The 2020 Presidential Election was one of the most pivotal moments for Americans in recent memory - and it came in the midst of a pandemic, at a time when government was less trusted than ever before.
The Biden For President campaign needed to both educate voters on alternate voting options (and how to vote safely in person in a pandemic) so they could feel confident their vote would count), and also tap into the issues - from climate change, to social justice - that would actually motivate them to do so. But to do that, BFP needed to engage messengers they could trust.
And while outside of family members, peers and “people like them” were the source voters trusted most - influencers had been bungling that trust left and right. Following the backlash they received from ill-thought out videos to tone-deaf branded posts during the pandemic, influencers were skittish to participate in anything risky (and stating your political views during an election was definitely risky.)
To implement a successful organic campaign that drove real action, it was essential for BFP to do so through unpaid influencers, sharing meaningful content that would resonate authentically with their followers (and our key audiences).
The Biden For President campaign (BFP) created a two-pronged influencer activation approach, using trusted messengers (both major celebrities and targeted social influencers) to share social content in two waves across the 100 days leading up to the election that:
We employed sophisticated analytics to identify and vet 1,200 influential voices who would best reach and resonate with key voter populations. For each wave we followed three key steps:
Identified the right influencers: It was essential that every influencer we worked with was not only vetted for any flags or concerns that could negatively impact the campaign, but also that we were identifying and activating the right people who could speak to target voter groups and affect behavioral change.
BFP used robust audience demographic and psychographic research to vet the widespread influencer list down to 797 influencers. BFP analyzed indicators of voting history, their social audiences, resonance and any possible red flags against key issues nationally and in battleground states to find the most passionate, best-fit influencers with the best chance of interest in participating.
We knew we needed a strong focus on battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona and Florida, as well as a focus on youth, Black and LatinX voters. One of the core elements of our vetting process was identifying influencers who had credible reach among these groups.
Crafted compelling creative content: BFP needed to ensure that any content we created not only included clear, simple messaging approved by the campaign, but that it was something influencers would actually want to share in an unpaid capacity.
Messaging: Worked with the wider campaign to develop messaging around core issues that put Biden’s positions into simple, powerful layman’s terms and drove to iwillvote.com (where voters could type in their location to get their voting options).
Creative content: Developed three asset suite options for influencers to bring messages to life:
Pre-packaged ready-to-use assets based on voter education and a variety of core campaign issues, along with Giphy stickers and an Instagram Story “fill-in-the-blank” style quiz
Customizable assets influencers could personalize with their photo or a quote on why they were voting, including an interactive Instagram AR filter
Safe Voting Kits shipped to highly engaged influencers to create their own content, along with opportunities for high-profile video advertisement voiceover work for select influencers
During the course of the campaign BFP engaged more than 90 influencers in an unpaid organic capacity to share content, resulting in:
As votes were counted, the importance of our targeted focus became even clearer. Pennsylvania, Arizona and other states where BFP secured influencer content eventually helped to secure the most important result of all - a Presidential victory and a new administration ready to change the course of America.
