In twenty years of consulting political clients, one of the top three questions I am always asked is "How do I reach the Independent voters?" Ample research compiled after each election cycle provides detailed information on media preferences by those voters who identify themselves as Independent, so offering data for targeting purposes is rather easy.
But, times have changed.
A more accurate picture of unaffiliated voters is achieved by thinking of voters as Persuadable instead of Independent.
Although voters identifying as Independent have a larger list of choices than those committed to the party line, research now documents what was always suspected: that every voter is at some level Persuadable.
The 2008 election cycle confirmed this research: significant numbers of voters selected the Democratic candidate for President while also voting on the Republican Party line.
The top of the ticket was able to persuade the voters.
Even in smaller voter pools, reaching out to the Persuadable vote is critical to success.
The time-tested techniques of reaching the Independent voter will no longer suffice as the art of political targeting evolves every election cycle.
In the era of low cost television commercials and proven messaging that communicates to the Persuadable voter, there is much less guessing and much more efficient use of campaign dollars.
Research on persuadable voters is being conducted at major U.
S.
Universities.
The most recent data outlines the specific words, phrases and images that connect with the voter who is persuadable.
Are you on the right side of the research curve?