millennials read direct mail thoroughly, compared to only 18% of non-millennials. They also discovered that millennials spend more time reading mail compared to other generations: an average of 9.7 minutes each day, compared to 7.9 minutes for Generation X and 8 minutes for Baby Boomers. These reports illustrate that millennials are extremely likely to engage with direct mail marketing material.
So why is that? Because the younger generation has NOT grown up with mail, they have grown up with social media and phones, they are bored with it. A good, old fashioned direct mail campaign towards younger voters tied into social media and good old door knocking is incredibly effective. It also helps to have definitive voting lists of who actually votes. As Cameraman Bruce would say, “Enough of the Facebook games.” Direct mail works if you work it. Every successful campaign I have worked on used direct mail as it’s central messenger.