The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.
Today’s Campaign Corner question: Is it possible to deliver too many leaflets?
A very good question! Here are three things to consider when judging the number of leaflets being delivered:
1. People vary greatly in their interest in leaflets and toleration of them, which means that if nobody is complaining then you are doing less than the most intolerant person likes to receive – and far less than the average person is happy to receive.
2. Complaints about quantity often mask problems with quality – people think there are too many leaflets because they find them boring, irrelevant or both. When people are interested in something, they are willing to read huge amounts about it. But they need to find it interesting.
3. The typical leaflet gets only a few seconds consideration from a member of the public – so you need to do a lot of leaflets to get anything more than the merest sliver of information over.
So yes, it is possible to do too many just as it is (in theory, so people tell me) possible to eat too much chocolate. But beware the common occurrence of people who think too many leaflets are being delivered because they fail to understand these three points rather than because there really are too many leaflets being delivered.
Got any other tips? Please do share them in the comment thread below.
Want to know more about local campaigning? Campaigning In Your Community by myself and Shaun Roberts should be right up your street. It’s available for only £4 from ALDC and you can read an extract for free here.
Previous Campaign Corners have included:
- Should you still target during a PR election?
- What to do on the doorstep
- How to make Focus leaflets looks better
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26 Comments
I would generally agree, and certainly in elections where I have heard the “too many leaflets” complaint (Henley springs to mind) it has been either because of poor quality/boring leaflets and messaging or because we are simply showing far more interest in an election than the voters have in us. In Henley there were just so many people with no intention of ever voting Lib Dem.
I do think it’s important to think about marginal impact, though. There comes a point, especially in an election where we are short of people (i.e. Every election!) where the effort of doing more leaflets might take away from other activities (like doorknocking or phone-canvassing) that would be a better use of resources. In PR elections especially, there is also a question of whether a 16th leaflet in a target area will really win us more votes than a first leaflet in a fresh area.
It’s an error to think that lack of complaints equates to toleration. There’s a rule of thumb in customer relations that for every complaint you get, there’s a hundred people silently fuming, or slagging you off behind your back. You reach the tolerance threshold long before you get any complaints. This probably doesn’t matter except in marginal seats.
My rule of thumb is:
When someone rings you up to tell you that you are delivering too many leaflets you’ve probably got it about right.
Until then keep writing, printing and delivering.
@Cheltenham Robin
“When someone rings you up to tell you that you are delivering too many leaflets you’ve probably got it about right.”
Unless, of course, the leaflets are pants. And we’ve all seen them, have we not?
Cheltenham Robin is half right. When people phone up to complain – it’s time to rebouble your efforts and put even more leaflets out – it means your campaign has just started to be noticed.
My other tip is instead of persisting in finding new and different ways of saying the same thing in different versions of leaflets – just print three times as many and deliver them on three different occassions – it”s afterall what pizza restaurants do. Consistent messages require consistent opportunities for people to take them in.
Surely “too many leaflets” is more a function of the delivery network than the households receiving them?
IMO you are delivering too many leaflets (or have too small a delivery network) when the deliverers start to cry foul and rebel. The last thing you need is to exhaust their goodwill before the eve of poll/knock up/thank you marathon. But judging when you are reaching that point is a lot harder than fielding complaints from readers!
I have to say from personal experience, Yes
In Norwich, we recently had a by-election in the Lakenham Ward, Which I note, the results did not get any mention whatsoever on this site, despite several MP’s hitting the campaign trail to support the Liberal Democrat Councillor. This was a Liberal Ward which has now been lost to Labour with a massive swing, Congratulations to Labour 🙂
Anyway, on to the point. throughout November, I had received almost daily, focus leaflets being shoved through my letter box, This actually got extremely annoying in the finish, Especially the letter that got shoved through my door at 7.30am, setting my dogs of into one. Each focus leaflet contained more or less the same information, even the “personalized letters” addressed to me personally got beyond the joke.
