• by Nina Lentini , Staff Writer @Nina_Lentini, January 16, 2020

The old way of reaching potential voters used to be about volume. If you sent out five direct mail pieces, send a sixth. Now, the methods have shifted and the focus is on quality of message rather than volume.

So said Mark Morgan, Deputy Political Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (center), at MediaPost's Marketing Politics conference in Washington, D.C. "Part of GoTV is facilitating, getting the audience out to vote."

The panel, moderated by Matt Compton, Director, Advocacy and Engagement of Blue State Digital, also included Sandra Sanchez, Director of Digital Engagement of Voto Latino. 

Morgan said strategy depends on the state as well as the target audiences. "Who are your voters who have been regular voters who are at risk of not voting? You use a far more traditional strategy to engage those folks. Then there's the segment you're looking to engage, they have no consistent voting history. You're going to look at facilitating and making it easy to vote."

And, despite all the platforms and technology available in 2020, he said "doors are the best way to reach a human to motivate them." The baseline of GoTV is boots on the ground Still, he said "no medium should be ignored." 

GoTV doesn't just occur in the final months of a campaign. The best resource is time, continual engagement either on social or in person."

As for apps, Morgan said they must be user friend. "Can I download it and use it in five minutes or do I have to go back and get a computer science degree?"