How to Promote Your Reputation: Iraqi Parliamentary Elections Only a Few Months Ahead

Politicians have historically faced some of the highest levels of scrutiny of any other profession. With the rise of the internet and social media in the past couple of decades, reputation management is getting even more challenging to control. While political marketing has been around for centuries, these factors have made it more relevant than ever. Years of reputation building could be gone in just a matter of minutes if not left under the proper care.

An excellent public relations team will be able to control the narrative and set your campaign up for success. With the Iraqi Parliamentary Elections approaching on October 10th, now is a great time to partner up with a public relations team to ensure that your reputation wins your spot.

Here are some key things you should know to run a successful marketing campaign and protect your political reputation:

1. Confirmation bias plays a significant role in political reputation

• Britannica defines confirmation bias as “the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one’s beliefs”. In other words, if someone already believes you are inherently good, they will look for all of your good traits and will consider the positive things they hear about you. On the flip side, if someone has a premonition that you are inherently evil, they will look for only bad qualities and believe the negative things they hear about you. The latter can be extremely dangerous to your reputation.

2. You need to address the right audience using the right emotional hook

• Knowing your audience is the key to marketing to them. Figure out why your supporters like you and continue playing into that in your campaign. Using these emotional appeals is a terrific way to show them how much you care about specific issues or policies and can transform a lukewarm voter into a die-hard supporter.

• Not sure how to find your audience? This article from HubSpot defines several ways you can find and get to know your audience better.

3. Political reputation is highly volatile

• The ins and outs of politics can be highly confusing to the average citizen. Add the fact that information now spreads rapidly in the digital age, and you get a highly volatile environment. While confirmation bias still plays a crucial role in your reputation, top stories will absolutely have some voters changing their opinions of you. When someone twists your words or digs up an out of context action from your past, you will need a good public relations team to help you correctly address the situation to avoid further damage to your reputation.

Now that you know the key aspects of political marketing and reputation management consider these best practices to ensure a fail-proof campaign:

1. Carefully choose if and how you interact with rumours

• Not everything needs to be addressed. For example, petty social media rumours with little traction can sometimes go ignored. However, when opponents take your words or actions out of context and get a big reaction, you should absolutely consider addressing them to protect your integrity.

2. Make sure all press releases are prompt

• If the previously mentioned situation occurs, do not wait too long to address it. You also do not want to wait too long to announce any plans or stances you have that you might have already mentioned to someone else. These situations can make voters feel like you are holding out on them, which is not a good look.

3. Address the right audience

• We have mentioned this before, but it cannot go understated. Spending too much time trying to disprove non-supporters will not get you far in your campaign and gives the impression that you do not have your priorities straight. Focus on addressing the people who already support you and people who are on the fence for a better result.

Interested in partnering with a public relations team to protect your political reputation? Our knowledgeable team would be happy to schedule a consultation to discuss how we can serve you.