One of the keys to President Obama’s wins in 2008 and 2012 was his advanced skills of building, segmenting, and creating powerful email campaigns.
In the Republican field for President, Dr. Ben Carson has the largest email list, followed by Ted Cruz, yet the leader of the GOP field Donald Trump lags towards the back of the email pack.
In my talk “How Obama won in 2012 … and the Democratic plan to win in 2016”, I outline how advanced his marketing skills were to drive voters.
And what about 2016? Look at the Republicans:
| Candidate | Polling | Rank | Email List Quantity |
| Trump | 28.3% | 1 | 492k |
| Fiorina | 4.3% | 7 | 879k |
| Carson | 5.3% | 6 | 4.5M |
| Bush | 8.0% | 4 | 654k |
| Kasich | 7.7% | 5 | 575k |
| Rubio | 12.0% | 2 | 2.4 M |
| Cruz | 12.0% | 2 | 3.6M |
| Christie | 11.3% | 3 | 134k |
| Paul | 3.9% | 8 | 2.0M |
Looking over the eblasts, Trump has not send out many (38 in the last 30 days), but Cruz has become the “master blaster”, issuing 141 emails in the last month, mostly for fundraising.
Losing email subscribers can indicate a hurting campaign, though. At the height of her rise in the polls, Carly Fiorina boasted an account of 2.8 million, which has now plummeted to 1 million. As of now, the former Hewlett-Packard Executive has a weak 17% open rate.
Obama capitalized on email campaigns in 2012 by targeting individuals on key issues, then followed their responses with more emails. His creative direct response copy and over 1,000 test variables perfected the emails’ impact. The Republicans are doing emails as they were doing them 15 years go. This method does not seem to be working as effectively for them.
Conclusion: A well-targeted email campaign can generate donors, volunteers, and votes. Building an email listserv is essential. But so far, the Republicans are driving at 40-50mph on a 70mph highway.
What do you think? Email me at craig@craighuey.com