Is the #IVoted Sticker a Genius Marketing Move?

Let me ask you- How many photos have you seen this election season featuring the infamous voting sticker? They’re everywhere. In the 2012 presidential election 100,000 voters, on Instagram alone, posted their “I Voted” sticker– and that was just on election night! A quick search for #ivoted on any social media channel today will turn up hundreds of thousands of results. As we look at these numbers the wheels in our marketer brains can’t help but turn.

Could these beloved little stickers be one of the government's most ingenious marketing strategies?

We’re convinced of it.

Politics aside, you can’t help but recognize that the “I Voted” sticker sublimely motivates us to vote. But why? Well, let us explain in marketing terms.

Reciprocity

As insignificant as a sticker might seem, this small “gift” is the swag bag of the voting booth. Voters walk out of the polls and receive a small thank you, that they then wear proudly the rest of the day– boosting their self-confidence and promptly making up for the line they endured to cast their ballot– or at least, that’s the idea, and it seems to be working.

Reciprocity is a classic marketing move and is used everywhere once you start to notice. Think about the mint you get on your pillow during a hotel stay or the cheap plastic toy they give your child at the end of a doctor's visit. It’s a small but impactful practice if done correctly for your industry.

And we have to give it to election offices– using reciprocity as a marketing tool for voting is savvy, because just as Marriot Hotels wants to build brand loyalty with their mint on your pillow, the government is building it’s own sort of loyalty with their sticker– Leaving the polls with a little pep in your step will not only bring you back but also motivate you to spread the “brand’s” message– GO VOTE.

Social Proof

But the heavy punches of the #IVoted marketing strategy come into play when we start talking about social proof. As humans, we like to brag or at the very least feel important, because of these desires we pay attention to what others are doing- and use those actions as a measuring stick for what we should be doing.

So when we see others showing off their “I Voted” sticker and feeling good about fulfilling their civic duty, we subconsciously feel a need to do the same, then we do and post our own #IVoted photo and the cycle continues. Genius.

Now it is fairly unlikely that the guy who pitched this idea back in 1986, knew that the world would be intricately interconnected via social media channels and that hashtags would one day drive social media engagement, but that doesn't take away from the skilled creativity of the sticker, it only magnifies it.

Whether the sticker is posted on social media or not, it is still a visible symbol of social consciousness that triggers a need to be like the sticker-holder and a gift that motivates “brand” loyalty– and in fact, this is the very reason people feel a need to post in the first place.

So what are you waiting for? Go get your sticker! Oh, and cast your vote…