What to include on a school election flyer?
October 3, 2014 2:58 AM Subscribe
Ima college student running for a President position in an organization. I have to make a campaign flyer. I've seen some of my classmates' flyers and they are very colorful with short slogans like "vote for me, I'm a communicator, leader, etc." I was thinking that for my flyer I would have a section where I list a few of my past leadership positions and projects. I also would list a few goals I have if elected for the position. I wanted the voters to get a good sense of who I am and what I can do through my flyer. Do I just have a wrong idea of what the election flyer is supposed to be? I just don't see how an attractive flyer with little info about a candidate would be enough for people to vote for them. I appreciate your input.
When someone picks up that flyer, you have about 0.5 of a second in which to impart useful information before they tune out.
If you put things on there which need longer than that to read, you are likely wasting your time.
What you CAN do in half a second is cause people to associate your name with some kind of emotional impression. Use a slogan that refers to something people already understand and have strong feelings about; or hype people up in person with a rousing speech, associate that with your slogan, and then use the slogan on flyers as mental shorthand to recall the emotions you invoked in the speech. Failing that, put something funny or at the minimum, striking and memorable.
If you want to write more meaningful material, you could put it on the back of the flyer or on a website or somewhere, for the smaller proportion of people who are prepared to engage with the whole thing.
posted by emilyw at 3:51 AM on October 3, 2014
If you put things on there which need longer than that to read, you are likely wasting your time.
What you CAN do in half a second is cause people to associate your name with some kind of emotional impression. Use a slogan that refers to something people already understand and have strong feelings about; or hype people up in person with a rousing speech, associate that with your slogan, and then use the slogan on flyers as mental shorthand to recall the emotions you invoked in the speech. Failing that, put something funny or at the minimum, striking and memorable.
If you want to write more meaningful material, you could put it on the back of the flyer or on a website or somewhere, for the smaller proportion of people who are prepared to engage with the whole thing.
posted by emilyw at 3:51 AM on October 3, 2014
"I just don't see how an attractive flyer with little info about a candidate would be enough for people to vote for them."
As a fellow Serious Person I agree. Unfortunately, this is contrary to how the world at large works. :-)
Make your flyer memorable, funny, interesting, attractive - as much as you can stomach. Pictures beat text. Short slogans and a few bullet points beat lengthy descriptions. Put a QR code and/or URL on the flyer and more info on your website.
I propose:
"Vote Missybitsy, for more LOLCATS (and a few other things)!" and then put up posters of LOLCATS and change all the screensavers on the computers to LOLCATS.
posted by travelwithcats at 6:25 AM on October 3, 2014
As a fellow Serious Person I agree. Unfortunately, this is contrary to how the world at large works. :-)
Make your flyer memorable, funny, interesting, attractive - as much as you can stomach. Pictures beat text. Short slogans and a few bullet points beat lengthy descriptions. Put a QR code and/or URL on the flyer and more info on your website.
I propose:
"Vote Missybitsy, for more LOLCATS (and a few other things)!" and then put up posters of LOLCATS and change all the screensavers on the computers to LOLCATS.
posted by travelwithcats at 6:25 AM on October 3, 2014
Do you know anything about how the vote is going to be taken? Are people just going to write a name on a ballot and drop it into a box? Or - where I live, many elections involve a person stepping into a booth with a list of people / issues to vote upon, and then register their individual vote for each one. In the latter case, name recognition seems to play a role. Ie,
___ Smith ___ Jones ___ Mxyzptlk
I trust you can see how "getting your name out there" would be an important factor.
Cynic that I am, for a college student running in a college organization election, looks are going to matter a lot. Ideally, the front of the flyer would look a bit like this:
+-----+
| hot |
| pic |
| you |
|missy|
|BITSY|
|vicep|
+-----+
If the photo thing isn't an option, go with humor.
On preview, buoys in the hood has it down: you need to get out there and meet as many potential voters as possible. And not just meet them - you've gotta smile and make them like you on first contact.
Try a Google Image search on 'college election flyers'
posted by doctor tough love at 6:52 AM on October 3, 2014
___ Smith ___ Jones ___ Mxyzptlk
I trust you can see how "getting your name out there" would be an important factor.
Cynic that I am, for a college student running in a college organization election, looks are going to matter a lot. Ideally, the front of the flyer would look a bit like this:
+-----+
| hot |
| pic |
| you |
|missy|
|BITSY|
|vicep|
+-----+
If the photo thing isn't an option, go with humor.
On preview, buoys in the hood has it down: you need to get out there and meet as many potential voters as possible. And not just meet them - you've gotta smile and make them like you on first contact.
Try a Google Image search on 'college election flyers'
posted by doctor tough love at 6:52 AM on October 3, 2014
Nthing all the above: flyers are solely for branding/name recognition. They're like yard signs or bumper stickers. You never see "Vote Jones for Senate because (bullet points X, Y, Z)," you just see "Jones for Senate" and maybe a catchy slogan.
Elections at the student or social organization level are essentially popularity contests, since the voters are likely to already know the candidates. Do your voters know you? Do they like you? Do you have a reputation for being smart, organized, confident, a leader? Eye-catching or clever flyers can help, but only so much.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:21 AM on October 3, 2014
Elections at the student or social organization level are essentially popularity contests, since the voters are likely to already know the candidates. Do your voters know you? Do they like you? Do you have a reputation for being smart, organized, confident, a leader? Eye-catching or clever flyers can help, but only so much.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:21 AM on October 3, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lollusc at 3:18 AM on October 3, 2014