PolitiSpam....
ShareThis cycle it won't be just free Viagra and software offers filling your Inbox -- but also maybe your representative in Congress.
According to consultants and campaign technology experts we talked to, campaigns are expected to double or even triple their voter e-mail list usage in '06 compared to two years ago.
Here's how they do it: Firms specializing in voter e-mail lists, such as Advocacy Inc. (D), match commercially available e-mail addresses to existing voter data. Then the firms "re-opt" recipients, or ask them if it's okay to send political e-mail, according Advocacy Inc. pres. Roger Alan Stone. Stone said his firm sold e-mail lists to just under 100 campaigns in '04, but he expects business to double or triple for '06.
The Kaine for Governor Campaign already took advantage of the technology this past fall, sending out a couple messages a week to both subscribed supporters and lists purchased from Advocacy, Inc. [SHIRA R. TOEPLITZ]
"You have instantaneous power to communicate with as many people as you had on your list" said Kaine campaign Internet Director John Rohrbach. "We offered them information and opportunities to come back to our Web site. If they signed up for something we definitely targeted them to get them involved."
It's possible to target voter blocks by age, gender, ethnicity -- all the way down to your neighborhood block, so clients can write an approach tailored for a Democratic-leaning single female infrequent voter between the ages of 20 to 30 years old, according to Stone. He's sold lists for a statewide environmental initiative in Pennsylvania all the way down to a district judge candidate.
But like spam, there can be a negative aftertaste if a voter receives unwanted e-mail from a candidate, even if they have already opted to receive it. And because political e-mail is considered freedom of speech, congressional and campaign mail is not restricted to commercial spam laws.
"It's legal not to give the option to opt out," said Carol Darr, directors of GWU's Politics, Democracy and the Internet Project. "It's smart politics to do it anyway. Parties and candidates can't afford to offend off more than 49 million people just to find that million."
In addition to commercial sources, some California counties are asking residents to list e-mail addresses on their voter registration forms. Campaigns and committees can also buy these voter e-mails from firms such as the non-partisan CA-based Political Data Inc., which sells voter e-mail lists to campaigns for around 15 cents a name. That's a high price compared to traditional voter lists, but contact is cheap and fast compared to snail mail. And most consultants agree that you get what you pay for in terms of good e-mail addresses and personal information.
Tim Yale of VButtons, Inc., a commercial e-mail vendor specializing in rich media, said the response rates with e-mail are similar to that of regular mail. But with e-mail lists, companies can track mailings to see if recipients have opened the message, clicked on a link within, and even if they've forwarded it to a friend. "Just think direct mail but you know when someone's reading it," he said.
In terms of cost, Yale said each time a provider sorts the list, or targets it more precisely, it costs the clients more, anywhere from a 1 penny to $1 a name. And in terms of content, "The richer the media, the better the response rate, and the more effective you can compel people (to respond)," Yale said. [SHIRA R. TOEPLITZ]
Advertisement
Join the Discussion