In general political advertisements are very similar to selling a product or service. It comes down to your candidates marketing message. To paraphrase an old saying all politics is local, marketing experts say All Politics is Retail. The same basic advertising techniques are applied to achieve the same outcome, the election of your political candidate.
Direct mail is one of the most effective marketing tools for political candidates. Using a 6 X 9 postcard could be asked an extremely successful strategy . Unlike newspapers, radio, and television, your advertising dollar will go directly to the voters to the district(s) or precinct(s) desired.
6 X 9 postcard Marketing is low cost and high impact political tool. A great way to go is using 4 color process printing. Four color printing otherwise known as CMYK printing, or four color process printing, uses cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and black ink to create full color images on paper. Today four color printing is very affordable when purchased online.
High quality commercial printers producing a 6 X 9 postcard should use a 14pt White Gloss Card Stock (sometimes called cover). Offer 4 color process (4/4 which means color on both sides) BLEEDS (which means the printing goes to the edge of the paper). Lastly use a Hi-Gloss Aqueous Coating on sides to protect the ink on your postcard from rubbing off.
Because politics is an ever changing marketing campaign you must plan around printer turnarounds. Depending on your 6 X 9 postcard quantity standard turnarounds should be around five working days after artwork approval. Some printers offer turnaround in as little as one working day after artwork approval for an adder. This can be extremely useful if you need to get a new message out fast.
You may also wish to find an online source that can bulk mail your 6 X 9 postcards or use first class postage depending on your time frame. Saving you the time to find a mailing house.
To get the best prices look for low cost four color printer that do 4 color process printing only, buy their paper in bulk and ink by the barrel, have automated order input and can send your art directly to the press, and gang their jobs with their presses and software. By paying upfront for your printing jobs, you can save. If you want to save money on your next color printing job you should look for an online printer that would be your source for high quality, low cost, four color printing, fast!
Five Tips Designing the Effective Political 6 X 9 Postcard
? Think about how your will your candidate benefit your prospective voter, i.e. what problems will you solve for them and write those down. Then think about how your candidate is better, faster, more competitive than your opponent and write those down. These are key elements for any marketing project.
?With any type of marketing piece you have to be aware of the space that you have for both your text and graphics. You got to make that space count. You don't have to write a book, just highlight the most important parts of your candidates strategy by using a good qualifying headline, and then supporting body text, along good supporting graphics and or pictures.
? Use fonts that are readable i.e. Arial or a times Roman font. Try not to go below 7 point font size for your body text. My design preference is not to go below a 10 point font. Once you have got your body text edit it to the size of your full color 6 X 9 postcard.
? Include a call for action like elect John Doe for Mayor on November 3. You also must include your paid for information at the bottom of the 6 X 9 postcard i.e. PAID BY JOHN DOE FOR MAYOR HEATHER JOAN DOE 555 Your St., Your City Your State 11111. If you don't know the rules in your area contact your local election board.
? Lastly before sending your artwork to the printer take some time to proofread your piece. Because once it's printed it's printed. Recently a candidate for the United States Senate misspelled the state name on one of their advertisements. What a way to turn off the voters.
In conclusion you may want to have a series of 6 X 9 postcard that highlight specific platforms that you want to focus on. You may also wish to have different versions of the postcards so you can see which version(s) is most effective. You don't always have to mail out 6 X 9 postcard they can be a great handout piece if you're going door-to-door.
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