Campaign texting helps organizations quickly educate voters, reinforce key messages, and drive action when time is limited. That was exactly the challenge facing the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Advance SF as they worked to defeat Proposition D, a ballot measure that would have increased the city’s CEO tax by 800%.
The campaign had already built a strong digital advertising program, but with Election Day rapidly approaching, they needed a way to move beyond passive impressions and communicate directly with voters most likely to oppose the tax increase.
Complicating matters further, the campaign finalized its direct voter contact budget roughly one week before Election Day. In California, where large numbers of voters cast ballots early or vote by mail, every day mattered. The team needed a solution that could launch quickly, scale immediately, and reach targeted voters before ballots were returned.
The Challenge: Adding Direct Voter Contact to a Digital Campaign
While digital advertising played an important role in building awareness, the campaign needed another way to persuade and motivate voters in one of the nation’s most progressive cities.
The challenge was not simply reaching voters. It was reaching the right voters with the right message before they cast their ballots.
With a compressed timeline and an uphill battle ahead, the campaign needed a direct voter contact strategy that could complement its existing digital efforts and deliver results quickly.
The Solution: A Campaign Texting Strategy Built for Speed
CampaignHQ identified mid- to high-propensity Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters most likely to oppose tax increases and quickly deployed a targeted campaign texting program.
The first text deployment featured a video of Mayor Daniel Lurie opposing Proposition D. Messages were personalized using merge fields based on voter affiliation, allowing the campaign to emphasize support from trusted validators. Democrats and independents received messages highlighting opposition from the San Francisco Democratic Party and Mayor Lurie, while Republicans received messages emphasizing opposition from the San Francisco Republican Party and Mayor Lurie.
The initial text deployment reached nearly 74,000 targeted voters.
Scaling Campaign Texting in the Final Days
When early results showed the strategy was working, the client returned with additional budget just days before Election Day.
CampaignHQ quickly expanded the target audience by nearly 80,000 voters and launched a second campaign texting deployment. The team moved from concept to execution fast enough to reach voters before ballots were cast.
The second text deployment expanded the total audience to more than 160,000 targeted voters. Both rounds achieved delivery rates exceeding 99%, ensuring the campaign’s message reached voters during the critical final days of the election.
The Results
The campaign texting program gave the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Advance SF a way to supplement digital advertising with direct voter contact at exactly the right moment.
Key results included:
- Text deployment one reached 73,934 voters
- Text deployment two expanded the audience to 162,677 voters
- Nearly 80,000 voters were added just days before Election Day
- Both text deployments achieved delivery rates above 99%
When the votes were counted, Proposition D was defeated by a margin of 111,038 to 95,973.
By complementing digital advertising with direct voter contact, the campaign delivered a surprise victory in one of the nation’s most progressive cities.
Why Campaign Texting Works
Campaign texting allows organizations to quickly deliver targeted messages, share videos and other content, personalize outreach, and communicate directly with voters before they cast their ballots.
Unlike digital advertising alone, campaign texting creates a direct connection with voters and provides campaigns with the flexibility to adjust messaging, expand audiences, and respond to changing conditions in real time.
For campaigns facing tight deadlines, campaign texting offers the speed, scalability, and precision needed to influence outcomes.
The Proposition D campaign demonstrates that when digital advertising is combined with direct voter contact, campaigns can break through the noise and achieve unexpected victories.