What is P2P texting? P2P stands for peer to peer. So, as you can imagine, P2P texting in the campaign realm is real people, real volunteers, or real agents sending individual text messages to voters. Why is this great technology that every campaign should utilize? Well, first, since each message is hand sent, it complies with all SMS regulations. Secondly, it is super efficient to send thousands of messages in a short period of time. Results show that P2P texting can increase voter turnout by 2-3%. That can make all the difference in a campaign.
P2P Texting Puts You on Top
Texting is the best way to get noticed by voters. Sure, voters might see your billboard on the side of the road while they are driving. They might read your email marketing email. They might even see your social media ad, but chances are, that ad is buried in their social media. So, what is the most effective and guaranteed way to get noticed? Send a direct text message. This way, the voter's phone goes off, they check it, and immediately they see a message from one of your trusted agents.
Why choose P2P over a more managed or automated messaging system? P2P gives the power and freedom to schedule your own messages on your time. Not only that, but there is no approval or wait times. This way you can reach the maximum number of voters, fast.
Let’s talk about read rates. Good old fashion mail has a read rate or open rate of about 5%, email is 15%, and text message is at 95%. Spot the difference? Not every voter is going to respond, but at least almost every voter is reading your messages. In the end, it is about getting your name out there, providing information when possible, and connecting with voters. The potential of P2P is so big, that 5% of voters not opening your message is not a big deal. That is out of your control. The best thing you can do is create the best SMS messages out there.
P2P texting is the leader in not only simplicity but in power. P2P is about having a conversation, answering questions, and making connections with voters. This type of messaging platform allows your volunteers/agents to do this, in front of a computer, while connecting with hundreds of other voters. The amount of people you can reach with this technology wouldn’t even be possible with months of door-to-door campaigning.
Your organization will be able to content with voters on a massive scale. What all can you do with P2P?
- Streamline Your Event/provide campaign information
- Provide voting information or updates
- Learn what issues are important to voters
- Ask for donations/raise funds for your campaign
- Direct voters to campaign website
- Send a survey
- Invite to an event
- Request for volunteers
Automated Versus Real
Automated systems can be great. Automated text messages for a political campaign can be great for certain campaign goals, like sending out last minute polling locations, and GOTV efforts. A lot of things are becoming automated nowadays, like customer service. We have probably all called a store, a bank, or somewhere else and an automated system picked up. If we just need to know the store hours, then the automated system that tells us to press number 3 for store hours is a great method. However, if none of the numbered options are working, and we really need to talk to a real person, then automated may not be beneficial.
The same goes for text campaigning. Automated text responses can be great. However, if you are looking to answer voter questions, amongst other more complicated messages, then P2P is the way to go. Why? Because real people! Let’s face it, we can tell when we are texting or messaging an automated system. If you send something long or something that is not easily responded to, then you will notice in your reply back. P2P allows agents and volunteers to send real responses to real questions. Of course, you are always going to get those goofy or even angry text responses from people. But, at least your agents aren’t getting yelled at over the phone or having a door slammed in their face. Plus, it is easy for voters to “opt-out” of political messages from your campaign. It is as easy as replying “stop.” No yelling necessary there.
Automated systems and bots can’t do it all. P2P texting can! If you want to ensure that voters get quality responses and all of the questions answered, then you need to utilize P2P. Robocent even offers bulk pricing for our P2P message services. Gain votes, and save money.
The Benefits
No need to interrupt someone's day with a phone call or a knock on the door. Texting allows for a convenient communication method not only for your campaign volunteers, but for voters.
P2P makes it so easy to have a back and forth conversation with voters. For example, even if one voter responds at a later time, and the agent from before is no longer there, a new agent will be able to pick up that conversation exactly where the old one left off. With SMS there is no , “can you call me back at a later time?” or “can you come back on a different day?” Instead, your voters and your agents get freedom. How great is that?
It is easy to personalize a text message. Volunteers can customize their SMS messages to include their name, voters name, voters polling address, and more. Adding names is always a good touch. Such as “Hi Mary, This is Jon from [Campaign Name]...” It is always nice to know that the person you are talking to knows your name, and that you know their name in return. Creating templates for SMS messages is easy. This allows you to create messages, starting like the one previously messaged, with ease and consistency. Messages are template friendly, saving time, and allowing for quicker responses. Even though agents are sending messages individually, they do not need to type everything out that they wish to say. Copy and past each message, and type in the personalization fill in the blanks. When sending thousands of messages, using templates can save hours and hours of work. You cannot get this kind of efficiency with any other campaigning method.
Try It For Yourself
The political world has seen proven success when using P2P SMS for campaigns. The Presidential elections in 2016 saw a lot of P2P, and the 2020 elections saw even more. People were receiving political texts left and right, and when they responded, so did the volunteer on the other end.
It has been said that the 2020 elections sent tens of millions of political text messages to voters. That is a lot of text messages.
P2P is great in even the early stages of a campaign. What do you need in the early campaign stages? Volunteers! As mentioned earlier, SMS can be a great way to prepare and secure the volunteers needed later in the campaign. For example, President Trump has been sending out political texts gearing up for the 2020 elections since 2017. It is no wonder that his political campaign reached an outstanding one billion texts sent out. The Democratic party sent out roughly 10 million P2P texts this election. As you can see, P2P texting is a powerful tool, used vigorously by campaigns. Do not overlook the powers of SMS for political campaigns.
In fact, P2P texting in the early campaign stages can be make it or break it. If people don’t have enough time to learn about your campaign, and another party or campaign gets to then before you do, it might be too late. This can be especially true of swing states, and younger voters. The younger generations may not be set in who they are voting for. When it comes down to it, they might vote for whoever they connected with first. If your P2P texting campaign isn’t ready to go then you might lose their vote.
There is no going back when it comes to political campaigning. 2016 saw a huge jump in P2P texts, and 2020 even more so. Who knows, the next elections could see P2P messages in the trillions. Wouldn’t that be crazy! The younger generations are only going to become more reliant on technology. These generations are the voices of the future. If you want to reach them, and guarantee their vote, then you have to connect with them where they are most likely to be found–SMS.
Robocent you can get your peer-to-peer texting campaign going within 2 hours of signing up for services. There has never been a more efficient and cost effective way to reach voters. Start your P2P texting campaign today! The earlier you start in your campaign the better! Secure your campaign votes, guarantee that people will show up to your events, and gain votes!