Cover the Basics  🤔

All the work you put into promoting yourself as a candidate only matters if you get the basics right. Do people know what the elections are? Do they know how to vote, and when voting is open? Make sure that you’re always communicating those key facts when you’re campaigning so that you can turn every bit of support into votes.  

Make Use of Your Networks  🗣️

Your first source of voters is the people you know – and that’s probably more than you think. Try mapping out all the different ways that you know people in LJMU, whether that’s your course, your lab, a society, a sports team, or anything else. Then think about who you know from those places, and make sure you ask them all to vote for you. Pay extra attention to the people who you can recruit to help you campaign. It pays to be systematic, so make sure you don’t miss anyone.  

Ask for Help  🛟

There’s only one thing to do in a campaign that beats asking people to vote for you: asking people to ask other people to vote for you! The best way to increase the reach of your campaign is to ask your strongest supporters to campaign for you too, whether that’s housemates, close friends or people that really back your platform. If they also make sure they’re using their networks to recruit, you can reach a lot of people. You should also ask for people to help with other parts of your campaign. Do you have a friend that’s great at social media, or someone who can help you design flyers? If you do not have the skills, then find people to help you – you do not have to do everything! 

Keep it Accessible  ♿️

When you’re making elections content, it’s important to make sure that everyone’s able to engage with it. Different kinds of content are better for different people so making sure you produce a variety of materials can be helpful. There are also a few simple things you can do to improve your campaign:  

• Online, make sure every image has alt-text, and any content in images is also included in plain text in a description or link.   

• Caption any videos you put out so that subtitles are available.  

• Choose your colours carefully, so that text always has a high enough contrast from its background and isn’t confusing for colour blind people.   

Get People’s Attention  📢

With four Student Officer positions up for grabs, that can add up to a lot of candidates competing for attention. Think about how you will stand out from the pack and get your share of the limelight!   

What will get your name out there? From costumes, banners, campaign team t-shirts, an easily shareable video, or talking to people at lecture sites, there are lots of ways to attract potential voters. It pays to be creative and do something different to what everyone else is.  

Think Turnout  😍

Lots of people think winning elections is about persuading people to vote for you instead of someone else, and that’s a big part of it. But you can often get further by thinking about people that might not be likely to vote at all if nobody asks them directly, and spending your time talking to them about why they should vote for you. You’ll minimise how much time you spend talking to someone who’s already made up their mind, and people often appreciate being reached out to.  

Message Discipline  💌

Why do you want to win the role you’re running for? What’s the one thing you’d want to achieve? What will be different about LJMU at the end of your term? Those are helpful questions to think about when you’re trying to decide on the key messages of your campaign.  

Lots of people who might vote for you probably won’t read your whole manifesto or would be more likely to pay attention to a social media post if it’s short, sharp and to the point.  

Voters are more likely to remember you, and ultimately to cast their ballot for you, if you have a simple and clear message that stands out and that they see repeatedly. Decide on your core messages, and make sure you stick to them.