CASE OVERVIEW

Since 2015, Pipeline Social Media has been involved in 20+ victorious election campaigns for primary elections, general elections, runoffs, and special elections in the US. We have led successful political social media campaigns for candidates running for the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives, as well as county or city level Board of Education, Board of Commissioners, Superior Court Judge, Sheriff, Attorney General, and Mayor. We’ve built strong relationships with lots of candidates over the years, and their trust in us is something we will never forget. It’s been an honor to help them win elections and the hearts of their constituents by using the power of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Ads, and more. 

HOW IT WORKS

Our social media campaign begins by meeting with the candidate to hear about their vision and position on issues, their experience, goals, and likes/dislikes. After meeting with the candidate, we create a social media calendar to plan out important post topics as well as to get approval on their first round of posts. Next, we develop a plan for their social media ad spend, including what types of ads would benefit them the most and how those ads would look in terms of graphics/videos and captions. After launching their social media plan, a dedicated Account Manager at Pipeline is on hand each week to send posts for approval, set up campaign phone calls, monitor ad spend and effectiveness, and answer any questions they have along the way. We understand how sensitive elections can be so our Community Managers provide expert reputation monitoring for all comments and messages from supporters/non-supporters seven days a week.

OUR APPROACH

Before social media marketing, political candidates relied solely on door-to-door campaigning, mailers, magazine ads, TV spots, billboards, and other forms of traditional marketing to target voters. Since the explosion of social media, political candidates can now reach voters where they spend most of their time online and can target voters by zip code, interests, age range, gender, education, and more. For our politician campaigns, we focused on Facebook and Instagram ads including:

• Page Engagement Ads – Boosted Posts
• Brand Awareness Ads
• Traffic Ads – Website Click Ads
• Page Promotion Ads – Follow Ads
• Story Ads
• Event Ads
• Retargeting Ads
• Video Views Ads

When it comes to posting to social media channels for candidates, every campaign was different but there were similar themes to every winning strategy. It was our mission to keep the voters informed of where and when to vote, how to get involved, the vision of the candidate, and why they deserve to represent their district. Here are some of our important campaign post and ad topics: 

• How to Register to Vote
• Important Issues & Hot Voting Topics
• Experience & Voting Records
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Sign Requests
• Meet & Greet Events
• Endorsements
• Family & Personal Life
• Early Voting Dates & Locations
• Election Day Dates & Locations

EXAMPLES OF OUR WORK

Voting Reminders

It is vital to let constituents know where and when to vote along with reminders throughout the campaign. We never assume that voters know where to cast their vote because it can change from year to year, and it can be confusing. We like to provide direct links to find their individual voting information, plus remind the voter of the district number the candidate hopes to represent.

Sign Requests

Distributing signs to supporters in the district is so important. We were happy to handle sign requests that came in through social media by asking for their address by private message and sending the request to the candidate to fulfill.

On The Issues

Some of the most important posts and ads that we do pertain to the top issues of the candidate. With the mission of informing the candidate about their stance and why it’s important to them, posts about their stance on issues resonate with the constituents and help them make the best-informed decision when voting.

Experience

When you are trying to win over voters, it’s important to share the experience of the candidate, whether it is sharing some key points from their resume or past accomplishments. Our posts about a candidate’s experience help build trust and authenticity as well as promote advantages over the competition. 

Endorsements

One of our favorite ways to promote a candidate is to share endorsements by well-known community leaders as well as regular citizens who share their support.

Campaign Events

Many of our candidates have one or more campaign events during the election season to allow voters to get to know them and their vision as well as make donations. It is important for us to promote these events to their target audience in order to increase attendance.

Election Results

Our work for our candidates doesn’t stop on Election Day. When the results are final, we are on hand to create victory posts as well as prepare for loss. 

Community Management

Engaging with constituents in a timely manner is vitally important to answer questions about their experience or issues, provide voting location information, and to simply thank them for casting their vote. We also monitor their reputation by using platform features to restrict or hide comments according to the wishes of the candidate.

RESULTS AT A GLANCE

Brian Strickland – Georgia Senate | 2020 Election (Aug 15-Nov 10)
Facebook Reach: 852.9k
Facebook Engagement: 36,820
Facebook Impressions: 1.1m
Instagram Reach: 194,146

Brian Strickland – Georgia Senate | 2022 Primary Election (Feb 1-May 27)
Facebook Reach: 693.4k
Facebook Engagement: 29,641
Facebook Impressions: 974.6k
Instagram Reach: 186,949

Karen Mathiak – State House | 2022 Primary Election (Feb 1-May 27)
Facebook Reach: 540.5k
Facebook Engagement: 22,912
Facebook Impressions: 724k
Instagram Reach: 266,820

Rick Townsend – State House | 2022 Primary Election (Feb 1-June 17)
Facebook Reach: 411.9k
Facebook Engagement: 16,249
Facebook Impressions: 605.3k
Instagram Reach: 174,635

Sophe Cook Pope – Board of Education | 2022 Election (Mar 1-May 30)
Facebook Reach: 358.3k
Facebook Engagement: 14,951
Facebook Impressions: 526.3k
Instagram Reach: 353,160

Alan Powell – State House | 2022 Primary Election (Mar 1-May 24)
Facebook Reach: 263.2k
Facebook Engagement: 10,138
Facebook Impressions: 409.8k
Instagram Reach: 71,226

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

“Pipeline Social Media is your ONE STOP SHOP for media help!!! ALWAYS responsive and creative…as a “young” legislator I needed a company that I could trust and count on…PSM is the BEST. Professional and spot on!! THANK YOU PIPELINE!!!” – Rep. Karen Mathiak, Georgia House of Representatives 

“Thanks to your team. You really did excellent work.” – Judge Brian Amero, Superior Court Judge for the Flint Judicial Circuit

“Pipeline has uncovered new lines of communication which allow me to interact in the greatest possible manner with my constituents. Because of Pipeline, I now have access to my constituents through all available means of social media. Instead of worrying about my accessibility to those I represent, I am now able to focus on better serving these individuals that I am engaged with.” – Rep. Brian Strickland, Georgia Senate

FINAL NOTES:

Do you plan on running for an upcoming elected state or local position? Let us help you promote your issues and win over voters! Contact us to learn more about our social media marketing for politicians. To see more work from the Pipeline team, check out another case study: Pipeline Social Media Case Studies

Pipeline Social Media is a Digital Marketing Agency that offers three approaches to help you increase your social media presence: we can fully manage your social media accounts, we can teach your team how to do it in-house, or we can monitor/coach your team along the way and report back to you. Ask us about our Google AdWords management, web design, and SEO website packages. Contact: 678-814-4601 | 280 Country Club Drive, Suite 200, Stockbridge, GA 30281