Amidst the lot of hassle going on at the time when elections are just a few steps away, one more thing that crops up in the minds of political consulting firms is the never-ending series of phone calls from volunteers of different political parties. This is one of the most effective ways to reach out to the voters, along with a variety of methods like E-mail, text, social media, allowing to canvas and spread awareness among potential voters.
Though some might find it a welcome change from the daily sales calls, others might deem it as an utter disturbance. Political campaigning firms can determine the effectiveness of each canvassing method by understanding their good and bad sides. Here are some of the pros and cons of phone banking for political campaigns that these firms should consider.
You Can Build A Personal Connection Through Calls
In the era where political campaigning strategies are focused on emails, texts, and social media for outreach, one of the most important things that gets lost is the personal touch. In a phone call, you can actually hear the voice of the person on the other side and build a rapport with them. This is something that cannot be achieved through any other mode of communication. You can actually persuade the intention of undecided or low-propensity voters and can push them to get out to vote at booths for your candidate on election day.
The majority of voters do check their texts, e-mails and media handles everyday but the interaction which the phone calls offer is unmatchable.
Undergoes Only a Single Interaction
The undecided voters or the potential ones who are not entirely sure about the candidate whom they want to vote for may ask all their queries to the person calling them and then can make a clear decision. By the system of emails and text it might be possible for the voter to leave their queries unanswered as they are not in realtime and might get busy with other things.
Even sometimes the materialistic aspects come in between where the voter is unable to send or receive a text or emails due to insufficient data or low access to wifi. In all these, political phone banking is must for all because it is truly realistic in respect of others.
Drawbacks for Political Phone Banking are listed herewith
The Answers Rates for Calls is Low
Americans are usually very dedicated towards their work and are not very fond of getting calls from unknown numbers, especially during their working hours. It is one of the many reasons why the answer rates for phone banking can be quite low. Out of a 100 numbers that you might call, only a few would answer the phone which makes it highly improbable to contact most people on your list.
Even some have the system to trace the robocalls and the calls from any unknown number that shows them red flags and they immediately hang up the phone. Hence, it can be very frustrating for the person who is making the call as well as for the campaign field organizer who is trying to reach out to as many people as possible.
No Written Content
A phone call is verbally effective and has nothing to do with the written content. The voter can ask anything they want to and get it answered in real time. This is beneficial for both the campaign as well as the voter because it builds trust and transparency between them.
But, the chances of miscommunication are very high and you cannot even further take any legal action in case of any discrepancies because nothing was in writing. It also puts a lot of pressure on the person who is making the call as they have to be very careful about what they say and how they say it.
The Bottom Line
After weighing all the pros and cons of a political phone bank, it is up to the discretion of the political consulting firm to decide what will work best for their candidate. If you have a large enough volunteer base and are looking for a way to increase voter turnout, then a phone bank may be the right solution. However, if you are working with a smaller group of volunteers or your constituents are not likely to respond well to unsolicited calls, then you may want to consider other options.
Whatever you adopt, reaching out to voters and getting them in the voting booth is the key to success in any political campaign. So, make sure to use the best strategy that will work for you and your team.
