Auto calls can work. If they’re informative, believable, and don’t go on and on and on, you can get a message delivered effectively with an automated call. The average person will listen for 21 seconds so you need to make sure you front-load the important information.
People get turned off by auto calls that are too long and don’t have a clear message.
The biggest complainers are by people who are already supporting your opponent.
Here are some ways auto calls have worked for our clients:
Event Attendance
Auto calls help to maintain contact with constituents, supporters, and donors. This can come in handy when trying to reach previously identified supporters to quickly get people to a rally, to donate, or to help canvass.
In our experience, auto calls have drastically increased attendance at events. When planning an event at the last minute, or even with ample notice, auto calls serve as a quick way to target a large amount of people and invite them to attend. From rallies to fundraisers, this works for every kind of event.
Listen to the auto call recordings from United States Senator Chris Murphy and Compassion & Choices. Both calls were successful in increasing attendance to their events.
Messaging If you’re trying hard to target a specific group of voters, you’ve found your answer with auto calls. Auto calls are great for driving home or reinforcing a message.
Complementing A Mail Piece It’s always more effective when people hear things more than one way. Auto calls can stand alone, but they’re a smart way to complement direct mail pieces and campaign ads. Check out how David Donnelly from Public Campaign Action Fund (now Every Voice) used an auto call to complement a mail piece. The mail piece was a letter urging political donors in New York to take action and help pass citizen-funded elections for all statewide and legislative races.
Rapid Response Have you seen a candidate hit with a negative campaign ad, news story, or mail piece that seems like it might be a public relations disaster?
Rapid response auto calls are a quick way to respond to the negatives and help to reflect your candidate or organization in a positive light. This can be done easily by pointing out the fallacies and reminding voters of the facts. Endorsements & Updates Auto calls are also great for keeping voters and supporters updated. Need to target a certain group of voters and let them know of an endorsement that would guarantee their support? This is the way to do it!
The Telephone Town Hall Pre-Call The Telephone Town Hall pre-call auto call is one of the best calls if you’re planning a Telephone Town Hall.
The Telephone Town Hall pre-call is an automated call that goes out the day before a Telephone Town Hall. The call has a very high success rate in increasing participants on a Telephone Town Hall and lets voters know a candidate cares and wants to engage with them on a more personal level.
Check out our blog ‘Why Do a Telephone Town Hall Pre-Call’ which lists all of the benefits of doing a pre-call.
GOTV When Bob Brink, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates announced his retirement to join Governor Terry McAuliffe’s Administration, he left his seat vacant ahead of a competitive race.
Brink announced on June 27th and the Democratic primary was scheduled for July 6th. This left only a few days for Democratic candidates to campaign. With such a short amount of time, and Independence Day in the mix, this would be a tough race to get voters out to the polls.
Candidate Richard ‘Rip’ Sullivan came to Stones’ Phones because he knew that auto calls would be the difference he needed to win. Sullivan was right.
We planned several auto calls, including one GOTV call on the day of the vote as a final push to get voters out.
Sullivan was way ahead of all other candidates in votes and ended up winning the Democratic nomination. Auto calls were just what Sullivan needed to win the race!
These are some of the big ways auto calls have worked for our clients, but they also help in other ways like helping candidates to gain name recognition. Don’t be fooled by the myth that auto calls don’t work. You might be missing out on what you actually need to win.