30 Days To Go: 5 Tips To Kick-Start Your Campaign Facebook page

There are just over 30 days before the election and whether you are just getting started or you’ve been Facebooking since the primaries, now is the time to kick that Facebook Page into overdrive. Here are my 5 no fail tips for campaigns of all sizes and fan counts whether you are just starting your Facebook Page or heading into the last month of the campaign 1,000 fans strong.

Remember that your Facebook Page is social. For many people, Facebook has become a natural place to find information, ask questions, and communicate with others. While many candidates have embraced the idea of Facebook, they have not quite grasped this communicative give and take nature of the platform. Put simply, you need to monitor your Facebook Page, addressing concerns and answering questions as quickly as possible. This will become more important as Election Day draws closer and supporters and potential voters turn to your page and not the phone, website, or email to get their questions about yard signs, campaign events, and polling places answered.

Commit your Facebook URL to memory. When you meet new voters, speak at events, or do interviews you should always mention your Facebook URL and website URL. You should end every speech with something to the effect of “join me online at nameforcongress.com and become a fan of mine on Facebook at Facebook.com/nameforcongress. This tells your supporters that you are committed to your online presence (because you remembered to tell them about it) and it increases the likelihood they will look for you online- maybe even right then on those fancy smartphones they have with them.

Reach Your Core Supporters First. With about 30 days to go if you are still looking at about 50 fans on your Facebook Page, don’t despair, but do create a plan and get to work right now. When you are creating Facebook ads to target voters, your first strategy should be to find those voters you know already support you. Your likely voters offline are also your likely fans online, so you want to find them first. These are the people who will be most likely to suggest your page to their friends and share your content and you will need their support and engagement on your Page when it comes time to broaden your target reach on Facebook. You can find these core supporters by asking conservative leaders in your community or district to promote your Page, by suggesting the Page to your group of friends and asking them to do the same, and by running targeted Facebook Ads. After you begin reaching these core supporters and engaging them on your Page, you can create a plan for finding unaffiliated and noncore supporters on Facebook.

Post Pictures from the Campaign Trail. Posting pictures of your offline activities online is a great way to gently remind your Facebook fans that there is a real-life campaign going on and you need their help offline. Post pictures of your candidate talking to volunteers, supporters going door to door, and folks busy working in your campaign headquarters. Post pictures of yard signs around your district and pictures from last week’s tea party rally where your candidate spoke. Post as many pictures as you can, but be sure to post pictures that include supporters, so your Facebook fans can see that your campaign has volunteers who are busy and engaged offline.

Stop Taking Yourself (And Your Page) So Seriously. Facebook is a powerful tool for finding voters and engaging supporters and I obviously think it’s an important platform for your campaign to invest both time and resources. However, at the end of the day, Facebook is still a place where folks log on to play games like Mob Wars and Farmville and spend countless hours looking at their friends’ vacation pictures. This is not a completely serious site and its fine – even preferable – to loosen up a bit on Facebook and have a little fun. Invite your fans to submit photos, answer trivia questions, or engage in some other contest you create. Publicly thank supporters for their time and efforts and mention interesting adventures you’ve had on the campaign trail traveling with your staff.

The bottom line? The more fun you’re having on Facebook, the more engaged your fans will be. And, who knows, maybe CNN will be writing about the correlation between your Facebook Page and big election night win on November 3^rd!

For more tips on engaging your supporters, check out “Door-Knocking with 3,000 of your closest friends: Moving your campaign’s supporters offline and into your precincts.”

This blog was originally posted at Majority Connections.