The people of North Carolina have spoken.  And they are not happy with the state government’s handling of the economy. 7,672 North Carolinians responded to the “Concerned Citizens Survey”: 87 percent of the respondents vote in every election, another 11 percent vote in most elections. (Politicians, do we have your attention now?) Could this widespread populist anger spell trouble for Democrats in the state in 2010?

Here are some survey highlights:

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In campaigns, the three most precious resources are these: money, time, and the attention span of voters. That last one–voter attention span–makes each contact you have with a voter important, especially in an age in which it is easy for voters to shut you out. In an ideal world, you’d want to know each voter well and tailor a personal message to deliver. But in the real world, you are forced to make a best effort to narrow down a mass message.

Good thing there’s list segmentation.

List segmentation is the simple practice of breaking down your contact list into sublists. These sublists are based on criteria you choose, e.g. people in the 27705 zip code. You can then send more focused and more relevant emails to the people on these sublists. This tactic is not new, but it is newly simple thanks to the advent of affordable commercial marketing services.

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In this electronic age, email remains the killer app of campaign communications. It’s efficient, it’s targeted, it’s cheap, it’s designed to go viral, and it works. Email is the topic of discussion this week on RunSmart2Win. Today we will look at 10 Tips for Maximizing the Effectiveness of Email Campaigns:

1. Keep your messages short and focused. People have short attention spans. Emails must grab the reader’s attention early, make one point, and conclude with one action step. Not only does this mean keeping the email short, but breaking your message into short sentences with headings for easy skimming. If you say three things, you say nothing. One point. One action step. That’s it. Remember the Five B’s of campaign emails: Be Brief, Baby, Be Brief.
2. Don’t just ask for money. Email is a great campaign fundraising tool, but you shouldn’t overdue it. Even your most avid supporters will spam block you if all of your emails are contribution requests. Mix up the topics you cover: campaign announcements, volunteer mobilization efforts, special event invitations, letters from the candidate, and yes, the occasional fundraising email too.
3. Don’t flood inboxes. Just as you shouldn’t ask for money in every email you send, you also shouldn’t send emails everyday! If you do, you will quickly discover that people have tuned you out. One email per week should be the upper limit. The exception to this is the last week of the campaign when you are turning out supporters and voters.
4. There is a time for urgency. On the heels of point three, the reason you shouldn’t flood people’s inboxes is so you can grab their attention when you really need it (for example, the last week of the fundraising quarter, the 72 hours prior to Election Day, etc.). By not spending your email capital too early — and not crying wolf with too many urgent pleas — you retain your right to implore your supporters to act, contribute, or volunteer with emotional appeals, deadlines, and countdowns.
5. Use the candidate wisely. Obviously, you want some of your messages to come from the candidate. But not every email should be from the man or woman in charge. If every email is from the candidate, people may assume that he or she is not the person behind it. It’s true that the candidate is the standard bearer of the campaign message, but use him or her wisely. Have the candidate author some of the emails, but include the candidate’s spouse, campaign staffers, and endorsements from members of the community.
6. Ask supporters to tell their friends. The most powerful method for starting a word-of-mouth epidemic over the Internet is friends emailing friends emailing friends. Encourage activists to edit messages from the campaign, then send them on to friends and family members. Ask supporters to remove “FW:” from the email subject line and personalize the message.
7. Link to online videos. Take a screenshot from a campaign video, making sure it looks like a video player. Then provide the link to the actual video (and embed code for people to place the video on their own blogs or social networking pages). Use your organization’s stories to bring people in, and then connect it to an “ask” at the end of the email. Capture their attention with video, then take them to a next-step — like contributing, volunteering, calling a radio station, or sending in a letter to the editor.
8. Be interesting and relevant. Don’t live in a bubble. Piggyback on the most talked about issues affecting your race. Is there a local corruption scandal or hot button issue that everyone is talking about? Don’t ignore the elephant in the room. Talk about what the voters are talking about. Address their concerns. Capitalize on grassroots anger. Relate your message to the day’s headlines. Talk about why your issue matters now.
9. Test and improve. Measure the success of your email campaigns by tracking open-rates, click-throughs, and forwards. Is there is an issue, action, or layout that people respond to more than others? Use that information to improve on future emails.
10. Say “Please” and “Thank you.” Mama was right: you should always ask politely, saying “Please,” and show appreciation, with a “Thank you.” Acknowledge the effort your supporters are making on behalf of the candidate and the campaign. Never take their time, effort, money, or support for granted.

The final results of the North Carolina Concerned Citizens Survey are in. One month ago we reported on the preliminary survey results, which didn’t look good at all for Gov. Bev Perdue and the Democrats in Raleigh. The final analysis isn’t rosy for the Dems either.

Over 1,000 North Carolinians responded: 86 percent of the respondents vote in every election, another 11 percent vote in most elections. (Politicians, do we have your attention now?) Here are some of the highlights:

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Your answers to the Concerned Citizens Survey are pouring in…

And the results are not favorable to the Democrat agenda in Raleigh.

Here are a few highlights from the survey responses so far:

>> “Do you think North Carolina’s economy is improving or getting worse?”

• Getting worse - 90.8%
• About the same - 9.2%
• Improving - 0.0%

>> “What economic issue concerns you the most in North Carolina?”

• Government spending - 60.0%
• Taxes - 24.2%
• Immigration - 10.8%
• Annexation - 3.3%
• Education - 0.8%
• Cost of Health Care - 0.8%

>> “Do you think the budget crisis in North Carolina is due to a slow economy or from too much wasteful government spending?”

• Wasteful spending - 91.7%
• Slow economy - 5.8%
• Other - 2.7%

>> And a few of our favorite responses to the question, “If you could have a conversation with your local elected officials, what would you like to tell them?”

• “Stop wasting our money!” (About 70 of you said this!)
• “We as citizens tighten our belts…why doesn’t the government?”
• “What is REALLY happening with the ‘education’ lottery money?”
• “Stop spending. Listen to your constituents.”
• “Taxed. Enough. Already.”
• “Spending, not revenue, is the problem.”
• “I’m embarrassed by the state government of North Carolina.”
• “Listen to the people.”
• “STOP SPENDING!!!”

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Yesterday I posted a “Concerned Citizens Survey“, asking RS2W’s readers to voice opinions on North Carolina government, politics, the economy, and What do you want to tell your elected official?

The Carolina Strategy Group asked similar questions to 1,000 North Carolina voters in May and June. The survey clearly indicates an opening for the Republican Party in the state. The economy is now Pres. Obama’s and Gov. Perdue’s economy. The recent NC House of Representatives budget - and tax increase - was not popular at all with the voters (regardless of party affiliation).

How can and should Republicans capitalize on the populist anger in the state?

Read the survey’s highlights below and respond with your thoughts (download the complete survey here):

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Have you ever considered running for elected office? RunSmart2Win is developing an executive training curriculum for passionate North Carolina Republicans who are thinking about getting into the fray. But we need your help in selecting the crucial barrier to entry — the difference between running and sitting on the sideline, the thin line between a winning campaign and a losing one. We’re asking our readers…

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