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Building your Strategic Plan
Bert Ralston
Vox Populi Communications, LLC
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
The Strategic Process
• Initial Assessment/Research• Strengths and Weaknesses• Assumptions• Strategic Hypothesis• Consensus• Strategic Statement• Strategic Grid• Unifying Message
Initial Assessment/Research• Maps and Geography• District History and General Narrative• Demographics• Election Data/Voter Turnout• District Economy• Centers of influence• Party Organization• Political History—Prior Elections• Community Profiles• District Media• State/National Environment
– Impact of special coalitional groups and organizations– Economic conditions– Key issues– Other uncontrollable issues
The Candidacies Strengths and Weaknesses
• “Campaigns are about maximizing your candidate’s strengths and neutralizing your weaknesses while neutralizing your opponent’s strengths and exploiting their weaknesses.”
Ed Goes—The Tarrance Group
Strengths and Weaknesses
• A strength can also be a weakness• Assessment must be done objectively• Areas to evaluate
– Personal– Business– As a candidate– Past campaigns– Promises made/kept– Resources/Finances– Appointed positions
Key Assumptions
• Assumptions must address the following key points:– Voter turnout– Political environment– Issues Matrix– Fundraising Capabilities– Impact of other races– Opponent(s)’ strategy– Your base vote
Key Assumptions
• Campaign strategy is based on a series of assumptions—if your assumptions are wrong—so is your strategy, so…
take the time to write them down and think them through!
The Strategic Hypothesis
• At this point a strategic hypothesis should be starting to take shape from the initial assessment.
• Write this down—It is now time to draft a first cut strategy statement for both you and that of your opponent.
Opponent's Weaknesses +Candidate's Strengths
District History + Political Environment =Reason
What must strategy be capable of answering?
• Who could/should vote for you and Why• How do you prevent the opponent from
ultimately reaching 50% + 1• What image will you project of your
candidate—how do you want him/her to be perceived
• What image will you paint of your opponent—what image do you want to allow him/her to develop
The Strategic GridGroups supporting you on you
You on you Your opponent on themselves
Groups supporting your opponent on them
Groups supporting you on your opponent
You on your opponent
Your opponent on you
Groups supporting your opponent on you
The Unifying Message
• Now that you know who you are going to talk to, you must decide what you will say to the total universe of voters
• Campaigns are about contrast, whether positive or negative, your message must contrast at some point with what your opponent is saying
• Name ID is elemental, no one cares about what you are if they do not know who you are
• What sort of candidate image are you trying to develop?• Pick issues that help to portray that image• YOUR MESSAGE IS NOT BEING DELIVERED IN A VACUUM
Tactics
• You know who you want to talk to…• You know what you want to say…• Now, how do you get the message out?
– Paid Media—Television, Cable, Radio, Direct Mail, Print, New Media.
– Earned Media—Press Releases, Ed Boards, “Events”, Debates, Town meetings.
– Organizational Contact—Phone Banks, D2D, Yard signs, Lit drops, Special events, Coalition development.
Tactics(Key metrics)
• All tactics require resources—financial and personal
• Success must be defined per each tactic in advance (does it move numbers?)
• Tactics must be measured on an ongoing basis• Tactics must reach selected target groups• Have the most effective tactics reached
saturation before new ones are added?• A great strategy, with poorly implemented
tactics, will lose.
Building the Campaign PlanFrom the Strategic Process
• Political Environment
• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Assumptions
• Strategic Grid
• Unifying Message
Building the Campaign PlanFrom the Planning Process
• Candidate's Schedule• Paid Media Plan• Earned Media Plan• Organization• Coalitions• Timetable• Fundraising• Budget• Volunteer Program• Vote Goals/Targeting• Voter ID Program• Absentee/Early Voting Plan• Election Day plan