Only once did the Liberal Candidate knock on my door, I politely told him that I would be voting for Labour, and I gave my reasons on why I could not support the Libdems because of the Coalition Government and due to the actions of Liberal Democrat MP’s and Ministers. The Libdem candidate sort no effort to change my mind or offer any reasoning, in fact he walked off with barely any acknowledgement.
I failed to see why on earth the local campaign team would continue littering my floor with the same leaflets repeating the same old waffle when they couldn’t really be bothered to converse with me in person on the door and offer any persuasive arguments.
On a whole, I would say I was leafleted by far the most by the Liberal Democrats, Second to them was the green party who were almost as annoying, but at least they had the courtesy not to leaflet before 9am in the morning.
I think I only received a couple of Leaflets from Labour, and I did not receive anything whatsoever from the Conservative Candidate.
Although I was not going to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidate anyway, I know personally if my decision was swaying, I would have been put of by this level of campaigning, especially when the information being sent is repetitive and offers nothing new
@matt “Although I was not going to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidate anyway, I know personally if my decision was swaying”
To be honest, Matt, if you were not going to vote for us, a five minute conversation wasn’t going to change your mind. Anything the candidate might have said, you’ve probably read a hundred times on this site anyway.
Canvassers are always in short supply, so it may be that this canvasser could tell that you were definitely not voting for us, and so politely withdrew to go on to more fertile ground. If so, he did exactly the right thing, didn’t he?
However, I do agree with you to some extent. Previously, we had very little opportunity to even be noticed, and pumping out a lot of literature may have been particularly effective. These days, I think our problem is that most people’s experience of Lib Dems is ministers on the TV, with shared responsibility for dealing with the worst peace-time deficit in British history. Shared cabinet responsibility means they are restricted on what they can say, and how they can say it. That can make them come over as harsh and distant.
What many people need is reassurance, that we are decent, caring and polite people, who they can relate to. And just a very short visit on the doorstep can give that reassurance for some people.
So I would agree with Benjamin. There is a certain minimum number of leaflets that are essential, and it you that’s all you can manage, then maybe missing out on canvassing is necessary. But if we are putting out huge numbers of leaflets, and that prevents us knocking on people’s doors, then maybe we are leafletting too much.
Agreed, George, on your response to the comments from matt.
In my experience the only people who complain about “too many leaflets” are those who were never going to vote for us in the first case.
I think matt rather proves my case.
@matt
“The Libdem candidate sort no effort to change my mind or offer any reasoning, in fact he walked off with barely any acknowledgement.”
Glad to hear that at least one Lib Dem candidate appoaches that situation exactly as I would have done (and have done many times).
I have never won an election without some people ringing up to complain that too many leaflets are being delivered. They fall into two categories: those who genuinely are concerned for environmental reasons, who can usually be talked round and those who are trying to spook you for their own agenda.
In these modern times, though, leaflets are not our only tool and I tend to think that targetted mailings of different types are much more sensible. CONNECT will make that easier.
But, Mark, voter contact, like chocolate and garlic, is something you can never have too much of.
Benjamin above has an interesting point about proportional elections, but as in 2008, I’m not sure it’s necessarily something we’re going to experiment with in London in 2012, given the focus will be on geographical targeting in readiness for 2014.
There’s only so much your delivery networks will do, so it’s pretty much unavoidable in elections that candidates and activists will deliver large quantities of materials. The key point for me is that it is possible to drain your resources printing and delivering another pretty much identical leaflet , when really you should use the resource you have to speak to as many people as possible.
@ Matt, I must admit to thinking that it would be odd that someone who isn’t a Lib Dem supporter nor member of an opposition party would read this site regularly. It would also be pretty odd for you to come across this post on leaflet delivery randomly. On that basis I’m assuming you’re probably an activist for another party – in which case, boasting about the election result in Lakenham is pretty funny, as the ward was won by Labour quite impressively in 2010 (at the height of your unpopularity), and then again even more impressively in 2011. The by-election result actually saw a small swing back to the Lib Dems from the 2011 result . . . So, only spin if the facts back you up :o)
Just to clarify, I am not a member of the Labour party or any other party for that matter,
And the piece was entitled “Campaign Corner: Is there such a thing as too many leaflets?” And I responded with my answers and my reasoning.
