No campaign is complete without a catchy slogan. Ask Hillary Clinton.
Her campaign considered 84 potential campaign slogans before settling on “Stronger Together” in her 2016 presidential bid.
If you’re running for city council or for a local election campaign, your campaign slogan should summarize the entire campaign in a single phrase. Craft a catchphrase that is short and memorable. If you think your base will respond to it, you can even add some humor.
Sound easy?
That’s because it is!
What should a good campaign Slogan achieve?
A campaign slogan is a (generally short) phrase that can convey the agenda of your political campaign to your supporters and the people you wish to attract to your base.
Here are some quick pointers to keep in mind when crafting your own campaign slogan:
Create an emotional connection
An emotional connection is the key to a great slogan. Take account of your voter’s values and interests and reflect them through your slogan. Your slogan should reassure voters that your candidate shares their values, leading to them coming out to vote on election day.
Keep it short
On top of being relatable, the campaign slogan has to be catchy. For that, it has to stick to the voter’s mind and be easy to say. The best practice here is to go for a slogan that is short and memorable. After all, what worth is a slogan that alludes to a deep message but does not carry any recall value for the voter?
Keep it straight
Another thing to remember is to make it easy for the voters to decide who to vote for. The campaign slogan plays an important part in the voter’s journey. Avoid abstract concepts where the voter is supposed to imagine a better future through your win. Placing words like “progress” and “prosperity” in a slogan isn’t going to help the voter come to the conclusion that you are a better candidate.
Pay attention to the details
Even the smallest details, like a punctuation mark, can change the way that people perceive your campaign slogan. Take, for example, Obama’s campaign slogan in his 2012 re-election run.
The slogan “Forward.” came under scrutiny by political pundits, who said that the period seemed to undercut the message of the slogan.
Relate to the core message of your campaign
Your slogan should be consistent with and encapsulate your key campaign messages.
Of course, All of your voter communication should remind your voters of your campaign’s core message. The slogan, being easy to remember, is the best way to keep the campaign message on top of the voter’s mind.
Reflect on the issues that matter
It is better to create a campaign slogan that encompasses one or more issues in the voters’ minds. The slogan should reflect on the issues the district is facing.
People are willing to support and go out to vote for a candidate whose slogan aligns with the issues that matter to them
To make your job easier, we’ve put together a list of famous campaign slogans that can serve as inspiration to craft your own.
Political campaign slogans examples
A good political slogan should reflect the times, and appeal to the emotions of voters. Here are some past political slogans that you can refer to:
This slogan was used by Lyndon B. Johnson to drive home the importance of voting. Johnson used the slogan to state that it would be dangerous to elect his opponent, Barry Goldwater, implying that he would use nuclear weapons indiscriminately.
Four presidents have been credited with the usage of this quote. The most popular being Herbert Hoover. The Republican party used the slogan in Hoover’s campaign referring to it being a period of prosperity.
It was a powerful slogan that stated that no family would go hungry if his administration was in power.
President Ronald Reagan famously used this slogan to ask Americans to consider if the previous administration was successful in bringing about positive change in their lives.
The slogan encouraged voters to reflect and consider if they were earning more, could afford everyday necessities and had better jobs.
Bill Clinton used this slogan to prompt the image change and better opportunities for his supporters.
Clinton’s campaign was powerful focusing on key issues like the economy, health care, and opportunities for citizens.
Borrowing from the title of a song, Franklin D. Roosevelt used this slogan in 1932, after a spontaneus decision by advisors to play it at a convention. It went on the become an unofficial theme song for the Democratic Party.
This slogan was used during President Abraham Lincoln’s re-election campaign. It tried to demonstrate the risks of switching leaders mid-war, urging voters not to change their leader or position part-way through the campaign.
A variation of this slogan could work if your candidate is running for re-election.
Judicial campaign slogan examples
For judicial candidates, campaign slogans tend to focus on the candidate’s personal and professional traits.
Some examples of good Judicial slogans are:
Integrity. Compassion. Commitment.
This slogan gets straight to the point, by listing qualities that potential voters might find crucial in a judicial candidate. Here are some similar slogans:
| Integrity and Justice with Compassion |
| Strength and Experience |
| Hard Work, Integrity and Fairness |
A Record of Accomplishment
If your candidate has previous experience in the field or is running for re-election, this slogan highlights their past achievements. Some similar slogans would be:
| Experience Counts |
| Proven Experience and Integrity |
| The right experience, the right choice |
Working for YOU
This slogan talks directly to the audience and highlights that the voters will benefit from electing your candidate.
| For a just future |
| Justice for YOU |
| For a fairer future |
School and College campaign slogans examples
For candidates running in a school election, e.g., for a spot on your cities education board, the stakes are obviously smaller, which means it should be easier to come up with the perfect campaign slogan.
A vote for me is a vote for detention reform!
Try focusing on single, important issues that matter to students with your slogan. Similar slogans include:
| Solar pencil sharpeners for every classroom |
| Bring back dedicated nap time in 2020 |
| A vote for me is a vote for better school lunches! |
I don’t run very often, but when I do, it’s for President
People appreciate campaign slogans that use wit. Try and appeal to your audience’s sense of humor with slogans like these:
| Vote for me, otherwise I’ll lose… again. |
| With great power comes great responsibility. Vote for {name of your candidate} |
| Victoria’s real secret: she votes for {name of candidate} |
Once you have the perfect campaign slogan for your campaign, it’s time to show it off. Spread the word by inserting your campaign slogan in all your communications to supporters.
Getting your slogan out to your supporters
If you want to get your supporters chanting your slogan at rallies, the first step is communicating it to them.
There are a ton of great ways to display your campaign slogan to voters, online and offline. Some of the common channels include:
- Having your candidate introduce it in a speech during a rally.
- Making it prominent on your campaign website.
- Printing it on your yard signs and distributing them to supporters.
- Including it in your campaign mailers.
Give your slogan plenty of exposure leading up to election day.
Want to make your slogan announcement exciting for supporters?
Consider announcing it through a text message. Not only do you get to have personal communication with supporters, you can also get their opt-in for further communication through text messaging.
The most famous example of a campaign announcement through a text message would be Obama’s announcement of his running mate in 2008.
Here’s how you can set this up for your own campaign:
Announce your campaign slogan via text message:
The process differs based on the software your campaign is using. In CallHub, setting up a texting campaign is quick and easy.
Choose the SMS Opt-in campaign from the CallHub dashboard.
With an opt-in campaign, your supporters can send a keyword (chosen by you) to your number or shortcode and have their contact details added to your contact list.
Set up the message you want to send out to supporters when they opt-in:
You have the option of sending followup messages asking for more details, like their name and email, which you can use to personalize your texts.
Once your contacts have opted-in, you can choose that list of contacts to send out a mass text. Just choose the SMS broadcast campaign from the dashboard, and select the contact list with the contacts from the opt-in campaign.
You can send out a text to all these contacts on the list, announcing your new campaign message.
| “For a Fairer Future.” When Joe is elected to the City Council, he promises to fight for you, and other hard-working citizens just like you. Here’s what he stands for: |
Continue communicating with your supporters throughout your election campaign by sending out broadcast messages or starting a peer-to-peer texting campaign.
Text messaging lets you better engage and reach supporters. Try it out for free with CallHub.
