How to Research, Write, and Deliver Your Political Campaign Messaging

Crafting your political campaign messaging is probably the most important thing you can do to increase engagement with voters. Voters want to understand what you’re about and, more importantly, how you’re going to solve their issues and pain points. In this article we’ll dig into political messaging in detail and walk through the steps for crafting your own campaign message.

Let’s dig in.

The three types of political campaign messaging

Almost all political messaging falls into three categories:

1. Your main issues — the prioritized issues and voter pain points you will talk about proactively.
2. Your secondary issues — the next level of issues, still important but prioritized lower than the main issues.
3. Opposition messaging — the messages you’ll use to respond to your opponent, and to anything running counter to your main and secondary issues.

No matter which type of messaging you create, it all gets framed and wrapped in your “why” — the reason you are running. If you haven’t yet read Finding Your ‘Why’ Before You Launch Your Campaign, read it now before you continue. It’s integral to this process. Then come back and finish this article.

Identify your main issues

Your campaign should focus on three or four main issues, no more. These are the issues most important to you and most important to the voters in your district.

You might be saying, “but Craig, there are so many important issues, I can’t possibly focus on just three.” I don’t disagree — there are many important issues. But you MUST start your campaign by focusing ONLY on your top three priorities.

Allow me a moment to prove the point. Picture this: someone calls your house, hopefully not at dinner time. You pick up the phone and immediately they say:

“Hi, my name is Craig and I’m running for school board. Can I take 15 minutes of your time to talk about 10 really important issues?”

Now tell the truth — how fast are you hanging up?

The fact is, you’ve got about a minute, MAX, to capture someone’s attention. It doesn’t matter whether they get you on the phone, on your front porch, or in a letter. Come at them with a laundry list and you’ll lose them before you get started.

A short, succinct statement for each issue gets your point across without overwhelming people. If someone latches onto a specific issue or asks a question, they’ll give you another few moments to expand — but they won’t give you long. In my experience voters tune out after three topics or sentences. That’s why we stick to three main issues to start. It’s also easier for the brain to hold onto just a few main topics.

Now, armed with your top three reasons for running, boil each one down to a few words or a short sentence:

• Easing traffic on Route 1
• More parking for businesses on Main Street
• Tuition-free college
• More police on foot patrol
• A new recreation center

Write a few of these down, keep the list small, and move to the next step.

Expand on your main issues

Now flesh out each main issue with more detail. The goal is to expand from a short sentence into a fully formed thought. The minimum here is a paragraph — something you’d say in response to a question about what you think on a topic. If you can, write more. Identifying multiple points of evidence for your position is good; a personal story is even better, and can carry you to 300–500 words, roughly a page.

Supporting documentation or graphics are a good idea too. A simple, contextually relevant graphic can convey much more than words. You might also have a friend or coworker who is an expert on a specific issue and can help identify messaging or strategies to resolve it. A well-respected voice on an issue you’ve adopted as your own lends credibility to your campaign.

Start with a simple outline of points, or write full sentences on your position, and include links to sources or citations that support it.

Here’s an example of what you might write if easing traffic on Route 1 were one of your main issues:

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Traffic on Route 1 has become a major issue in our community. Each day our residents lose two hours of productivity sitting in traffic commuting to and from the city. That’s hours we can’t spend with family, an estimated loss of more than $450,000 in economic activity for our town, and the driving force behind more than 250 accidents each year.

My number one priority as commissioner is to reduce traffic on Route 1, and we can achieve that by doing three things:

1. Widen the road to create a second lane.
2. Add a dedicated lane in the shoulders for bikes, e-scooters, and pedestrians.
3. Increase our road maintenance budget to remove potholes, fix curbs, and install additional signals for vehicle and pedestrian safety.

If we do those three things we can reduce commute time by 90%, reduce accidents by 75%, and increase economic activity for our Main Street businesses.

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That short issue narrative is a great intro message. It defines the problem, describes it in real-world terms people understand, and proposes a solution with real-world consequences people understand. You can expand on it with research proving the numbers, links to statements from other elected officials or agencies, charts and graphics. During speaking engagements you can go with just what’s above, or something similar.

Secondary issues

Once your main issues are done, move on to a few secondary issues — still important, but not as important to cover as your primary issues. Sometimes a secondary issue is one you don’t yet have a fully formed message or plan to address. Completing a few secondary issue narratives rounds out your overall political campaign messaging.

Follow the same structure as your main issues: start with simple words and phrases, then expand each one.

Remember, your time and resources are limited. Marking an issue as secondary doesn’t make it any less important to specific groups of people — but trying to focus on everything dilutes your message and makes your campaign harder to understand.

As the campaign progresses you may find a primary issue moving down to secondary, and a secondary issue moving up. That should rarely happen more than once in a campaign, so refrain from changing your messaging too often. Instead, as you meet with constituents and voters, revisit your message, refine it, and adjust as necessary.

And don’t feel like you need to change your message every time you speak to a single constituent. Just because one person mentions something you should do doesn’t mean you need to adopt it as an issue. There’s no right or wrong number — you’ll gain experience and determine that for yourself.

Opposition messaging

Political campaign messaging isn’t complete without reviewing the key messages from the opposition. Take time to review and analyse your opponent’s message, and any messages framed against you or your issues. As you discuss your issues and try to win support for them, it helps to understand the arguments your opponents will make. Their point of view helps you shore up your own and respond to questions quickly and coherently.

Researching your opposition and where they stand helps you compare your campaign with theirs. It also lets you gain the upper hand by highlighting the distinctions and explaining why you’re the better candidate.

It’s entirely possible the opposition’s main issues are the same as yours — they may just approach them from a completely different angle or frame. Again, boil the issues down to one or two words.

There are a few places to find your opponent’s messaging:

• their website
• their social media networks
• their email subscription list
• local community meetings
• local political party committee meetings
• information from friends and neighbours
• press mentions, search engine searches, and AI searches

Details in the opposition framework

Once you’ve determined the main issues of the opposition, look deeper at the details or evidence they use to prove their points. If they’re smart, they use evidence to support their claims. If not, it will be easier to refute them.

Outline those points and note the source of each argument. Then call out inconsistencies, irrationalities, or anything misleading or plain false.

If your opposition currently holds elected office, call attention to any votes they’ve made or bills they’ve introduced that contrast with your stance, or which you believe should be highlighted to prove a point.

Plan for the opposition’s top four issues, and repeat the exercise for as many issues as they frame — or as many as you have time and resources to research.

How to use your campaign messaging

Now you’ve got a few main issues, a few secondary issues, and the information to refute your opponent’s messaging. It’s time to put it into practice. Your messaging belongs in:

• your website
• blog posts
• press articles
• social network posts
• community events and local political party meetings
• email
• conversations with friends and neighbours

How frequently you should do each of these goes into a communication plan, which gets folded into your budget and your overall campaign plan. You can learn more about those in our workshop, How to Launch a Winning Political Campaign.

In a future article we’ll dive deeper into digital and print messaging, and how to pivot if your message falls flat.

Until then, practice delivering your message as often as you can. Test it with friends and family, and tweak it to make it better.

If you need more help, get in touch or reach out to us on social.