The only time I was approached on the door step was when when the Liberal Democrat Candidate himself was knocking on doors, I was not knocked up anymore by activists apart from being flooded with focus campaign leaflets.
Really, you shouldn’t ask the questions, if you don’t like the answers your going to get. Seems rather silly if all your interested in is feedback from party supporters.
@ George Kendall
“Canvassers are always in short supply, so it may be that this canvasser could tell that you were definitely not voting for us, and so politely withdrew to go on to more fertile ground. If so, he did exactly the right thing, didn’t he?”
It was not Canvassers I spoke to, It was the candidate himself. My problem is, If the “candidate” could not offer me nothing further in conversation, which is entirely up to him and I respect that, why then continue to bombard my letter box with the “same” focus leaflets almost daily printed with almost exactly the same information.
Surly if the Candidate has regarded me as a lost cause and not worth talking to, I should be removed from a list so the canvassers could target their resources more effectively.
After all, If you tell a Jehovah witness your a Wicca you become black listed and they will not come to your door again.
@matt
You said no one else came round to talk to you, as you said you were voting Labour. You still kept getting leaflets, because it’d take far far longer to skip out certain houses when just doing leaflet delivery.
@ Rich,
“You said no one else came round to talk to you, as you said you were voting Labour. You still kept getting leaflets, because it’d take far far longer to skip out certain houses when just doing leaflet delivery.”
I am not sure that is correct, after all, Mail men and paper boys do exactly that daily.
Anyhow I beg forgiveness for offering some constructive criticism on a question that was asked. I forget not everyone is worthy of an opinion
@ Matt. Fair enough, if you say so; but there will be *very* few people who aren’t Lib Dem party supporters, nor members of other parties likely to read regularly/find this page . . .
As a Labour supporter you should be used to that Matt.
I take on board your views on leaflets (and I think several people would agree with you about daily stuff), but also the fact that you support Labour. I agree with you about the ease of skipping certain people with addressed mail, but with unaddressed, it’s often very easy to accidentally deliver to people you shouldn’t. During the GE in Richmond Park, there was a sense of hostility when I was out delivering, because people had had almost two years of heavy leafleting from both Susan and Zac (“I’m going to vote for Susan, but *please* don’t put that letter through my door”).
There’s simply no point arguing with supporters of your major opponent in a by-election, so the candidate was quite sensible in not letting you waste his valuable time canvassing and talking to people who might change their minds.
Surely the real comment is “too many SIMILAR leaflets”. Leaflets are all about engaging the electorate.
Initial campaign planning, so as to minimise repetition in each leaflet, keeps the campaign fresh and you in control. Planning a leaflet to incorporate topics raised during the campaign shows engagement and awareness of the local context – which speaks volumes in itself. The headline “You say…..” and quoting your actual survey results immediately shows how the candidate will work with residents…..
With a series of leaflets, consider the art of how they are folded. People will register what is said in the leaflet headline before they decide to bin it. Hence, good photos that make you turn it over or open the leaflet are essential. Remember that the caption usually gets read – and that means it gets registered
But beward bad folding – like the Tory “In Touch” strap line that appeared as “ouch” or the single name of the candidate “Windows” that was binned as a double-glazing leaflet…… they did not win!
First of all I am not a Labour “supporter” I support no Party.
I voted Labour at the local elections and the by election. I have voted for Liberal Democrats before.
As I said previously, I told the recent candidate that I would be voting Labour and gave my reasons for doing so, i was offered no reasoning on why I should think otherwise.
