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In today’s digital age, having a robust online presence is crucial for Labour members, candidates and groups looking to promote campaigns and continually grow electoral support. Labour campaigns must have a solid online presence to connect with voters and gain support. To achieve this, they need to use a combination of website, social media and email marketing strategies to reach potential voters where they spend most of their time – online.
There are 100s of features to choose from when designing a political website. Over the past decade, technological advances have fundamentally changed how websites are developed. Regular internet users, who often view 1000s of websites yearly, are acutely aware of well-designed websites and those designed poorly using outdated technology.
While traditional campaign tactics like door-knocking and street surgeries are still important, the rise of social media and the importance of a Labour website cannot be ignored. Using website and social media marketing strategies can be a winning combination that helps Labour campaigns engage with voters, build campaign support, and ultimately increase their chances of electoral success.
Over fourteen years of experience in website design and digital marketing have given us the expertise to recommend the essential strategies and features every Labour website should incorporate.
This article outlines the top strategies and features you should use on your website to promote your work, news and campaigns in 2023. When used correctly, the strategies can serve as a critical aspect of the marketing campaign to increase a Labour website’s engagement and gain support from voters in constituencies and wards across a local authority area.
Would you like us to develop your website, digital marketing and election strategies? Contact us at [email protected]. Our team are available 24/7 to help and would love to hear from you.
Website vs Social Media
Over the past decade, political campaigns have increasingly relied on online marketing strategies to reach and engage potential voters. While social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and recently Threads by Instagram, have become essential tools for political campaigns, a well-designed and optimised website can provide unique advantages that social media cannot match. In 2023 and as we look ahead to the May 2024 general election, you should use targeted website strategies to promote your campaigns and increase your chances of electoral success.
Here we’ll explore the advantages of using website strategies compared to social media and how they can increase your chances of electoral success.
– Content, Style and Messaging
One of the primary advantages of a website over social media is the control it offers over content and messaging. On a website, you can comprehensively present your campaigns and policy positions and organise them without being limited by character counts or the algorithmic whims of social media platforms. A website allows you to post longer, more in-depth content, such as policy papers, that may not be possible on social media.
A website also allows for control over branding, design, and tone. Unlike social media platforms, which limit the design and layout of profiles, a website allows for complete customisation to reflect the brand for your campaign.
– Flexibility and Customisation
A website also offers greater flexibility than social media platforms. You can tailor the website’s layout, features, and content to meet voters’ needs and preferences. For example, the website can include interactive elements such as polls, surveys, and sign-up forms, allowing voters to engage with your campaigns and provide feedback. The website can also include detailed information on your background, experience, and qualifications, which may not be feasible to present in full on social media platforms.
– Credibility and Professionalism
A well-designed and professional-looking website can give your campaign credibility and professionalism. A website allows more customisation and control over your image and message. It can be a hub for all campaign-related information, such as your policy positions, biographical information, and upcoming campaign events.
– Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is optimising a website’s content and structure to improve its ranking in search engine results pages. A website allows more extensive and effective SEO strategies than social media pages. By optimising your website for search engines, you can increase its visibility to potential voters searching for information on your campaigns. A website’s content and structure can be optimised for specific keywords and phrases relevant to your campaign and policy positions, making it more likely to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs). In contrast, social media pages are less easily discoverable via search engines, and the content is less customisable for SEO purposes.
– Analytics and Data Insights
A website provides better data insights than social media platforms. Using tools like Google Analytics, you can track website traffic, monitor user behaviour, and gain insights into which pages and content are most popular among voters. This data can be used to better adjust your website’s content and design to meet your voters’ needs and preferences and refine the marketing strategy.
– Long-Term Value
A website provides long-term value to a political campaign. While social media posts are ephemeral and can easily be lost in the shuffle of a constantly changing feed, a website provides a more permanent online presence. An optimised website can continue to generate traffic after your campaign has ended.
Best content strategies
The starting point for a Labour website is to ensure the registration of a domain and hosting plan, allowing all website pages and files to be displayed on the internet. Examples of domain names are jon4highpeak.com, cardifflabour.com and lukecharters.co.uk.
Once you’ve registered your domain and setup your website, you’re ready to implement content marketing strategies to promote your news, campaigns and achievements.
News & Blogs
With the increased use of social media, it would be easy to assume that a news section is no longer necessary in politics. This is a false assumption.
One of the most effective ways for you to promote your campaigns is through a news and blog page on a website. The news section of a political website is your site’s most basic and essential feature.
Here we’ll explore the benefits of having a news and blog page and the practical ways you can use it to increase your chances of electoral success in future elections.
