Political campaign managers and communications strategists, can apply marketing techniques to promote both candidates and political initiatives. Political marketing involves the communication and awareness of the processes of exchanges between the candidate, or the policy, and their environment, with particular care to the positioning of the candidate and their communications.
Alongside this positioning, political marketing strategy also involves marketing segmentation of voters by demographics, location, behaviour and lifestyle. However when one looks at the different types of voter/politician exchange in an Irish context, behavioural segmentation applied in commercial marketing strategies can be quiet readily discerned. These elements are necessary for product support, amd necessary for voter support.
For example, when the voter is assured that by selecting a particular candidate or party there will be benefit to that individual, or community, is evidence of ‘benefit sought’. To encourage awareness of benefit, the communication strategist should ensure that the voter hears about the candidate, and their benefit to the voter and his or her community.
‘Loyality’ occurs when work on behalf of constituents is emphasised to build allegiance to a particular politician, loyality can be earned through the voter identifying with the candidate and the canidates efforts on their behalf.
‘Usage Rate’ is when a politician constantly alerts voters and residents that the local community needs the politician’s services – by telling the voters of the work done on their behalf, or by highlighting where the politician can help the voter. The candidate’s responsiveness to voters needs is important to encourage the voter to contact the candidate.
To be successful political parties have to carefully cultivate voters ‘Attitude towards product’. This is one of the biggest hurdles facing newcomers who have to overcome either negativity or indifference towards the candidate of party.
