Congrats You’re in Office… Now What?

Congratulations! The months of hard work have paid off, and you have begun your term in public office. Now, how exactly can you continue building and improving relationships with the constituents that voted you into this position? 

Below are 4 tips on how you can maintain your communication with constituents and keep them engaged in your work during your new term. 

1. Engage with your constituents via live video

Since its rise in 2016, the live video sphere has been a must for campaigns or officials to reach beyond normal spaces. Live streaming opens opportunities to:

• Empower yourself to write your own narrative, break your own news, and update your constituents in real time
• Encourage meaningful and impactful conversations with voters, instead of talking at them

Set up a virtual town hall (and get the word out with a digital ad template), or even host smaller video chats with local organizations, businesses, and community leaders. Listen and reflect on their ideas in real time.

2. Utilize all social platforms

You can’t go wrong with using the basics like Twitter and Facebook. After all, based on social media age demographics, it makes sense. However, Gen Z’s presence on social media represents a growing voter base. Many are newly eligible voters that are dedicated to activism. Thus, platforms such as Instagram can be utilized as an outlet to reach this segment of voters and build valuable connections with them.  

Also, we can’t forget about forums like Reddit and other online communities. These are perfect platforms for continual discussion, an opportunity to receive feedback, and answer questions about your agenda. And if you’re looking to host an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit, check out some tips from our SpeakEasy Digital Director on setting up a seamless AMA experience.

At the end of the day, there is no single platform to focus on. 

Pro Tip: You can utilize banner ads to reach audiences when they click on links in their social streams.

3. Send political mail and email to inform voters

There is no timeline for when to begin updating your constituents on your agenda, because you should be doing it from the beginning! Print and email communication is a perfect way to reach out to constituents. A few ideas we have to maintain and grow a relationship with your supporters include:

• A ‘Happy New Year’ postcard
• A monthly district newsletter to update constituents on what your office is working on
• A brochure on new programs that you’re offering
• A postcard inviting them to your next virtual town hall

One of the key benefits of mail is that it is precisely targeted, and viewed as a credible source of information in this age of skepticism. According to a USPS survey from the 2018 election cycle, 79% of voters reported to have seen a political advertisement in the mail at least daily or weekly. Mail is memorable – start early and consistently communicate with your constituents!

Pro Tip: Our SpeakEasy mail templates will greatly help you with this process. In particular, check out our pamphlets and folded pieces!

4. Be creative

While your goal is to cultivate relationships with your constituents, keep in mind that not everyone who voted for you is be deeply invested in politics – yet. After a tiring election cycle, and a tiring 4 years of tumultuous national politics, your constituents may be burnt out or simply need a break sometimes. You are human, too… remind them of that!

Our advice would be to focus your goals and engage with issues relevant to your cause, but make it fun! For example, you can: 

• Build polls or quizzes on social stories
• Create engaging graphics
• Find time for non-partisan posts 
• Partner with influencers and organizations that helped you on your campaign and are willing to continue to support conversations with constituents

A Few Last Words

We have full confidence that you will prove to your constituents that they voted for the right person for your position. 

As we are all only human, we highly recommend that you treat all communication as a conversation between two people. Hold your head high, maintain a strong team around you, follow through on your proposed agenda, and you will develop remarkable relationships with voters across your county, state, and even the country. Now, time to get to work!