Political Parties, their E-Newsletters, and Subscribers

Political parties generally use a transactional marketing approach to win votes. Each electoral contest is primarily viewed as a one-off contest selling the party or its candidates for that election, and then repeating the process at the next election. Although parties seek relationships with voters these are periodic, akin to a “one-night stand.” In an era of voter volatility and apparent decline in citizen participation, this strategy does not appear to be working. Moreover, it requires significant re-investment of resources for each election cycle. A relationship marketing approach offers an alternative strategy for mobilising support in that contact with voters is continuous, akin to a “marriage.” This strategy is not a quick fix—it takes time. If U.K. political parties have adopted a relationship marketing approach in the run-up to the next general election, ¹ then we would expect evidence of this at least eighteen months before any election is held.