Cat Cooper

1. JOINING THE GAME
A first-timers guide to building your election
campaign
Cat Cooper
Communications and Campaigns Manager, CILIP
18 November 2015

2. Piecing it
together
Image credit: Ramotion Studio ‘who-will-use-your-iphone-or-ipad-app’ (CC BY-ND 2.0))
Key
players
Routes
to reach
Audience
Attending
events
Drafting
manifestos
Timeline
Hustings/
debates
Comms
channels
Recess &
purdah
Focus
Planning
Key moments
(hotspots) Most
impact
Insight
Research Existing
relationships
Time &
resource
Meet
objectives

3. Ready, aim...
‘perros’ by Paula Rey
Attribution
(CC BY-SA 2.0)
image resized & overlaid

4. Join the race
IMG_0875, by Augie
Malson Attribution
(CC BY 2.0)
image cropped, resized &
overlaid

5. Our approach
1. Get insight into candidates & election trail
2. Decide what our campaign is about
2.Develop identity
3.Decide what our focus will be
5.Aim to be visible
6.Try things out!

6. Summarising our campaign
Web Key
activities
Party correspondence
Main landing page
/electionwatch
Doorstep card
print & digital
CILIP letter to the main
parties
Subpages for each of
the focus areas
Infographics
digital only
Published copies of
responses from political
parties
‘Campaign latest’ page
- summary function
Information and
comment
Emails in advance and
following up
Blogs Manifesto briefings
#cilipelect - primary
#vote4libraries -
additional
Member Poll
online & via Update

9. Outcomes & learning
Limited time/resource/budget = focus on what you can do
Supporting community to campaign – harder to measure
impact
Election apathy - limited engagement until near voting day
Don’t rely on candidates or parties for content
Find out what works for your audience
Activity is loaded at the end
Quick wins