– Establishing credibility
A news and blog page is an excellent platform for establishing yourself as a knowledgeable and credible voice on campaigns and specific policy matters. By consistently providing valuable and informative content, you can build trust with voters and position yourself as a thought leader in particular areas.
– Creating engagement
A news and blog page effectively allows you to engage with voters. By publishing articles, opinion pieces, and campaign updates, you can start conversations and encourage feedback and dialogue from supporters and voters.
– Reaching a wider audience
With social media and search engine optimisation (SEO), a news and blog page can reach a wider audience beyond traditional campaign channels. Using relevant keywords and sharing content on social media can attract new supporters and build momentum for your campaigns.
– Share personal stories and experiences
By sharing personal stories and experiences, you can humanise yourself and connect with your voters on a deeper level. Whether it’s an account of a particular policy issue or a personal anecdote, personal stories can help you build trust with voters and make your campaigns more relatable. For example, members could share their experiences growing up in poverty or discuss their passion for healthcare reform.
– Provide regular campaign updates
A news and blog page is an excellent platform for sharing updates on the progress of your campaigns. You can keep voters engaged by posting updates on your events, speeches, and policy announcements.
– Highlight key policy positions
A news and blog page can be used to highlight key policy positions and explain why they are important to you. Blog posts can provide a more in-depth analysis of specific policy proposals, which can help build credibility with voters.
– Respond to current events
A news and blog page can also be used to respond to current events and news stories related to your campaigns. For example, you could write a blog post responding to increased crime rates at a constituency or ward level, highlighting the differences between Labour policies and the opposition in dealing with the issue.
– Share expertise
You can establish yourself as a thought leader on policy matters by sharing well-researched opinion pieces and analyses of policy issues. By providing insightful and informative content, you can demonstrate your expertise and position yourself as a credible voice on issues that matter to voters and supporters.
– Respond to criticism
A news and blog page is also an effective way to respond to criticism and address the concerns of voters or opponents. You can demonstrate your commitment to transparency and accountability by publishing responses to complaints and concerns.
– Share multimedia content
A news and blog page are not limited to text-based content. You can also share multimedia content, such as videos, infographics, and images, to engage with supporters and convey complex information in a more accessible format. A news section also allows you to upload documents for voters and supporters to access quickly—for example, your latest newsletter as a PDF.
A news section on your website should perfectly complement your work on social media. For example, instead of featuring the entire contents of a press release on social media, you should include a snippet with a link to the full article on your website. The reasons for encouraging your followers on social media to visit your website are simple; it allows you to showcase more of your work and campaigns than would otherwise be possible in a single Facebook post and tweet.
The longer voters remain on your Labour website and click through news articles, the more likely they will learn about your work and campaigns and support you in future elections.
By incorporating the practical tips outlined here, you can use your news and blog page to effectively communicate your campaign message, build your profile, and gain momentum towards future electoral success.
Campaigns
The success of your campaign in future elections heavily relies on effectively promoting campaigns on a website, including manifesto commitments. A well-designed campaigns page can be an effective tool for advancing Labour policies to an audience, engaging with potential supporters and voters, and ultimately increasing the chances of electoral success. A campaign page would also be helpful to highlight your manifesto and policy commitments and pitch them against failing opposition policies.
A campaign and investments page will enable you to champion your most significant accomplishments—a single website page with the latest facts and figures. The Welsh Labour-led Government in the Senedd and Labour Groups across the UK control local authorities are investing £millions to improve people’s lives. Unfortunately, this investment may be largely hidden from the public without a website and social media presence. Or worse, opposition parties get to set the narrative by, for example, claiming credit for investment in their constituencies and wards. A Labour website allows you to claim and highlight these achievements, promote details of the investments to improve people’s lives, your campaign successes and promote priorities. The same principle applies to Opposition-led councils – a campaign page allows you to highlight the negative impact of opposition policies locally, the result of cuts to public services by the opposition at a constituency level and how you would reverse these policies in elected office.
The best part of a campaign page is that the contents do not have to be limited to only text and images. Social share buttons could be added to pages and sections to allow easy sharing by visitors to your website, thereby further promoting your profile. You can also create and embed videos, create polls, surveys and petitions, and display charts and graphs to speak to your campaign priorities and achievements.
Social Feeds
Social media has forever changed how elected politicians, groups and candidates communicate with voters and supporters. It’s common for Labour members and groups to be active on multiple platforms, commonly using a combination of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Communicating directly on social media is one way to showcase work and campaigns to voters. It’s also essential to highlight this work on a website. There are countless ways to introduce social media updates to your website. These options include implementing Social Feeds, Timelines, Galleries and Cards.
