Peer to Peer Outreach 

Political campaigns always need to keep up with their constituents and, as traditional phone outreach contact rates have spiraled in recent years, they’ve had to get creative in their approach.

One of the newer ways campaigns are augmenting their phone outreach is by using peer-to-peer text messaging. P2P text messaging allows engagement through text to create relationships with their audience and collect cheap, accurate data about them. If you want to read more about peer-to-peer texting read our beginners guide here.  

Peer to Peer Text Messaging for Political Campaigns 

Political campaigns are seeing exceptional results with P2P text messaging and tools like Blu Txt are quickly becoming a must-have for campaigns and political organizations of all sizes.  

One great aspect of P2P text messaging is that it allows political campaigns to customize their responses to constituents. This helps build a more personal connection between your political campaign and potential supporters. Starting at only $.05 per message, the cost-effectiveness and speed in which political campaigns can drive results and collect data from their universe of supporters is ultimately what leads many campaigns to begin adding more P2P text messaging to their political outreach plan. 

Connecting with Younger Voters

The amount of time spent on mobile devices these days is incomparable to any other time in history, and Millennials and Generation Z are leading the way. Because of this Millennials and Generation Z are quickly becoming one of the most sought-after audiences for political outreach campaigns. Millennials and Gen Z will continue to be a “must-have” audience in the near future, especially since they comprise the largest voting population since the baby boomers (The Atlantic). 

One aspect that distinguishes Millennials and Gen Z for generations that came before them is that many don’t want to pick up the phone and chat. In fact, people under 45 avoid picking up the phone, and would rather engage through text than any other form of communication. (NY Times). Not only does your audience prefer communicating with your political team via text messaging, combine that with the ability for your team to customize those messages, and you have a lost-cost, effective way for your campaign to mobilize your audience and move mountains. While Millennials and Gen Zers are making waves and are getting a lot of attention these days, don’t forget about other generations! 

Baby boomers spend about five hours a day on their smartphones, mirroring the time the younger generations do. (Forbes) P2P texting, with a product like Blu Txt, creates an amazing tool for political campaigns to build advocacy and drive immediate action from their audience.

Benefits of Text Messaging for Political Campaigns

Putting aside the fact that Blu Txt costs just pennies per message, using peer-to-peer text messaging is one of the most cost-effective ways to campaign simply by time saved conducting outreach. “The very best at door knocking will only be able to reach 30 voters an hour at a 25% completion rate depending on the time of day.”(Political Moneyball) This makes peer-to-peer text messaging a clear and definitive winner. With regards to contacting a universe of thousands of supporters, collecting accurate data, at an incredibly low rate, in a fraction of the amount of time traditional phone outreach would require. 

In addition to the benefits, the engagement factor is exceptional compared to other tactics. “Political texts get opened anywhere from 70-98% of the time, which is significantly higher than email open rates or answers to phone calls.” (Technology Review) When a person engages/responds to a text you are becoming personal and are beginning to build a relationship with your constituents. Done well enough, this relationship becomes something that the campaigns can count on for years to come.

Blu Txt

Blu Txt is Blu Contact’s peer-to-peer text messaging solution offered to political campaigns, PACs, parties, and organizations. This peer-to-peer texting solution provides an effective way to reach your audience, produce accurate data, is lightning fast, and very low cost. Building a positive back and forth with your audience allows for instant and accurate feedback, making Blu Txt a must for your next campaign.

As with our similar solution for political phone outreach, Blu Dial, Blu Txt offers self- and full-service options. Self-service lets you use your own staff to send the messages. This is a great option if you want to send a short ID to a small universe or if you have a team of dedicated volunteers. But, what if you have a large universe and need to reach them in a short amount of time? This is an excellent opportunity to consider our full-service option and have Blu Contact’s team send messages on your behalf.  

Blu Txt’s P2P SMS solutions are great options for campaigns. Especially if you want to maximize your budget, collect accurate data, and drive immediate outreach results.

If you think Blu Txt can aid in your next campaign contact us here. We look forward to answering any questions you may have and schedule a product demo for your team. 

Works Cited 

10 Reasons Political Campaigns Use Text Messaging & Example Texts for Political Candidates. (2019, September 24). Retrieved from https://www.sendhub.com/example-texts-for-political-candidates/ 

5 Reasons Political Campaigns Should Use SMS Marketing. (2021, February 14). Retrieved from https://www.tatango.com/blog/5-reasons-political-campaigns-should-use-sms-marketing/

Brownstein, R. (2020, October 23). The GOP’s Demographic Doom. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/millennials-and-gen-z-will-soon-dominate-us-elections/616818/

O’Keefe, P. (2018, August 28). How P2P Texting is Revolutionizing Politics. Retrieved from https://medium.com/political-moneyball/how-p2p-texting-is-revolutionizing-politics-bfe697c2abb8

Rob Griffin, W. H. (2020, October 19). America’s Electoral Future. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/politics-and-elections/reports/2020/10/19/491870/americas-electoral-future-3/

Roberts, N. F. (2019, May 06). Forget Generational Stereotypes, Baby Boomers Are Just As Addicted To Smart Phones As Millennials. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolefisher/2019/05/06/forget-generational-stereotypes-baby-boomers-are-just-as-addicted-to-smart-phones/?sh=1f140e154f89

Roose, K. (2018, August 01). Campaigns Enter Texting Era With a Plea: Will U Vote 4 Me? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/technology/campaign-text-messages.html

Ryan-Mosley, T. (2020, October 28). Why political campaigns are sending 3 billion texts in this election. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/10/28/1011301/why-political-campaigns-are-sending-3-billion-texts-in-this-election/

Zarroli, J. (2020, October 07). Getting Lots Of Political Messages On Your Phone? Welcome To ‘The Texting Election’. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/920776670/getting-lots-of-political-messages-on-your-phone-welcome-to-the-texting-election