Research shows that second to the news, messages from a friend are the most effective way to influence a voter.  In recent elections we found this to be overwhelmingly true – see Georgia, where Stacey Abrams has spent the last 4 years organizing the entire Democratic effort around this concept and was finally able to turn a red state to blue. We also saw that the Democrats masterfully used this concept to activate volunteers and voters during the pandemic. Talking to people who know, like and trust you is a longstanding and fundamental volunteer and grassroots recruitment technique. What is new, is the use of technology to systematize the effort and let people communicate the way they want to communicate these days.  What we observed during our first election season with SwipeRed ™ is that small campaigns could achieve an over-proportional impact in a short time. They typically were able to activate 50 – 80 volunteers within a couple of weeks.

A convention-based election presents an ideal environment for the usage of SwipeRed™! Whether a convention is virtual or in person, ideally you want to be completely confident of your delegate count and set to win by the time the convention begins. Your voter universe is – relatively - small and consists of people who are friends with each other with a common interest. Typically, in every small group of voters, there are super influencers...the person the delegates respect and who can persuade others.  The influencer has a larger circle of friends in the environment and typically are very active.  If you can recruit the right influencers early in the campaign and show them the value of your campaign, they are most likely willing to use their clout to share your messages to recruit delegates and alternates to your campaign. 

Using the power of super influencers and relational outreach tools, you should easily be able to gather 50 - 150 people who support your candidacy by downloading the SwipeRed app and reaching out to the remaining delegates.

Chances are that there will be a 100% match between SwipeRed volunteer's contacts and the delegates at the convention, resulting in the ability to reach ALL delegates through their friend. SwipeRed suggests delegates to the volunteer who are also their friends – based on the match between target audience (Delegate List) and the volunteer's contacts on their phone. It presents a message for them to share – by Text, email, direct message, or through a phone call and with an average of over 104 contact matches for each of them.

So, how do I start?

1. It is best to start by recruiting influencers in the districts that carry the most votes. It is always best for the candidate or their team lead to personally recruit the influencers.  This can be on a call or in person.
2. Once they agree to help, make sure they know how to download the app from the app store or use the web version of SwipeRed.
3. Organize a zoom or an in person meeting with the influencers to ensure they understand the process of sharing messages.  Make sure you explain the difference between friend to friend (smart match) messages, affinity P2P messages (identified peers) and social media posts.
4. In the SwipeRed admin, add your Advocate only messages, friend to friend and social messages.  
5. Make sure, the influencer knows to watch for the push notifications
6. Create landing page with a form to record any feedback about a particular delegate.
7. Stay in close touch with your Influencers Advocates, encouraging them to recruit new Advocates. 

Influencers are critical to scaling Relational Organizing