The Importance of Effective Analytics in Political Campaigns
These days, much of the conversation surrounding political campaigns is carried out through technological means. Traditional messaging channels, such as TV and phone, are now utilized in tandem with social media, email, and other web-based communications to mobilize voters like never before.
With so many avenues for voter interaction springs a wealth of valuable data. Digital information collected by pollsters, fundraisers, field workers and social media contacts offers a potential glimpse into the voter’s psyche. Tools for behavioral analysis and data-mining can reveal untold insights, but their accuracy relies upon a campaign’s ability to gather and process the relevant data.
In this modern political arena, a campaign’s proficiency with analytics is just as essential for victory as supporting a candidate with charisma and strong policies. Today’s political battles are fought on two fronts: traditional, boots-on-the-ground activities are now underpinned by analytic conclusions drawn from the opinions of technology users; in this way, messaging can be micro-targeted for maximum effectiveness.
At Lincoln Strategy Group, we’ve witnessed firsthand just how powerful analytics can be. A proper analytics tool doesn’t just coordinate, track, and collect the right data—it streamlines campaign efforts, saves clients money, and it can be customized to fit a variety of applications. We realized the need for a data management system that accomplished all this and more, so we created ABE, a campaign analytics tool truly in a class of its own.
In designing ABE, our goal was to trim the fat from cumbersome analytic techniques. We wanted to create a data tool that eliminates needless number crunching, and provides our strategists the insights they need, at the opportune moment.
ABE’s special talent is versatility. From the results of door-to-door canvassing to voter pledges gained from cold calling, ABE can track and contextualize the corresponding numbers of any campaign. The system also allows for real-time monitoring of campaign team contributions, on an individual level. Using ABE, staffers can identify exemplary efforts, and manage inconsistencies in performance.
Each client using ABE will have their own unique user interface, with capabilities and specifications tailored to their needs. Every ABE dashboard is custom-designed to provide clients relevant and useful data, streamed to a central access point. Instead of wasting work-hours poring over countless Excel spreadsheets, or paging through Google Docs, clients need only log onto ABE to find the exact information they require, live-updated.
Creating a one-of-a-kind system like ABE wasn’t easy, but considering the value it offers clients, few investments have been more worthwhile. As the role of analytics in modern campaigning expands, those who take advantage of tools like ABE will continue to earn victory on voting day.
