The beautiful thing about an invisible market like PoliticalTech is that it doesn’t require much to get started. The next best thing about an invisible market like PoliticalTech is that even the most rudimentary technology is going to seem genius to the average person. In my opinion, one of the easiest entry points for a founder to take advantage of this untapped market is through simple no-code website building and management.
Incumbents
One of the biggest players in the game is Nation Builder, an all-encompassing solution not just for candidates but for non-profits and other advocacy organizations. They have tools like audience targeting, communication, and fundraising; however, most candidates don’t need all of this. They get you intrigued with the $29/month price, but once you want to increase your contact list, it becomes very expensive very quickly. If all you offered was hosting capabilities for even $5/month, then you’d be a much more appealing choice. Interestingly enough, someone who does this - PoliEngine - also charges $29/month but just for hosting! Otherwise, there aren’t many playing in this area, which makes it all that much more ripe for opportunity.
Problem
To be honest, most candidates don’t even use something like Nation Builder or PoliEngine to host their websites. Most, if not all, use a free service like Wix, Weebly, or Wordpress to power their candidate website. They use these services usually for two main reasons:
They’re free. Like I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, cash is king and every dollar matters.
Most candidates, and most campaign managers, are not technologically savvy. They need to be able to manage something incredibly easy and intuitive.
In light of all of that, for many, the professionalization of the website can make or break an individual’s decision on whether to vote for a candidate. In local elections, where the margin could be in the tens or even hundreds, every vote matters. The current free tools like Wix and Weebly offer good, but not great services for a candidate’s website, and Wordpress is honestly too complicated for most.
Solution
If I were going to pursue this particular path, I’d find myself somewhere in between Wix and PoliEngine - essentially be a website designer, but with the end user being a political candidate in mind. PoliEngine makes the mistake of just offering templates, and charging people $29/month for the right to use them. Instead, I’d offer a free, no-code tool that’s specifically designed to help candidates build their own websites. Make it as easy as Wix, but as focused as PoliEngine.
A critical factor in all of this is custom URLs. No candidate is going to work on something with a company slug in the middle of their campaign slogan and the “.com”. You could provide a key differentiator between you and your competitors if you offer a simple integration with Google domains or an easy instructional guide on how to connect their newly made website with their custom URL - and don’t make them pay for it. You will breed horribly bad will if you give them all these tools, and then make them pay to use their own URL.
Roadmap
You’re probably asking, “Well Zach… how am I supposed to make money?” And the answer is in the future features you develop that allows you to compete with Nation Builder. The website builder essentially becomes your loss leader that increases brand awareness and market penetration. Then, as you incur more people to use you compared to other sites like Wix or Wordpress, you can start to build other features that you can charge for. Here are a few features I’d focus on:
Calendar and Event Management
Because building an internal fundraising tool is extremely complicated, to keep costs low, encourage customers to integrate with ActBlue or WinRed.
Other than issues and fundraising, people want to know where you’re going to be.
Having a packed schedule is important for any candidate to win. Beyond just political fundraisers, as I spoke about in my last newsletter, being able to seamlessly create events and send them to the public will be helpful immediately to any candidate.
Volunteer Recruitment and Engagement
Volunteers are the lifeblood of any campaign of any size. Create a feature that allows campaigns to easily recruit and communicate with their volunteers, and you’ll be a lifesaver.
Fundraising (Obvious reasons)
Constituent Communication and Engagement
If you want to ensure that you have long-term clients and you’re not just trying to find new candidates every election cycle, ensure that your community has an easy way to stay in touch with their constituents.
You might not believe me, but elected officials do in fact care about the opinions of their constituents. Creating something simple and intuitive to do so will encourage your clients to stay after Election Day has come and gone.
As I said in the first part, the beautiful aspect of this market is that it is completely untapped, and even the simplest technology can be revolutionary for a lot of customers. If you know how to code websites or create no-code tools, focus your attention on political candidates and ballot initiatives in the 2021 cycle and you’ll find yourself pretty successful pretty quickly. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future tips!