How Brands Are Using Their Voices To Get Out The Vote

2020 has been a divisive year, to say the least. Amid a pandemic, protests for social justice, and much more, one thing many brands can agree on is the importance of the upcoming election.

In the past two presidential elections, only 60% of voting-age citizens reported voting, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. To get that number up, brands across all industries use their voices and marketing power to encourage their audiences to get out the vote. 

Encouraging your audience to vote in the election is a great, nonpartisan way to engage customers while demonstrating that you stand for more than just profits. Supporting voting rights is a social issue on which most Americans can agree.

Marketers should find ways to connect with their audiences this election season. Let’s take a look at what brands are doing to get out the vote:

Enable employees to vote

Instead of just encouraging customers to vote, Bath and Bodyworks made headlines when they announced that their “U.S. stores will open at noon local time on November 3 to allow store associates time to vote before stores open.”

Companies like Coca-Cola, Twitter, and Uber are giving their employees the entire day off. 

In fact, more than 700 companies have joined a movement called Time to Vote. All of these companies have committed to “giving employees the time and the tools they need to exercise their right to vote in the November general election.”

While delaying store openings or shutting down for the day could cost these businesses money, they put the election before profits. In an election where voter suppression is a significant concern, these brands are taking extra steps to ensure their employees have the opportunity to vote.

If your company can provide paid time off, shorten business hours, or offer flexible schedules to employees on November 3, this is a great way to demonstrate your brand’s commitment to get out the vote. 

Share voter resources

In addition to enabling their employees, brands are also helping their customers get out the vote by sharing necessary resources about how to register.

On National Voter Registration Day, which was September 22, hundreds of brands used their social media platforms to encourage followers to, well, register to vote. From the United Way to college sports teams to the SYFY network, brands shared voter registration tools and deadlines.

People can continue registering to vote well into October, depending on the state. Check out the voter registration deadlines for your state and continue to use your brand to encourage voter registration until then. Then, leading up to November 3, use your brand influence to ask your audience to vote in the upcoming election.

Use your unique platform

Brands are also engaging their customers by tailor their get out the vote campaigns in ways that only they can.

For example, dating apps like OkCupid created “Voter” badges for users to add to their profiles. The badge is a great way to promote voting, but it also helps their users find matches. According to their data, members who say they’re registered voters are 63% more likely to get a match. When you look at it that way, it’s honestly improving the experience with their platform. 

Plus, for folks who say they aren’t registered voters, the app offers users the tools for those members to get registered. 

Another company using some unique circumstances to get out the vote is Live Nation. Given the lack of live events this year due to the pandemic, most venues are unused right now. Live Nation is taking advantage and working with local officials to examine the feasibility of using more than 100 of their venues as polling places.

Additionally, since there is a national shortage of poll workers (also pandemic-related), Live Nation is offering active employees a full day of paid time off to serve at the polls.

If you want to do more with your brand to get out the vote, think about what you can uniquely offer your employees or customers. Whether you’re B2B or B2C, there are lots of ways you can tailor your brand to support the upcoming election.