If you like the idea of working in politics, but don’t actually want to try to run for any kind of official position yourself, then a career that runs adjacent to that of a politician’s, such as being a political publicist, may be the type of job you are looking for. Political publicists play an even bigger role than ever in the internet age and can be the people who make or break election campaigns at every level of government.
So what kind of person is best suited to working as a political publicist?
Know Your Audience!
One of the prime skills of anyone working to publicize and promote a politician or candidate is being able to understand things like audiences and demographics. People who have studied marketing have a good grounding in these things, but you may also be the kind of person who has a natural understanding of audiences, through being a people person in general. What is essential is that you can define the kind of people you are trying to reach and what they will find appealing. You also need to know their behaviors. Where do they find their news? Do they need a push to actually vote?
And this is where the next point comes in:
Data Analysis
In a major political campaign, you may well have people specifically trained to analyze data, but for smaller scale politics you aren’t likely to have the budget for data scientists. You still need to be able to get as much information as you can from the data you can gather, however, and this may tell you an awful lot about where to direct your budget or where opinions swing with your target group. A good political publicist then, will be able to work well with data and statistics, and make strong decisions based on these.
On the Cutting Edge
Another thing someone in political publicity will need to demonstrate is that they can keep up with the latest tools and media that is used in their world. Facebook and Twitter have been mainstream for over a decade now and are no longer fresh thinking, but the ways of using them most effectively change a lot, and new social networks that could be valuable to a publicist spring up occasionally too. A successful publicist is usually someone who understands the online environment and keeps an eye on how this might change. You may even be able to be an early adopter of some technologies and give yourself an edge if you are someone with this trait.
People these days are able to know more about their candidates than ever before; as an example you can see this page that shows all of the latest updates about Idaho senator Mike Crapo. You can become the person who makes sure the information on the web presents your candidate as well as possible, and also become a master of reaching both online and traditional audiences by working as a publicist!
