What are political campaign metrics, and which ones do you really need to pay attention to?
Whether it’s your first campaign or your fifth, campaign metrics are important numbers that you absolutely need. They let you know how you’re doing and where you can improve. They help you make realistic, actionable goals that will translate into tangible results for your campaign.
But not all metrics are equally important. Here’s a quick overview of some important metrics to be aware of, what they mean, and which ones are the most vital to your campaign.
The Political Campaign Metrics You Need to Track
Vote Goal
Your vote goal may be the most important metric in your entire campaign. This number represents how many votes you need to win your election, and without it, your whole campaign will be aimless.
Calculating an accurate vote goal is the first step to building out your other metrics and campaign strategy. To do this, you need to gather some data from past election years. Once you have a good idea on what your average voter turnout is, you can calculate how many ballots you need to earn about 55% of the vote.
Fundraising Goals
Fundraising is the lifeblood of political campaigns. But the sheer amount you need to raise can be overwhelming. To keep you on track, break down your fundraising goal into daily and weekly targets. Chipping away at your overall goal day-by-day will make it more achievable.
There are countless metrics related to fundraising, but here are a few good things to keep an eye on:
- Total amount needed for projected advertising costs.
- Total amount raised per fundraising event (compared to the cost of the event).
- Average campaign contribution.
Knowing these numbers will help you stay on track toward reaching your ultimate fundraising goal.
Donor Metrics
Donors are inherently related to fundraising, but knowing the right information about your contributors is so important that it deserves its own section. When gathering and computing data about your donors, keep these questions in mind:
- Which call lists have the highest connect and closure rates?
- How many donors and what amount of donations come from your revenue streams? Some examples are direct mail, events (in-person or virtual), email blasts, and social media.
- What is the average number of donations per individual? Are they donating more than once or do you need to focus on retargeting?
- Who are the top donors that contribute the most to your campaign?
Drop-Off Voters
Drop off voters don’t vote consistently, and this is usually because they don’t receive sufficient, consistent communication from candidates. Gather past election data to find out how many drop-off voters are in your district.
By increasing your communication with these subprime voters, you should see an increase in voter turnout and support. If there are a lot of drop-off voters in your area, you’ll need to put more of an effort into outreach than otherwise. A budget-friendly and socially-distant way to keep up communication with these voters is through direct mail. Postcards are a quick and easy method to boost your name recognition while engaging with voters who feel left out of the political process.