ABSTRACT
Internal political marketing is particularly tricky because it is heavily focused on managing people. Managing paid employees can be difficult enough, but internal marketing also has to take into account volunteer activists who are giving up their time without a direct financial reward. There are an increasing range of jobs related to internal political marketing as parties professionalise, such as top-level roles like campaign managers and party presidents, but also outreach staff, local organisers, field directors and organisers, and fundraising managers. These jobs draw on skills such as people management, coordination, organisation and inter-personal communication. Peter Reeves explored how political marketing is viewed at the local constituency party level among the UK Conservatives and found that there was partial awareness of the scope of political marketing on aspects such as data management and targeting; and there were people involved at the lower levels with marketing skills, but they needed further training to maximise their potential contribution to the political context.
