A text campaign is an organized political texting effort aimed at a specific goal, turning out voters, raising money, recruiting volunteers, moving an audience. It's more than a blast; it's a coordinated program with an audience, a message, a format, and the compliance and infrastructure to make it land. Here's what makes one up.
What are the parts of a text campaign?
Five pieces have to be in place:
- A goal. What the campaign is trying to do, GOTV, fundraising, persuasion, recruitment. Everything else follows from this.
- An audience. A consented list, segmented to the people the goal is aimed at.
- A message. The actual text, one clear ask, identified sender, and any needed disclaimer.
- A format. Broadcast for reach, P2P for conversation, chosen to fit the goal.
- The infrastructure. 10DLC registration, compliance handling, and a platform to send and manage replies.
Take any one away and the campaign underperforms or doesn't deliver at all.
How do the parts fit together?
The goal drives everything. It determines who you target (audience), what you say (message), and how you send it (format), while the infrastructure makes it possible and compliant. A GOTV campaign targets your opted-in supporters, sends a one-ask reminder by broadcast, and runs on a registered sender inside quiet hours. A persuasion campaign targets undecideds, opens a conversation by P2P, and depends on volunteers. Same building blocks, arranged differently for the goal.
How is a text campaign different from a single blast?
A blast is one message; a campaign is a plan. A single send can be part of a text campaign, but the campaign is the whole coordinated effort, the sequence of messages, the segmentation, the follow-up on replies, measured against a goal. Thinking in campaigns rather than blasts is what separates a program that compounds from one that just fires messages into the void. See what is political texting for the bigger picture.
Frequently asked questions
What is a text campaign?
An organized political texting effort aimed at a specific goal, made up of an audience, a message, a format, and the compliance infrastructure to deliver it. It's a coordinated program, not a single blast.
What do you need to run a text campaign?
A clear goal, a consented and segmented audience, a well-written message, the right format (broadcast or P2P), and the infrastructure, 10DLC registration, compliance, and a platform.
How is a text campaign different from a text blast?
A blast is one message; a campaign is the whole coordinated plan, sequence, segmentation, reply handling, measured against a goal. A blast can be part of a campaign, but the campaign is the strategy around it.
Keep reading: what is political texting? and P2P vs broadcast texting. For registration, see The Campaign Registry.