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Connecting with voters is key to running for public office

With Ontario’s municipal elections fast approaching, many individuals are campaigning for public office because they are passionate about public service and looking to solve issues or want to help their communities.

I once asked a long-serving Councillor about his level of confidence in being re-elected, and he replied, “they’re elections, you can never be sure.”  All candidates, including incumbents, are motivated to give their all throughout the campaign to engage voters at a time when residents are considering who will best represent their interests. But how exactly does a candidate engage residents in order to gain their support? Even if “you can never be sure,” there are things you can focus on during the campaign to improve your chances and gain more support.

Sharing your expertise, insight, and vision with constituents and demonstrating your dedication to public service should be the essence of your outreach. Gaining constituents’ support requires proving your competency and capacity to address their concerns, and the best way to do that is by being well informed of the issues affecting the local communities in the ward, and demonstrating how your prior experience will help present solutions to these issues. Something that I observed is that residents tend to respond more favorably to canvassers when they speak to problems and solutions for ongoing issues in the neighborhood. Addressing things like policing, traffic, construction work, service disruptions, and even lack of resources in community centers makes residents feel validated and reassured that their complaints are acknowledged and taken into consideration.

Municipal elections are more personal, close-knit, and focused than federal elections. Voters mostly consider how a candidate will directly impact and assist their community when they have problems. You must assert yourself and prove that you are part of the community and that anything that affects them also affects you, because gaining their trust and building rapport with them is essential. It’s important to keep in mind that familiarity breeds favorability, therefore candidates should make an effort to attend various events in the ward in order to gain name recognition and form close bonds with voters. Showing that you care (and genuinely caring) will make you more likable among residents. On many occasions, I frequently overheard individuals saying, “oh! I know this person, of course I will vote for them, I see them around all the time.” 

Don’t underestimate name recognition. During your campaign, people must constantly be exposed to your name, face, team, and work. How that is done depends on your audience and what resonates with them most. Digital marketing and conventional methods like fliers, signs, posters, and banners can help you increase your name recognition, but that on its own isn’t enough if you fail to engage constituents with your vision. You need to communicate that your vision for the ward matches what they hope their local communities will become, by proving to them that you are aware of the challenges and developing a thorough plan with all the necessary steps to ensure that the community, your very own community, upholds the greatest quality for them. Your vision should be appealing to constituents of all backgrounds and ages and that their best interests are at the heart of all you do.

It is also critical how you interact with constituents. Candidates typically knock on doors, which is meaningful. However, you can also visit places of worship, or hold coffee meet-and-greets in cafes or supporters’ homes. Gather families and have a fireside conversation with them when you can.

The bottom line is that choosing a Councillor differs from choosing a member of parliament. Candidates aren’t affiliated with parties, thus voters select the candidate they believe will best serve their interests and address their concerns. You must establish a personal connection with your supporters. Be empathetic, make a connection, and demonstrate your commitment to them.

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How You Tell Your Story Is The Foundation of An Effective Human Rights Campaign

In times of crisis, Incisive Strategy helps guide and advise organizations and people when they are under monumental stress and pressure. One of the most important and crucial aspects of crisis management is communication with the public and stakeholders (e.g. media, human rights organizations and politicians). At Incisive Strategy we cover different types of crisis management but for this insight, we will look at crisis management through a lens of human rights campaigning.

The success of a human rights campaign comes down to how a client tells their story. Understandably, since clients are under significant tension and feeling a great deal of panic, they want to tell every minute detail of their case which subsequently causes confusion and often more concern than support from targeted stakeholders. For when it comes to public relations, success in conveying one’s story is achieved by pinpointing the most relevant aspects of a case by first identifying what one wants to gain from telling the story (i.e. identifying your ask or goal). When our clients meet with senior stakeholders and decision makers they typically have 10 minutes tops to get their key messages across. Ultimately we help our clients effectively share their story without losing the genuine emotional element that is needed to touch the hearts and minds of stakeholders. 

This is why we train our clients so that their story and message can be heard and understood with clarity to achieve positive outcomes. As a firm, taking a deep dive into our client’s story and understanding all its aspects is key to determining what the client needs to focus on without compromising their story. One of the results of training clients is achieving consistency and effectiveness in their storytelling. We empower our clients in what can be the toughest period of their lives by giving them the confidence and comfort to tell their story and ultimately seek the support they need. 

But telling a story is not just through how we communicate it from one person to the next. We can share different details through different platforms. For instance, we often prepare briefing documents, a well-thought-out and extensive document as a follow-up to a conversation. A well structured document can reassure our client that their story – in all its complexities –  is readily available to key stakeholders for further reading. On the other hand, a website allows the wider public to have access to all the different elements of a case.

Beyond how we tell a story, we also help our clients find opportunities to share it. The use of social media and events is crucial in reaching and engaging various communities. Be it targeted social media campaigns or a webinar that brings in experts and distinguished guests, the opportunity to grow a support base while authenticating the campaign is endless. While many public affairs firms rely on social media campaigns’ paid ads to boost the reach, we believe in a more scientific and organic approach by building a following of people who care, one person at a time, to ultimately create a level of engagement that translates into a shared voice in support of our client’s crisis or ordeal. Likewise, organizing a webinar solidifies the campaign by having experts and community members speak and this in turn be shared on social media for more viewership and exposure of the case. 

Our role is to guide clients through their tough times and set out a strategy that gets them out of their crisis to a solution. The foundation of a good campaign is how a client tells their story. If this is achieved then the public response whether from human rights organizations, general public, experts or decision makers will be positive and form a strong base of support for the client as they pursue their objective. 

By Nadeem Khadaroo
Junior Communications Consultant at Incisive Strategy

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