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Topics: Text Messaging, SMS, Small-Dollar Fundraising, Fundraising, Content, Digital Marketing, House File, GOTV

Text Message Examples for Political Campaigns

10 Winning Text Messages for Republican Campaigns

Our team sends out thousands of text messages daily. We see the results, and text messaging works for Republican candidates of all stripes.

Open rates for text messages are ten times (10X) that of email.

Winning Republican Text Message Examples
Winning Republican Text Message Examples

The use of text messaging as a tool for political campaigns is quickly moving from "nice, but optional" to "absolutely mandatory"— especially when it comes to digital fundraising.


Table of Contents



Text Messaging Works for Republicans

Short code messaging is what GOP campaigns are using to build a text message following with a robust house file. Additionally, campaigns looking to reach broader audiences, such as for voter turnout, use peer-to-peer (P2P) texting.

In the last few years, MMS and SMS have played an important role in helping the Republican Party overcome what was once an advantage for the Democrat party in small-dollar fundraising.

MMS vs SMS Texting

  • Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a standard way to send messages allowing for photos, videos, and GIFs as well as up to 1,600 characters of text per message.
  • Short Messaging Service (SMS) is a standard way to send messages allowing up to 160 characters of text per message.
  • Both MMS and SMS are supported by most phones and can be sent via applications or individuals.

Republican Elected Officials, Republican Candidates, and Republican Party Committees leverage text messages within their digital strategies to connect with supporters. The results speak for themselves as Republicans have overcome the traditional advantages democrats have enjoyed in small-dollar fundraising.

If your political campaign is not using text messaging, short codes, P2P, MMS, or SMS, then it's time to upgrade from email to text messaging plus email.

For more on Text Messaging, check out our introductory blog post: Text Messaging for Political Fundraising.

Playbook for Republican Text Messaging

Whether you are a Republican digital professional or new to GOP digital campaigns, using text message examples can help start your text message campaigns off right.

We worked with our friends at Tatango to assemble the following Playbook for Republican Text Messaging for elected officials, candidates, organizations, and campaigns. Included in this playbook are Ten Winning Texts for Republican Campaigns.

Ten Winning Texts for Republican Campaigns

For the first time in 2021, Republicans have surpassed Democrats in digital fundraising.

These Ten Winning Texts for Republican Campaigns provide the examples you need to start creating content for your texting campaigns today.

Winning Text #1 — Matching Donations

Use Graphics to Announce Contribution Matching

A common grassroots fundraising tactic is to "match" contributions from donors.

Adding an eye-popping graphic can capture attention, causing subscribers to read more and donate.

Format: MMS


Double Matching

Winning Text #2 — Store Promos

Sell Campaign Store Items

Promoting items from your campaign store is a great way to fundraise without a hard donation ask.

Typically, items with an overarching appeal (i.e., "Take Back the House") will outperform campaign-centric items (i.e., "Huber for Congress").

Include creative (video, images, or GIFs) that features your merch to boost responses!

Format: MMS preffered


Cheers Koozies

Winning Text #3 — Selfie Videos

Use Video to Make Calls to Action

Add a personal touch to texts by including a selfie video or a voice recording.

Share videos from the candidate, family members, VIPs, and more.

Videos don't have to be fancy; selfie videos recorded with smartphones are very effective.

Format: MMS


Video Update

Winning Text #4 — Curated News

Share the News Important to You

The news cycle moves quickly. Use texts to push out important news updates to your supporters.

Include a screenshot of a news headline or a Tweet to help grab attention.

If a local paper endorses you, include a link.

Format: MMS preferred


Share News

Winning Text #5 — GOTV

Drive Voter Turnout

Texting is a great way to Get Out the Vote. You can provide polling locations and hours or send recipients to a landing page that provides that information.

Plan out in advance a series of messages leading up to and on election day.

Additionally, send out alerts about other elections that your candidate may have endorsed or a special election.

Format: SMS and MMS


Get Out the Vote

Winning Text #6 — Survey Supporters

Get Supporter Feedback (plus Contributions)

People love to share their opinions, so why not create a survey and ask them to respond?

These surveys can help you engage people who may be tired of direct donation asks.

You can also include a soft donation ask using a redirect after completing the survey or poll.

Format: SMS or MMS


Voter Feedback

Winning Text #7 — Event Invitations

Announce Upcoming Events

If you have an important event coming up that you would like supporters to know about or attend, you can have them RSVP via text.

Format: SMS or MMS


Event Alert

Winning Text #8 — The Latest Ad

Ask Supporters to Watch Your New Ad

When your campaign releases a new ad, MMS messages are a great way to get the message out to the masses.

Encourage supporters to leverage their circle of influence by asking them to forward your message.

Format: MMS


Ad Announcement

Winning Text #9 — Endorsements

Share Quotes and Testimonials

Share quotes from other supporters on why they are donating to your candidate.

These quotes can be personal stories from individuals or even endorsements from community leaders and elected officials.

Format: MMS


Endoresements

Winning Text #10 — Impact of Donations

Demonstrate the Value of a Campaign Contribution

Explain to supporters the impact of donations given to the campaign in real terms (i.e., $50 buys 72 yard signs or $100 buys pizza for 23 phone volunteers).

Supporters may feel more inclined to give if they have transparency and feel secure in their donation.

Format: MMS


How a Donation Helps

 

Short Code List Building

As mentioned earlier, short code messaging for GOP campaigns requires a house file of text messages subscribers. So, we asked for some expert advice on short code list building from Andrew Penchuk of Tatango.

Expert Advice from Andrew Penchuk, VP of Customer Service at Tatango

Andrew Penchuk

Andrew's Expert Advice on Short Code List Building

Put your short code everywhere. Why? Political text message marketing is all about small dollar donations. Lots of small dollar donations add up to big money. But you need a sizable list from which to pull donations. A small list will only go so far, but a large list has a much better likelihood of producing ROI.

How do you get a sizable list? You put your short code everywhere. Put it on your social media accounts (in profile pictures, in posts/tweets, in descriptions), on your website (collect phone numbers with popups), in your email newsletter (and promote your email newsletter in your text messages), on the podium when your candidate speaks, on signage at events (bonus tip: use a custom keyword for each event for later targeting/segmenting), in advertising of all kinds, on donation pages, and anywhere else you can think of to put it.

Start there. Grow your lists!!!

 

Thank You

We want to thank Andrew for his advice and help putting together resources for our Playbook for Republican Text Messaging.

Thank you for staying engaged. If you have additional questions on launching or sustaining a successful text messaging campaign, our experts at The Prosper Group have the answers you need.

Did you find this post helpful?

If so, let us know what you think. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.


The Prosper Group is an internationally recognized, award-winning digital marketing agency headquartered in Indianapolis. The firm specializes in online media, strategy, and fundraising for Republican political candidates, advocacy organizations, associations, and non-profits. The Prosper Group's best-in-industry work has been recognized for awards dozens of times by prestigious organizations such as the American Association of Political Consultants and Campaigns & Elections.

The firm has worked in tandem with Trump for President 2016, Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Ted Cruz, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Congressman John Katko, the National Association of Manufacturers, Fox News, and many other candidates and organizations.

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