Social media feeds are becoming increasingly popular on websites. They allow voters to see real-time updates from your social media accounts on your website.
Here we’ll summarise the other benefits of using social media feeds on your website for future elections and how it can increase your chances of electoral success.
– Increases Website Traffic
One of the significant benefits of using social media feeds on your website is that it increases traffic to your website. Social media is one of the most powerful tools for driving traffic to a website. Adding social media feeds to a website can encourage voters to visit the website for social media updates. This increases engagement and can lead to increased support by your voters.
– Improves User Engagement
Social media feeds on your website also improve voter engagement. By displaying real-time updates, voters can stay up-to-date with the latest news, campaigns, and achievements. This also encourages voters to interact with your social media accounts by liking, commenting, and sharing posts. This level of engagement can lead to increased support and a more significant presence on social media.
– Increases Website Traffic
One of the significant benefits of using social media feeds on your website is that it increases traffic to your website. Social media is one of the most powerful tools for driving traffic to a website. Adding social media feeds to a website can encourage voters to visit the website for social media updates. This increases engagement and can lead to increased support by your voters.
– Improves User Engagement
Social media feeds on your website also improve voter engagement. By displaying real-time updates, voters can stay up-to-date with the latest news, campaigns, and achievements. This also encourages voters to interact with your social media accounts by liking, commenting, and sharing posts. This level of engagement can lead to increased support and a more significant presence on social media.
– Provides Social Proof
Social media feeds on your website can also provide social proof. Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people are more likely to follow the actions of others. When voters see others engaging with your social media accounts, such as liking and sharing posts, they are likelier to do the same. This can create a snowball effect and increase engagement and support for campaigns.
– Demonstrates Transparency
Your campaign can demonstrate transparency by displaying social media feeds on your website. Real-time updates show that you actively engage with voters and keep them informed. It also indicates your campaign is open to feedback and willing to engage with supporters.
– Cost-Effective
Social media feeds on your website are also cost-effective. They do not require additional resources or expenses beyond maintaining social media accounts. You can effectively promote your campaigns using social media feeds without incurring high costs.
– Increases Visibility
Social media feeds on your website can increase visibility. By displaying real-time updates on your campaign website, voters who may not follow you on social media or may not be using social media at all can still see updates. This increases the reach of your news and leads to increased support for your campaigns.
Social Feeds are the best solution for bringing social media updates to your website. Feeds update automatically upon a user refreshing a page. This option allows multiple social media content within a single feed (e.g. Facebook posts, Tweets, YouTube videos, etc.). Best of all, a multipurpose feed lets you display social media activity in modern responsive galleries and widgets.
Polls, Surveys & Petitions
By incorporating polls, surveys and petitions into your campaign website, you can create a dynamic and interactive online presence that encourages voter engagement and participation. You can leverage the power of polls, surveys, and petitions on your Labour website in 2023 to engage with your voters and increase your chances of future electoral success. These tools provide a unique opportunity to gather feedback from voters, understand their concerns, and tailor campaign strategies accordingly.
Polls and surveys are a great way to gather quantitative data about voter opinions and attitudes. Using online polling and survey tools, you can quickly and easily gather feedback on various issues, including policy priorities and election issues. This data can then be used to inform campaign messaging, target specific voter groups, and track changes in public opinion over time.
In addition to gathering quantitative data, polls and surveys can engage voters and build relationships. By asking for feedback and opinions, you can demonstrate that you value voter input and are committed to listening to their concerns. This can build trust and credibility with your voters and create a community around your campaigns.
Creating petitions on a website will enable you to mobilise support and generate momentum around particular issues. Polls, surveys, and petitions can generate media coverage and build buzz around your campaigns. By highlighting the results of polls and surveys, or the number of signatures on a petition, you can create a sense of momentum around the issues you care about.
Finally, polls, surveys, and petitions on your Labour website can support your email marketing campaign by gathering thousands of email addresses for voters and supporters. An email list allows you to communicate with your voters continually, involve supporters in volunteering door-knocking and leafletting efforts, and turn out the vote in your favour on election day.
Newsletter Signup
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach a large audience. A robust email marketing campaign lets you communicate directly with your supporters and build meaningful relationships. By sending regular communications via email, you can keep supporters informed about your campaign news, events, and policy updates. This helps build trust with supporters and allows your campaign to engage with them.
