Competing with Less

Almost every grassroots campaign contends with having much less money than their opponent. The incumbent is well-financed, pushing name recognition throughout the district and the grassroots candidate feels mostly alone, fighting for air.

Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerilla Marketing, said this: "Marketing is the art of getting people to change their minds - or to maintain their mindsets if they're already inclined to do business with you. People must either switch brands or purchase a type of product or service that has never existed before. That's asking a lot of them."

I bring up guerilla marketing because it's how you attract attention for less money. Typical campaign consultants roll through money doing big, ordinary things: mailers, TV and radio ads, social media ads... and those are great if you have a lot of money. But how do you attract attention when money is limited?

How do you compete with less?

You start with this: the very purpose of all marketing is to be memorable. Think of the dumbest commercial you ever watched. You still remember it today because it was ridiculously dumb. That was probably purposeful. So, if you release something smart and memorable, all the better.

Most campaign mailers are forgettable. They're unsurprising. They're typical. It's why they're thrown away quickly. It's money wasted, mostly.

The first key to guerilla marketing is to surprise people. Give them the unexpected and do it in a memorable way. Make it impossible to forget.

Most mailers have a nice torso picture of the candidate, some bullets about what they might do, a bio, and a link / QR code to a website.

What might be different is a close-up picture of the candidate drinking coffee with the words "I want to listen to you over coffee."

Which one are you less likely to immediately throw away?

If you can connect with people on an emotional or urgent level, you're further along.

People hate property taxes. So perhaps you might try this... do you suppose this might intrigue the person who receives it?

And if you don't have the money for mailers?

Then you get creative in the things you can do. Everyone blockwalks. I started blockbiking, and bought a banner trailer for when I would go house to house to ensure I was memorable after I left.

The element of surprise - the unexpected - is everything. Running for office is a daring exercise... so turn up the dare in your campaign and be fearless.

3 Comments

Daniel Hunt (Oct 20, 2025 8:35 AM):

Truth! Brett hits the nail on the head.

David Rogers (Oct 20, 2025 10:21 AM):

Excellent advice

R. E. MERRIMAN merrimanreyahoo.com (Oct 20, 2025 11:19 AM):

Makes sense. Hope the newbies see this.