Insights
Election Season: How to rethink your non-political PR efforts
Breaking news: it’s election season. Even if you are not pursuing any PR or public affairs campaigns related to upcoming local or national elections, your communications strategies will be impacted. That’s because, according to Pew Research, more than half of Americans closely follow election news, and roughly 60% are already worn out by this year’s election news coverage. And as we get closer to Nov. 5, audiences nationwide will increasingly view content through a political lens. Content that seemed innocuous in April may not be in October, and uncertainty will be high.
During election season, it’s important to adapt your PR approach – and there are more than a few bright spots for non-political media relations efforts during an election year. Our team at Quinn Thomas has a few tips for leading your corporate communications and community relations campaigns through the end of the year.
Re-examine your audience’s media consumption
Consider where and how your audience consumes news and if it may change during an election cycle. For example, I live in Vancouver, Washington where the race for Congress in WA-3 is highly competitive this year. That means local reporters will increasingly focus on every nuance of the race the closer we get to the election. It’s a different story for my QT colleagues in areas like Seattle where there aren’t many competitive races this year – reporters won’t be as narrowly focused on local election coverage. Leverage insights like this to pivot and create new opportunities for your brand.
It’s also important to consider your DMA region: Vancouver is part of the Portland Metro DMA, where there are already several competitive races in the suburbs. So our DMA is likely to see an overwhelming amount of political advertising in the next few months.
To avoid what they perceive to be noise, local audiences, especially those under 30, may shift to consuming more social media content to avoid what they perceive to be noise. For PR pros, this presents an opportunity to fine-tune their owned content strategy and continue reaching their audiences.
Consider if the timing is really right
Not every topic is a great fit for PR efforts during an election cycle. Audiences will be more apt to engage with “quick news bites” and “news they can use” such as stories about upcoming events and actionable thought leadership that addresses business challenges. Any content with a clear call-to-action or next step for readers is likely to perform better in such a crowded media environment.
However, news that offers a break from the noise, like positive community impact stories, can break through both reporters’ and your audience’s election fatigue – so don’t take this type of authentic storytelling off of your to-do list.
Manage expectations
As the media landscape grows increasingly cluttered through Nov. 5, it’s important to align stakeholders with what’s realistic during election season. Keep in mind that major dates – debates, national conventions and of course Election Day itself – will have an outsized impact on any events, pitches or owned content being distributed that day.
Widen your outreach and go local
While many general assignment reporters, multimedia reporters and news desk staffers will be focused on election news, beat reporters are still on tap for news from their coverage areas. Consider if your campaign could pivot to appeal to lifestyle, education, healthcare, public safety or other beat reporters who won’t be covering the election.
It’s also a good time to consider widening the types of media you engage. Local newsletters like Axios Portland or Axios Seattle, podcasts and local trade/community organizations’ blogs can be a great option to continue the drumbeat of your news during this time. Elevating local news’ priority level in your outreach can also create opportunities to connect with your audience directly.
Unfortunately, election season is often not the best time to pursue national media outreach except to targeted industry outlets. During this time, national broadcast and digital reporters will have all eyes tuned to election coverage. It’s extremely tough to break through the noise. While even trade media will have election coverage, the bulk of their coverage will still focus on industry-specific news and topics which may present an in for your stories.
Create backup plans
We all know elections can have a multitude of twists and turns – like a sitting president stepping down from the race. You never know what topics will unexpectedly become controversial, and as we’re already starting to see following President Biden’s announcement, new issues are rapidly coming to the forefront for each campaign. Keep a few “just in case” topics in your back pocket in the event you suddenly find yourself with a “hot potato” pitch that is no longer usable.
Election topics can also come up in surprising places, such as an interview on an unrelated subject. Ensure your spokespeople are prepared to handle these questions and pivot back to what you’d like them to talk about when speaking with reporters.
Finally, the impacts of the election on PR campaigns can extend long after Election Day. Many companies are factoring election uncertainty into their campaign planning through at least January. As you’re preparing your fall and winter PR and marketing campaigns, it’s important to build contingencies in the event of the unexpected.
Though there’s already a lot of election news fatigue, strategic PR pros can navigate around the roadblocks and continue to deliver outstanding results during an election year. Get creative, dig deep and consider changing up your outreach strategy, and you’ll find a multitude of opportunities in the months ahead.
This blog was authored by Quinn Thomas Account Director, Hailey Swalley.