How to Win an Election with QR Codes
Amplify your message and increase mobile voter outreach with QR codes for elections.
Political campaigning and technology go hand in hand. While traditional forms of campaigning, like phone banking, in-person events, and door-to-door canvassing, still make an impact, tech can go even further in reaching constituents. Incorporating technology like QR codes in your text marketing campaign can make all the difference.
Why is leveraging technology crucial for electoral success? Leveraging technology for electoral success is vital because it increases your campaign’s reach and provides information and resources to voters in digital formats that they increasingly prefer. Plus, digital tools can amplify your message and cost-effectively engage voters.
Here, we’ll discuss how election QR codes can increase the effectiveness of your political campaign and provide essential QR code marketing tips.
What Are Election QR Codes, and How Can They Boost Your Campaign?
First, let’s understand what election QR codes are and how they can boost your campaign.
QR is short for “quick response,” meaning it’s a technology that can elicit faster interactions with digital experiences. You’ve probably seen QR codes on (or in place of) restaurant menus or marketing collateral. Smartphone users simply scan the QR code with their camera, prompting an action, like opening a texting app, a website, etc.
QR codes can be used widely across industries — elections included — to streamline access to information, boost engagement, and reduce friction between in-person and digital experiences. Specifically, they can enhance political campaigns by creating a seamless voter experience for your constituents by allowing them to interact quickly and enabling you to maximize voter turnout and measure engagement.
How Can QR Codes Enhance Voter Engagement?
QR codes can enhance voter engagement by providing convenient access to essential campaign resources, giving voters a more immersive experience with your campaign, and driving SMS or email list growth (which further boosts engagement).
Voters can scan election QR codes on campaign materials and advertisements (like mailers and television ads) to quickly access candidate profiles, policy platforms, event calendars, volunteer opportunities, donation pages, and more. The fewer steps they need to take to complete an action, the more likely they will be to engage with your campaign. After all, in the digital age, convenience is everything.
From adding more subscribers to your text marketing campaign to driving users to online experiences, implementing QR codes is one of the cheapest ways to foster voter engagement. QR codes are a low-cost election marketing method, maximizing outreach with a minimal budget. So, if you’re trying to conquer the campaign trail for $1,000, QR codes can help with campaign budget optimization.
How to Use QR Codes in Your Political Campaign
Uncover some essential ways you can use election QR codes to boost your campaign.
Fundraising
Secure donations faster with QR codes that direct people to your fundraising page. Print the QR code on materials shared at fundraising galas, campaign rallies, or TV ads. This is an easy way for voters to donate to your campaign because they don’t have to remember and type in a website address.
Pair this QR code marketing tactic for fundraising with your text-to-donate campaign to keep those dollars rolling in.
Get to Know Your Voters
Knowing your audience is key for brands and political campaigns alike. But aside from acquiring voter data files, how can political campaigns better understand their constituents? By tracking voter responses through surveys and polls.
Consider sharing a QR code that takes people to a survey form or a poll. You could print the code on campaign materials and place it on signs and other campaign collateral at events, asking voters to make their voices heard. Incorporating QR codes for this important campaign task will delight voters, who can submit feedback quickly and seamlessly.
Voter Registration
At the beginning of your campaign, whether you’re a candidate or a political organization, part of GOTV efforts is ensuring that people are registered to vote. Most US states allow online voter registration, which makes this part of the election process easy — but you can make it even easier for constituents by providing a QR code on GOTV materials that leads them directly to their state’s voter registration site.
Share Information
Election QR codes are your answer to “How can I streamline the process of getting information out?” QR codes allow your campaign to share information quickly, whether directing people to your website to follow policy updates, guiding them to an events page, or leading them to a candidate video message.
Political Text Message Marketing List Growth
Increasing subscribers to your text marketing campaign means an expanded reach and a more successful political campaign. QR codes can help. These helpful tools can supercharge your marketing list growth. With one quick scan of their phone, voters can enroll in your SMS list and start receiving timely communication from your campaign.
QR codes, SMS keywords, web sign-up forms, and click-to-text generators can kickstart your voter contact plan and help you get the message out to more people more quickly.
QR Code Marketing Tactics
It’s essential to understand how to ensure that your QR codes boost engagement and create a more successful campaign. So, what are effective QR code marketing tactics for political campaigns? Effective QR code marketing tactics for political campaigns include providing a stellar CTA, strategic placement, updating QR code destinations, and collecting and analyzing data.
QR Code CTA
While the sheer convenience of QR codes drives voter engagement, don’t overlook the power of the QR code call to action (CTA). Like using a CTA in your email or text marketing campaign, you must create a CTA for your QR codes to motivate people to scan. Clearly state the benefit or reward for the voter using your QR code, whether it’s “Donate for Change,” “Register to Vote Today,” “Make Your Voice Heard,” or other messages.
Strategic Placement
For QR code voter engagement, QR code access needs to be convenient. If voters can’t find and scan the code easily, they’ll move on quickly. Consumers and voters alike require convenience, so place election QR codes in easy-to-scan spots on your marketing collateral and ensure they’re optimal sizes — not too small that their camera can’t find it and not too large that they have to zoom out.
Update QR Code Destinations
Did you know that you can edit the destination of your dynamic QR code even after it’s printed? Use this feature to your advantage by updating specific QR codes based on new campaign information, upcoming stages in getting out the vote, and so on. By providing resources to match, you can keep content fresh and meet voters where they are in their election journeys.
Keep in mind that some QR codes might not need updating, such as those used to acquire new SMS subscribers or collect donations.
Collect and Analyze Data
One of the most significant benefits of QR codes in election text marketing campaigns is their ability to provide accurate and straightforward data. Every QR code allows your campaign to track metrics, like the scan locations and times, unique scans (from new devices), scan rates, and demographics.
Analyzing these metrics is essential to determine how and when voters interact with your QR codes. For example, say you’ve placed QR codes on public transit ads throughout your city and notice that specific locations have more scans than others. That means you should perhaps tweak the QR code CTA in the low-scan location or change its placement.
Track campaign performance to get insights into your mobile voter outreach efforts — it will pay off!
What Steps Are Involved in Creating QR Codes for Voting?
The steps involved in creating QR codes for voting are super simple. Your text message service should have QR code capabilities and guide you through creating them for your campaign.
Here is the QR code creation process with EZ Texting:
- Find the QR code generator in your account.
- Select the action your QR code will take (create a text message, visit a URL, and so on).
- Create your code with the applicable information.
- Download and place the QR code strategically for voters.
You can also find plenty of free QR code generators online.
Put QR Codes to Work for Your Campaign
EZ Texting offers a 14-day free trial that includes QR codes with each plan so you can test them out before subscribing (but we’re pretty sure you’ll want to). Start using QR codes in your political text marketing campaign today to see results that make an impact.
FAQs
QR codes can help win an election by providing voters with easy, convenient access to your political campaign’s website, social media profile, donation page, sign-up forms, and more, increasing communication and engagement. With QR codes, you can get your message in front of more people and boost support for your campaign.
Text marketing campaigns enhance your electoral strategy by providing a direct and personal format for communicating with voters. Text messages have a 98% open rate, meaning that all of your campaign messaging will be seen and interacted with quickly, therefore mobilizing voters efficiently.
See other resources related to:
