How Donation Landing Pages Were Used in the 2018 Midterm Elections

As you know by now, the midterm election results are in — Democrats won the house and Republicans took the Senate.

With Democrats flipping the house, it wouldn’t be wrong to say the election results were unprecedented. What was even more unexpected than the blue wave sweeping the house was fundraising total in this election cycle.

The Democrats broke fundraising records by raising more than a billion dollars, the highest amount any party has ever raised in one election cycle. A lot of this can be traced back to election post-click landing pages:

Republicans may have lagged behind in total dollar amount, however fundraising in this election was still exponentially higher than previous cycles.

What are election post-click landing pages?

Election post-click landing pages are dedicated pages created to persuade users to perform an action in relation to an upcoming election or politics in general. Usually, these pages are used to collect donations, sell rally tickets, join political forums, and offer volunteering jobs.

Donation post-click landing pages were a major part of this midterm election, especially on the democratic side. ActBlue, a fundraising tool helped Democrats raise donations from grassroots donors. The platform used mobile-optimized forms, and easy-to-use analytics to help Democratic candidates, committees, parties, and organizations raise money from small-dollar donors.

How donation post-click landing pages were used in the midterms

Political marketing campaigns played a huge role in the 2016 presidential election, both parties launched optimized email campaigns and created post-click landing pages to get donations and sway voters to their side.

The midterm elections were no different. With fundraising being a huge part of any election, and the 2018 midterms in particular, let’s analyze how ActBlue, and both political parties used donation post-click landing pages to fund their respective campaigns.

1. ActBlue

• The headline explains what the service does, i.e. provide cutting-edge fundraising tools.
• The CTA button copy (“Sign Up today”) is clear and tells the visitor what to expect when they click the button.
• The CTA button would make more of an impact if it were larger.
• The click-through page takes visitors to a page where they specify which type of fundraising they want to do, whether for a candidate specifically, a political organization, advocacy, or social welfare non-profit.
• The dollar-counter folder image above the fold showcases how much money ActBlue’s tools have generated to date. This adds social proof and credibility to the page.
• The features of the service are listed alongside relevant graphics. It showcases how easy the service is to use..

2. Andrew Gillum

• The headline stirs an emotional response in visitors, it lets them know that by giving a donation they’ll be supporting a candidate that Obama supports.
• President Obama’s eye gaze toward the form is a directional cue to visitors to focus their attention on the form and donate.
• The form is quick and easy to complete, plus it doesn’t clutter the page.
• The red section draws even more attention because that is the primary focus of the page — to “Chip in Now.”

• The headline aims to evoke an emotional response in visitors. “Count every vote” is bound to raise your patriotism level.
• The image showcases Andrew Gillum addressing the public, which is appropriate for an election post-click landing page.
• The CTA button fails to impress. Not only is it poorly positioned, it is small and doesn’t really stand out.
• This is a click-through post-click landing page and clicking the CTA button takes visitors to a page where visitors can make their donation via a two-step form.
• The copy explains that Gillum has made it his mission to count every vote in Florida.

3. Bill Nelson

• The post-click landing page headline is pretty straightforward because it tells what the visitor is expected to do — Donate to Bill Nelson.
• The 2-step form helps de-clutter the page, the back button on the second form also helps visitors go back if they want to change their donation amount.
• The image is relevant, it’s clear that Bill Nelson is a Democrat (the blue hue in the background) and that he is running for the Senate.
• The Contribution rules specify who can donate to Nelson’s campaign.
• There are no exit links on the page, like his logo or social media. Had the page included any links, they would be detrimental because they would send people off the page and away from donating.

4. Ted Cruz

• The splash page encourages people to donate to Ted Cruz’s campaign first before continuing to his website.
• The copy above the CTA button demonstrates urgency and to donate to his campaign.
• The red CTA button grabs attention because there is no other bright red on the page.
• “Donate” is not as convincing as it could be. “I Want to Donate” could increase button clicks and donations because it is first-person and more personalized.
• The image shows that he is looking to the future, however had his eye gaze focused on the CTA button, it would act as a visual cue.

• The headline is absent. “Ted Cruz – Tough as Texas” is a slogan not a headline for a donation post-click landing page.
• The video showcases what Ted Cruz will do for Texas, primarily focusing on re-building Houston after the flood damage.
• The copy instills urgency in the visitor by letting them know that millions of Americans are donating to defeat Ted Cruz and page visitors need to donate to show their support for Cruz and the Republicans.
• The on-page form covers pretty much the whole post-click landing page, which isn’t ideal for visual appeal.
• The “Use Your Donor ID” option allows donors to make a donation easier by signing into their account.
• The mailing address at the bottom gives visitors a second option if they don’t feel safe about making an online donation.
• The privacy policy link adds an element of trust to the page. Privacy Policy and Terms of Use are the only recommended on-page links because people can read how their information will be shared, if at all.
• The Facebook and Twitter buttons distract people from donating because, once clicked, sends them off the page — away from donating.

5. Joe Donnelly

• This is a typical ActBlue donation post-click landing page — most ActBlue donation post-click landing pages feature the same format, a clean layout with a 2-step form.
• The headline reinforces the message that ‘Democrats work for America’.
• The subheadline explains that the purpose of this page is to re-elect Joe Donnelly from Indiana.
• The copy explains why visitors should donate to Donnelly’s campaign and also tells them that their support is very important. For example, “works hard to preserve regular order in the Senate… and truly works for the people” gives specific reasons to donate.
• The form is easy to complete and doesn’t clutter the page.
• The Contribution rules make it clear as to who can legally make a donation via the page.

Donation post-click landing pages help with fundraising campaigns

The world has gone digital, and election campaigns are no different.

Election post-click landing pages, specifically donation pages, can persuade visitors to donate for your cause. To ensure your page is optimized, think about the user experience and create A/B tests when the time is right.

Don’t ignore the post-click stage, provide every prospect with a personalized experience from start to finish. Sign up for an Instapage Enterprise Demo today.