8 mins read
India is a country of plurality. We are home to not only diverse cultures or languages but a multitude of political identities as well. The sheer number of political parties that exist within the country reflect the same.
Our dance with democracy or elections is never too far away. General elections give way to state elections which make space for municipality or panchayat elections and so on.
In order to sustain in a system so highly charged, political parties need to ensure continuous campaigning efforts. Thus, a powerful and reliable ally becomes a necessity, considering the difficulties involved.
One such ally is cloud telephony—one-stop solution for all campaigning efforts. It can potentially be a game-changer for political parties and lead them onto the path of victory.
Here are a few ways election campaigns can be revolutionised with cloud telephony:
Easily connect with voters
The most crucial aspect of any election campaign is to reach out to and connect with as many voters as possible. It is paramount to inform the electorate of your party’s ideology, principles and goals. It is equally important for any serious contender to ensure their manifesto reaches as large an audience as possible to win the election.
Traditional campaigning via pamphlets, Custom posters and hoardings are not only expensive and resource-intensive but are also slow. It takes a substantial amount of time to ideate a message and to deliver it to your voters. In a fast-paced, competitive environment like that of campaigns, this delay can result in the intended message losing its essence.
Cloud telephony solutions help mitigate these problems and offer other great advantages. Political parties can leverage voice broadcasting, outbound IVR, and bulk SMSes to reach thousands of voters within minutes.
Cloud telephony’s voice broadcasting is great tool for political campaigns and allows leaders to directly reach the masses. This solution gives the impression of a one-on-one call, which in turn increases relatability with the candidate.
You can even implement an IVR that conducts a survey, recording public opinion with just one phone call. Alternatively, you can play your own voice recording or create a recording with the text-to-speech feature to convey your message.
Bulk SMSes are yet another medium to connect with the electorate instantly. Deliver live updates about the campaign or links to the website or other collaterals. SMSes can also be used to collect responses with simple one-word replies. All one needs to do is collate a database and draft a message. Your telephony service provider shall take care of the rest!
Enhanced personalisation
Commercial entities have mastered the skill of personalisation. They understand that it results in better leads and higher profits. Election campaigning is not very different. In order to ensure a victory, parties must value their voters and make them feel special.
Cloud telephony offers easy solutions to achieve just the same. Integrate a CRM with your outbound communication system to include your voters’ name and other details.
Broadcasting pre-recorded voice messages or SMSes in regional languages is yet another way to improve relatability. Parties can also use virtual numbers to easily establish a local presence in an area. Individuals would feel more secure if they call a local party number instead of one belonging to a different state.
Virtual numbers, as the name suggests, work via the Internet and do not require telephony cables or SIM cards. You don’t even need any physical infrastructure to get started. Calls are swiftly forwarded to a centralised number without the caller ever noticing the difference. This feature allows political parties to pick a local number without any hassles.
Overall, these small practices go a long way in establishing trust and confidence between the citizens and their potential representative.
Get quick support
A major aspect of any election campaign is to garner support, be it for leaders or any topical issues. This builds the necessary momentum for your campaign, motivating party workers and volunteers to work with added rigour. Additionally, popular support sways public opinion and shall help you win the confidence of otherwise opposing or uninterested citizens.
Missed call service is a unique zero-cost offering that helps achieve the same. You can ask prospective voters to give a missed call on a specific number and voila! The cloud communication solution collects basic details of the caller and registers their response. Since the call is not actually connected, callers do not even incur any charges.
Set up special hotlines
Election campaigns can get highly competitive and this can easily lead to misinformation about your leaders and their ideologies. Dedicated telephone lines are a great way to clear the air and connect with not only your potential voters but also your volunteers and party workers.
Use toll free numbers to set up a zero cost communication channel. 1800 numbers have two primary advantages. Firstly, they offer pan-India coverage. Therefore, irrespective of where the next elections are, your party will be ready and won’t need to change its number.
Secondly, toll free numbers are easy to remember and, hence, considerably improve the recall value of your party. They stick with the callers and gradually become synonymous with your identity. You can even deploy a vanity number like 1800-party-name to make your contact number more recognisable and memorable.
Improve last-mile connectivity
Reaching remote areas physically or even virtually can be challenging. Imagine the logistical difficulties involved in campaigning in such areas. However, as a potential representative of the people, it is your responsibility to reach the last voter.
Since a stable Internet connection is still a dream to many, cloud telephony offers a simple yet robust communication medium. India has a teledensity (or the number of telephone users in every 100 individuals) of nearly 90%. This reflects the immense penetration telephony has in our everyday lives.
Cloud telephony solutions like bulk SMSes, toll free numbers and voice broadcasting do not require an Internet connection. Hence, they offer better chances of connecting with the populace as compared to the alternatives.
Strengthen coordination among party workers
A convincing campaign can only be curated when your entire team works in tandem. It is vital to establish seamless coordination, from top to bottom, in order to present a collective front. Furthermore, your communications platform should be as fast as the changing election landscape to be sustainable.
Features like call forwarding, transferring and an integrated dashboard ensure information is swiftly conveyed throughout the party. Cloud telephony further empowers party workers to stay connected from anywhere and at any time.
Customised pricing to fit all sizes
Election campaigning is an expensive exercise. Ensure your communications do not burden your pocket. Cloud telephony solutions, though powerful, cost only a fraction when compared to traditional mediums owing to a simplistic set-up.
No bulky or expensive infrastructure like servers, connecting cables or landlines are required. Instead, volunteers only need a stable Internet connection and a smart device to get connected. Cloud solution providers facilitate high-quality calls even on low bandwidth.
Furthermore, prominent service provider like Acefone offer bespoke solutions with customised pricing to fit your needs. Hence, there is no longer any need to worry about your budget! Go ahead and use these solutions to effectively connect with the voters.
Final words
As we learnt, cloud telephony can transform election management and offers a plethora of benefits to political parties and their leaders. When used efficiently, it can do wonders for your campaign. Reach out to more voters in their native language and ensure round-the-clock connectivity, one-on-one attention and much more. Equipped with this technology, the possibilities are limitless.
