IMGE supported John James with digital strategy and infrastructure as he built his campaign following and raised enough money to wage a serious 2018 midterm challenge to the strongly-established Senator Debbie Stabenow.
As a political outsider, James began his campaign with effectively no name ID and no establishment support. He had a compelling story to tell and we wanted to help him tell it across every platform at once.
How we did it
Through omni-channel marketing, John James’ audience was able to interact with his campaign across multiple platforms and devices without having a disconnect of information. While email was responsible for the vast majority of online fundraising, we used additional marketing channels to boost engagement and revenue. Social media and web push functionality ensured that wherever users were, they could be served relevant, timely campaign content.
But we didn’t stop there. Underutilized in previous cycles, texting cuts through the content clutter and reaches supporters in a more personal way. Using peer-to-peer SMS technology, James alerted supporters to upcoming rallies and TV appearances. These texts also encouraged recipients to donate using an embedded link. And if those supporters had an existing donor account, they could donate without even clicking on a link – it required only replying “Yes.”
WE GOT RESULTS
Users who were contacted on even just one additional channel had a 143% average increase in conversion rate over email-only subscribers. Not only that, the James campaign raised thousands of dollars in donations via SMS.
What we learned
Your audience doesn’t communicate on only one channel - and neither should you. Regardless of which channel converts a user, those connected on multiple channels have a higher rate of engagement.