The media are going to try and write off our chances in May 3rd. Voters need to believe we can win to vote for us – it’s a lesson that has been learnt over many years. We need to create a micro-climate where voters will see us as contenders. A good poster campaign can give you a very visible boost to your credibility as strong campaigners, show people who the real contest is between in the ward, and means people can see that their friends and neighbours are voting for us – third party endorsement.
It is important that the design is as distinctive as possible and you should try to ensure that the same design and colour is used across the district or constituency. The commonest design is the diamond shape and the commonest colours used are dayglo arc chrome or dayglo blaze (the arc chrome is slightly paler). Some people have found arc chrome hard to find in recent years, however the party’s paper supplier has been able to source a supply so if you have problems getting it contact ALDC for details.
A poster only needs the name and party – if you try to include the name of the Council, polling date etc you will just end up with a cluttered design and reduce the posters effectiveness. Putting the
surname in a reversed out band can greatly increase the effectiveness .Where there are multiple candidate elections or election to more than one body it is common to use the generic “Liberal Democrats – Winning Here” poster design.
All posters which are intended to be displayed in window should have a small piece of double sided sticky tape stuck on the corners – if you just give someone a poster and rely on them finding the sellotape etc it will probably never appear.
There is one key to getting a good poster display – Ask every supporter to display a poster. It is amazing how many canvassers never ask and then say “no-one ever wants to put up posters
around here”. You should always explain to people that displaying a poster will really help the campaign and if possible ask if you can put it up yourself. Canvassers should be trained to record who takes posters and puts them up and this information should be preserved for the next election. Do not presume who will or wont be willing. Let them make the decision for themselves. Ask the question directly and then if they decline you can simply say “if you don’t ask you don’t get” to diffuse any awkwardness. Supporters understand this.
Main roads and good poster sites need particular attention.You need to prioritise these roads for canvassing early on. In the last few days it may be worth calling on all definites on main roads with polling stations in etc, or if you have a lot of posters left it may be worth delivering them with a covering letter to canvassed supporters.
When?
Many people wonder about when to put posters up. If they are given out too early, they may not be put up or will probably start coming down – which makes it look as though your support is falling. It is probably best in a local election to wait until the last fortnight – unless your opponents are getting a lot of posters up – in which case you need to get yours up.
If your canvassing starts five weeks before polling day you may just want to take a note of where posters are required so that you can call nearer to polling day with the actual poster. Then you should have a note prepared from the candidate thanking them for their support and asking them to display it straight away. If it doesn’t appear after a couple of days then you may need to call again.
Once you decide to start putting posters up canvassers should be given posters to put up as they canvass during the remainder of the campaign. At this time you also need to visit all those people who agreed to put up posters earlier in the campaign and everyone on the poster list from previous years.Stakeboards If you can prepare garden stake with posters on these can be very effective. These are generally made from hardboard cut to the same diamond shape as the posters and nailed to 2″ x 2″ wood. Alternatively you can use the generic Correx plastic boards which can be bought from Lib Dem Image,www.libdemimage.co.uk
Poster sites in main roads etc. should be asked if we can put the stakes in their gardens etc.
In really intensive campaigns you should aim to get a “flying start” of stakeboards and posters by getting a large number up in the first few days of the campaign. One way of achieving this which was done in a number of target parliamentary seats is to ask stakeboard sites to sign an approval form in advance of the election then you can just go round as soon as the campaign starts without having all the bother of finding them in.
You should never fly-post. It is counterproductive for a party campaigning on environmental issues. You can however, display posters on sites with the owners’ permission. You must take them down within a fortnight, though it is usually better to remove them the day after the election.
Connect helps you get more poster sites.
Connect isn’t very good with a mallet, however it is good at showing you where you should go to get more posters.
The first thing to do is look at where your current poster sites are. To do this, simply build a list of current poster sites in each ward (using the relevant tag) and click the “Map” option at the top of the list results screen. If you see any main roads that don’t have a good set of poster sites, we need to target them.
Doing this is also really easy. Simply build a list of strong Lib Dems in each ward, and then use Connect’s Turf Cutter tool to select just those houses that are on the main roads you want to target. This will give you a list of strong supporters on each main road, which make ideal targets for poster sites.
For more on how to use the Turf Cutting tool, see www.libdems.org.uk/oskar.
Resources
Poster Templates for this years campaign
Classic poster template designs
John Bridges April 2012