In 2023 you can leverage the power of email marketing to engage with voters and increase your chances of future electoral success by building email lists. One of the most effective ways to build an email list is by using a newsletter signup form on your website. An email newsletter signup form is an effective way to capture the attention of website visitors and turn them into potential supporters. Placing a prominent signup form on your website will encourage visitors to take action and stay connected with your campaigns, allowing you to build an email list of supporters quickly. This allows you to communicate with many voters simultaneously without incurring high costs.
MailChimp is the most popular email marketing service on the market. When voters submit their name and email address on your website, this information can be automatically migrated into your MailChimp email list. By gathering information about voters via the signup form, you can segment email lists and send targeted messages to specific groups of voters. This helps ensure that messages are relevant and resonate with particular voter groups.
Finally, an email campaign can help increase overall engagement. By sending regular updates via email, you can keep your supporters informed and engaged, increasing their willingness to volunteer, donate, and participate in campaign activities.
There are 100s of styling options available for integrating a signup form onto your website, each with different customisation options for the colour scheme, graphics and form fields. As with online surveys, polls and petitions, using a signup form during an election campaign can gather thousands of email addresses and build electoral support to defeat opposition parties in future elections.
Bonus
Facebook provides a powerful advertising tool known as Facebook Ads Manager and an effective way to reach a broader audience by supporting organic content. Ads Manager allows you to create targeted adverts based on location, interests, and behaviour. You can also use retargeting ads to target voters who have visited your website or engaged with your Facebook page.
Facebook advertising is a cost-effective way to reach a larger audience and increase your chances of electoral success. Facebook ads are essential in helping you reach voters and to increase your chances of electoral success, promote news and campaigns, increase Facebook likes, shares, and comments, and gather thousands of emails.
Here we’ll take a closer look at the benefits of using Facebook Ads Manager for your campaign:
– Advertise
Facebook Ads Manager allows you to create and publish ads across Facebook and Instagram. This means you can reach a wider audience and promote your campaign posts across multiple channels, increasing your chances of electoral success.
– Targeted Advertising
One of the most significant advantages of using Ads Manager is its ability to target specific audiences based on demographics, interests and behaviours. This targeting allows you to reach your target voters and promote campaign messages directly to those most likely to support them.
– Cost-effective
Facebook Ads Manager provides cost-effective advertising as you can set a specific budget for your campaign and target a particular audience. This means you only pay for the clicks, impressions or conversions you receive on a Facebook post or your page, ensuring that your advertising spends gain maximum influence.
– Facebook Pixel
Facebook Ads Manager allows you to promote news and campaigns in a targeted manner. For example, you could target voters interested in specific policy areas or use Facebook Pixel to engage people with your website posts. This increases the likelihood of your message being seen by those most likely to be interested in your campaign and policies.
– Gather Thousands of Emails
Using Ads Manager, you can collect email addresses from voters by creating a lead generation form on your website. You can then use these email addresses to communicate directly with your voters and supporters via email newsletters, mobilising them during an election.
– Ad Spending & Budgets
Facebook Ads Manager provides an excellent opportunity to reach and engage with voters, promote news and campaigns, and increase Facebook likes, shares, and comments. To achieve these aims, it’s essential to understand the ad spending and optimisation options available in Facebook Ads Manager. You can continually test and refine your campaign to improve ad performance.
– Budget and Schedule
Ads Manager allows you to set a specific budget for your campaign and schedule the ads to run during specific times or days of the week. This enables you to control your advertising spend and ensure your ads are shown to the right voters at the right time.
– Bid Strategy
Facebook Ads Manager offers various bid strategies that allow you to bid for ad placements based on your goals. You can choose from options such as cost per click (CPC), cost per impression (CPM), or cost per action (CPA). By selecting the appropriate bidding strategy, you can optimise your ad spend and ensure that the right audience sees your ads.
– Ad Placement
Facebook Ads Manager provides multiple ad placement options, including the newsfeed, stories, and the right-hand column. You can choose the placements that work best for your goals and voters, ensuring that the ads are seen where your audience is most likely to be.
– Ad Creative
You can optimise your ad creative to increase engagement and improve your ad’s performance. This can include eye-catching visuals, clear messaging, and a call to action. You can improve your ads’ performance over time by continually testing and refining your ads.
– Targeting
Ads Manager allows you to target ads based on demographics, interests and behaviours. By refining the targeting, you can ensure that ads are shown to the most relevant voters, improving the effectiveness of your campaign.
– Ad Delivery
Facebook Ads Manager provides different ad delivery options, including standard, accelerated, and scheduled delivery. By selecting the appropriate delivery option, you can optimise the ad delivery and ensure that the correct voters see the ads at the right time.
Summary
We hope this article helped you to learn about the top website strategies you should use to reach voters, promote campaigns and grow electoral support in 2023.
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