"When I ran for school board, I brought on HSG Campaigns because I knew the great work they have done in Long Beach and other school board races. They had a strong understanding of what my campaign needed to do to win, planned out our budget and communications, and executed it seamlessly. They were calm under pressure and brought a strong, steady hand. They will make a valuable addition to your campaign team."

— Dr. Juan Benitez, LBUSD Board Member-Elect

HSG worked with Dr. Benitez's successful campaign this Spring. We are excited to have elected a strong, pro-public education candidate. As the parent of an LBUSD student and an educator for over 20 years, we know he has the experience and perspective to get things done.

At HSG Campaigns, we're always looking for new, innovative ways to give our clients an advantage in the next election. Here are some of the exciting new things in the world of digital ads...

1. Sending display and pre-roll ads to your mail list

Geo-fencing allows campaigns to target people at their exact locations. It's a favorite tool of legislative advocacy, targeting buildings where decision makers log online. But it can also be used to target the homes of known voters. Imagine digital ads that mirror your mail piece, targeting the same homes as the ones on your mail list. We can do that now.

2. Affordable, easy-to-make videos for social media

No medium is more captivating than a video. But for so long, videos weren't an option for campaigns with limited time or financial resources. But in the last couple of years, several affordable (or even free) services have become available, allowing us to create simple but captivating videos. Splicing together videos with campaign photos, stock clips and music, and your message is a great way to reach voters, especially on Facebook and Instagram.

3. Auto-responders

Campaigns are starting to move into the age of the bots. Accounts on messaging programs can be set to bring in automatic responses. These can be great for supporter data acquisition or even persuasion. One of the most interesting cases was in the UK last year, where a bot was employed to get Tinder users to vote Labour.

1.  More Text Does Not Make It Better:

It can be tempting to put all your policy positions and all of your accomplishments on a piece of mail, hoping voters will read the whole thing. Most voters don’t. Our rule of thumb: The mailer needs to get an important point across to the voter in the time it takes them to move from the mail box to the trash bin.

2. Cutting Quantity is Not Cost Effective:

Printing is scalable. When your budget is in a pinch, it’s tempting to cut down the number of households receiving a piece. But the difference between printing 5000 pieces instead of 6000 pieces is very small. Look at your entire campaign budget and see if there is nothing else you can cut first.

3. Quality Design is Harder Than You Think:

Sometimes friends or family will offer their help designing your pieces, but very few graphic artists have the knack for political mail. Over the years, we’ve reviewed the portfolios of hundreds of graphic artists, and very few have ever made the cut. Rely on your mail consultant for design work. They have graphic artists they trust to do the job right.

4. Make Sure Your Photographer Knows What “High Resolution” Means:

If you don’t want your face to look blurry on your mailer, you can’t use photos taken on a camera phone. But even when you hire a professional photographer and do a photo shoot, the product they send you is not always print-quality. When you hire them, make it clear that the photos need to be 300 dots per inch and at least 2000 pixels high or wide. Photos with that quality will print clearly on direct mail.