As you gear up for GOTV efforts this fall, we want to remind you about the best practices (backed by social science research) when it comes to messaging voters.
Effectiveness of Social Pressure
Social pressure remains the most reliable strategy for increasing voter turnout across all demographic groups. This approach involves reminding voters that voting is a social norm and making them feel accountable to that norm.
Research from 2022 shows that social pressure messaging, particularly through mail, increased voter turnout by 0.4 percentage points. Text messages incorporating social pressure elements, such as voter report cards, have been shown to boost turnout by 0.5 percentage points. Live phone calls that combine social pressure with plan-making prompts—where voters articulate how they plan to vote—are also effective. These methods enable organizations to tailor the message to their audience while maintaining the crucial element of social accountability.
Variability in Messaging Success
While social pressure is a proven tactic, the effectiveness of other messaging strategies varies. For instance, messages that focus on specific issues, values, or collective power are not as successful in increasing voter turnout. However, combining these messages with elements of social pressure shows potential. For example, ballot guides paired with social pressure messaging have effectively motivated voters, increasing turnout by 0.4 percentage points, despite previous research indicating that ballot guides alone do not significantly impact turnout. Text messages can combine social pressure with issue-based content to enhance voter engagement, making these methods highly versatile and impactful in GOTV efforts.
Role of Early Vote and Vote-by-Mail Education
Educating voters about early voting and vote-by-mail (VBM) processes is also impactful. Providing clear, written, and visual instructions can help voters navigate these processes, increasing voter participation. In one experiment, a combination of early vote education and social pressure mailers increased overall voter turnout by 1.2 percentage points. Live phone calls and text messages can play a significant role in this educational process. For instance, phone calls can guide voters through the steps of early voting or VBM, and text messages can be used to send reminders and links to instructional content, ensuring voters have vital information they need to cast their ballots successfully.
