Communication in Political Campaigns
Organization a political campaign is one of the most demanding and grueling activities feasible. Running an archetypal campaign means 12+ hour-long workdays running for several months. On the Election Day, it is either a win or you lose. To ensure all these efforts do not go to waste, the proper communication skills have to be used. In this paper, there will be the analysis of various communication skills and tactics that have been used to win elections and waive the masses favor towards a certain political party.
Better communication skills ensure that a campaign for a candidate or political party is well known to the people he is appealing to. The success of a campaign is directly linked to a good communication strategy. The following points when applied well mean the success of a campaign. They include:
Being in the modern political age, the user of technology is essential in the use of any campaign. Well-planned tools permit a campaign lineup to distribute information with no trouble and efficiently. They also take advantage of the technological services present like the social media. The social media plays a great role in the communication during campaigns. Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts have been used in campaigns to disseminate crucial information about the candidates. In the Obama campaigns like in 2008, numerous social media drives were initiated to help in the campaign.
Slogans
These are well known terms that can be related and linked to a certain campaign group. These slogans are often short catchy phrases that are used over and over again. In the Obama campaign of 2008, again, slogans were in use. During his speeches, that were quite catchy, he used the slogan ‘Yes We Can’. This slogan grew famous and it was synonymous with him. He also used terms like ‘Change We Can Believe In’.
There is also the printing of flyers, posters, stickers and other mementos that have the message of the party. This serves the purpose whereby a team in the campaign distributes and pins them in various places. This works in popularizing the candidates. This however is not an effective method alone as these items may be destroyed or discarded.
There are new age advertising modes. For instance, there are ad panels that are both digital and static that allow audiences in bus stops and airport waiting spaces to get access to interactive material from the campaigner through their smart phones via QR codes (QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes that contain links or emails) and Near Field Communication which is the communication between a smart phone and a specific billboard. These ads can also link a watcher to a campaign website. This gives the watcher the chance to access the various things that the campaigner has put forth for the campaign
The other campaign communication skill that is very effective is the rallies. These rallies provide a direct contact of the campaigner with the people he is addressing. This is requires the effective use of oratory prowess by the candidate. This was seen in the Obama campaigns where the candidate was very good and did not even use written speeches.
References
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