Ideal Campaign is driven by a simple goal, “to produce the most powerful sites and tools that a campaign needs to succeed, and do so for a reasonable fee.” We accomplish this by removing the typical issues that most political campaigns Websites face today:
- Keeping the costs low and within the reach of most campaigns
- Allowing updates to the Website in real time without fees
- Creating Websites that look professional and unique
Standard Package vs. Pro Package
Regardless of white Ideal
Campaign package you choose, the quality of the Website will be the
same. What you can do on the site, however, is a different story.
We
recommend the Standard Package ($2,500) for those candidates with an
older constituency that are probably less likely to utilize social
media. We recommend the Pro Package ($3,500) for those candidates with
a younger constituency or those looking to run a more Internet-savvy
campaign.
There are a few additional,
exciting features that we offer with the Pro package as well. For
example rather than providing a Twitter link for visitors to click and
essentially navigate away from your Website, we include a live Twitter
feed right on your campaign homepage. Webpage viewers will be
up-to-date on your latest Tweets without losing sight of your site. The
same mechanism can be used with your photo feed from Flickr, keeping
people on the campaign site. On the standard site we still include
these valuable links to your social media sites, but the Pro Package
gives you more integration with today's social networking platforms.
The
Pro package also includes Tell-A-Friend Marketing. This module allows
people to tell their friends about your campaign; and each of those
friends continue to pass the good word along. Your job is to create a
compelling message to send out to the public. Those who receive this
email can include a personalized message and add a few new recipients.
Within the Email system, we offer 10 campaign email accounts as opposed to three when you opt for the Standard Package. Both include unlimited aliases.
Another
feature unique to the Pro package is our Letters to the Editor module.
This system gives your supporters the ability to write a letter to the
editor of a publication of their choice regarding your campaign or
platform. This is a grand opportunity for free press. You provide the
publication options and recommended talking points. The module assures
that the motivated author enters all necessary information for valid
submission to the newspaper or magazine.
Other
Pro features help maximize the visual aesthetics of your site. You can
embed a photo gallery or photo scroller using Flickr; we also have a
Content Slider option for a front page slide show. This combines text
with photos and automatically rotates the content, maintaining a fresh
look. If you really want to stand out, you can even embed video in your
header with the Pro site.
The package you
choose will depend largely on your constituency and type of campaign
you are trying to run. Your choice will not affect the quality of the
design; the Pro package will only enhance your Campaign site and
strategy.
How can Ideal Campaign provide such affordable sites?
Most web designers start each site from a basic set of files and work toward the vision they have for the site. This means that they either start each site from scratch, or they use a template (most of their work will be very similar).
Ideal Campaign uses our core content management system that handles all of the security, search engine optimization, and back-end processes like credit card donations and volunteer management.
If you had to perform a tedious task, like taxes for example, and were forced to use a pencil and paper, you would spend a lot of time on that project, so the costs would be higher than someone using a computer. The majority of web designers fall into this category, as most of them do not have a base system to build upon. Ideal Campaign uses a core content management system that handles all of the security, search engine optimization, and back-end processes like credit card donations and volunteer management. This means that each site only needs to have a unique look and feel to be complete. For that reason, we can charge under $3,000 for a completed site, where our competition will need to charge much more. Of course, there are those out there that will take $500 to do a site, but then you get to deal with point #3 above. This is akin to trying to paint a car yourself to save a few bucks, and we all know what that would look like.
Update your campaign Website at any time, from any computer
When you have a press release or other piece of time sensitive information, it needs to be posted to the Website as quickly as possible. Sometimes it is a contest between you and your competition as to who can make their statement first on an issue of the day (otherwise you look like you are just repeating their points). The typical web designer will put your updates on their to-do list with the best of intentions and get it done when they can, but at 2:00am when something happens and you want to be the first one to speak your mind, no one can help you.
Ideal Campaign’s Websites feature powerful tools that allow you to edit the web content at any time and from any computer. No technical knowledge is required, and if you can send email, you already have all of the skills you need to use our system.
With our solution you can easily:
- add new pages to the site
- update articles easily
- post to your blogs
- post photographs to your gallery
- add podcasts or streaming video
You can also create pages that only specific groups of people can view, like your volunteers or campaign staff. The system handles making things look good, so you can focus on the message and not have to worry about learning HTML or keeping the site looking consistent. Our system runs hundreds of business Websites and is well known and respected in the political arena. Our engine is continuously updated and improved to keep it a market leader, and we always update your site at no additional charge as we make these improvements.
Our Websites always look awesome
People equate computer knowledge to Website design skills. Although it is true that you need a computer to serve and to view a Website, those skills are not at all important in the design of the site itself. In our eyes, the artistic talents of the designer far outweigh their abilities to code a Website. In fact, we separate the departments, and you work with the artist to determine how you want the site to look and feel.
Consider the site you are viewing right now for example. Do you think a computer person just magically “coded” Rachel in the photo above and just grabbed those other buttons from some Website? Our artists will work with your photography, logos, and color preferences to create a mock-up of the site. This example will be sent to you for approval and changes that you feel are needed. By using this process you know what exactly you will get so there are no surprises.