I was not rude in anyway, as I believe everyone deserves respect and is entitled to an opinion, I therefore take offence to comments like
“There’s simply no point arguing with supporters of your major opponent in a by-election, so the candidate was quite sensible in not letting you waste his valuable time”
My time is also valuable, however, I take the time to answer the door and to speak and to pick up leaflets from the floor. I do not think it is entirely a very good attitude to regard Non Libdem Supporters as Time Wasters, Otherwise what on earth is the point of canvassing? Whats the point of targeting people who are already Liberal Democrat supporters.
incidentally I have posted on this site for 2 years, just ask Mark.
Admittedly I have not posted here nowhere near as much this year as I had the previous and there are 2 reasons for that.
The topics of conversations have just not been that interesting of late
and
And censoring was preventing people who were “Non Liberal Supporters” from engaging properly in debate.
I do however check in regularly to read the site and will comment on something if it interests me, As I did recently on the welfare discussion. I am not a person who comes here daily just to argue, no matter what others may like to believe
@matt
“I do however check in regularly to read the site and will comment on something if it interests me, As I did recently on the welfare discussion. I am not a person who comes here daily just to argue, no matter what others may like to believe”
I know that, matt.
But I’m sure you understand that there are visitors to this site who just post because they like to annoy Lib Dems. Sadly, that can make some Lib Dems assume that others, like you, are the same. But I know you’re not, and I have appreciated your comments in the past. And I hope that, in time, you might come around to supporting us again.
By the way, if you live in Lakenham, it’s even possible I knocked on your door back in September 3rd. I was doing residents surveys during the action day on that date.
To go all the way back up to matt’s original comment – “only once did the Liberal candidate knock on my door” — this is one of the great fallacies of elections I think, very few of us are home 24/7.
I can say with a (probably) similar confidence that in 15 years at my current address, the local MP has never once knocked on my door. On the other hand I’m probably out of the house 60 hours a week, so maybe he calls round almost every Tuesday lunchtime, desperate to know what I think of the issues of the day…
@ Matt, given your lack of party affiliation, you are then in the minority of people who post on this site. Your celebration of the Labour by-election victory in your first sentence suggested otherwise, but I am happy to be proved wrong.
The point of canvassing during an election is not to debate with supporters of your main opponent.
I’m not doubting you were polite, but there was no point the candidate wasting his valuable time (pointing out that his time as a candidate is valuable in no way takes away from how valuable yours might be – and it’s not insulting either imo). For the purpose of his time during a by-election, it was a better use of it to be discussing the issues with people who were undecided about how they might vote. It’s not disrespectful either, as long as he wasn’t rude to you – you’d made your mind up and that was that – especially as you’d seen the literature, thought about it and told him why you’re going to vote the way you intended.
I’m more than happy to debate with anyone when I’m door-knocking the rest of the year, but if I was helping at a by-election I wouldn’t have stopped to debate with you either!
The wider point raised by Matt is that campaigners should be speaking to people all year round, not just at elections. It’s one I agree with.
@ George Kendall
Thanks 😉 and yes I do live in the Lakenham ward, sadly though you did not come to my door in September, If you had of done I would of gladly welcomed you and recognized you from the site, I would certainly have introduced myself. I have always found you to be the most courteous, welcoming and engaging on this forum, who know’s I might of even offered you a cup of tea lol.
I do take on board your points and I do hope that some people can see that I was only offering an opinion myself and what I thought was constructive criticism with regards to the amount of leafleting with repetitious information and leafleting before 8am in the morning.
Anyway my sincerest gratitude and kind regards to you Mr Kendall, If more of the party took a leaf from your book and where more humble in their interactions with others outside the party, who knows, maybe I will be persuaded to vote Liberal again in the future, It’s a funny old world with no absolutes.
Only time I’ve had complaints was when we had a local and general election. I was doing my usual delivery of everything that came from the office for national and local. The candidate for the council decided to do his own letters as well. As he didn’t warn me that resulted in leaflets on consecutive days, one delivered by each of us, and at least 1 annoyed regular supporter. He only won by 1 vote!
If I were American I’d ask ‘can you have too many political ads on TV?’