Tips for Coming out of Blackouts
June 29, 2018
More than half of primary elections have taken place in states across the country ending blackout periods for many Members of Congress. However, even as many Members are coming out of blackout periods, time is quickly running out before blackouts begin again on August 8th. Here are a few tips for maximizing your communication efforts during this open period of time.
Live stream town hall events
One great way to connect and engage with your constituents is through town halls, including virtual town halls. Virtual town hall services, such as Access Live, are an easy, scalable solution for reaching even large and diverse districts and communities. Studies have shown that a single virtual town hall event can increase approval ratings on a specific issue by as much as 38%. Access Live allows you to dial out to your constituents directly, stream live to your website and social media networks, and interact with your audience through live polling and taking questions directly from callers. With live support from the IQ and Broadnet teams, and the ability to sync your data directly into your CRM, Access Live events are the easiest virtual town hall solution on the market and are ideal for reaching your community before blackouts begin again. We recommend holding one virtual town hall per week every week until the next blackout begins on August 8th.
Email outreach
It might seem obvious, but one of the easiest and effective ways to reach your constituents is through email outreach. Now is a great time to let your constituents know about the biggest issues you’ve worked on this term, about the issues that you are committed to continuing to pursue, and to collect feedback from your district on how you’ve been doing so far. Communication shouldn’t be a one way street. Be sure to include surveys, embed rich content, and ask for feedback in your outreaches.
Optimize website content
Now is a great time to take a critical eye to your website and make sure the content is as good as it should be. If you’re reaching out to your constituents via the two steps above, you will likely see an increase in traffic to your website. You’ll want to be sure you’re putting your best foot forward in representing the work you and your office are doing to promote the interests of your constituency.
Clean up your data
The pre-election blackout will be here before you know it and your outreach needs to land. Clean up your data now and make sure your messaging makes it to your constituents’ inboxes. Work on expanding your email subscriptions through email marketing and virtual town halls so that when blackouts hit, you will still be able to reach a large segment of your district.
These next six weeks will be critical in getting in front of your constituents before blackouts begin again. To speak with a sales representative about sending out email communications or planning your next Access Live virtual town hall event, email iq.info@leidos.com or call us at 703-206-0030.