Political Marketing Case Study #001 - Aftyn Behn
The crown jewel of political marketing is success on social media. So few politicians are able to achieve it, but I’m obsessed with studying them when they do, so I figured I’d turn this obsession into a series of case studies.
Aftyn Behn swung TN-07, a ruby red district gerrymandered to oblivion, 13 points. Every single county swung left compared to the 2024 election.
And she all but cemented herself a rematch next November.
But how did she do it?
Her ground game had a lot to do with it. Kudos need to be given to the thankless, unsexy work that never gets enough credit.
Her social media presence though, her digital ground game, is what sent her campaign into the stratosphere. It got her:
Hundreds of volunteers and donors from around the country
Several earned media opportunities from prominent New Media outlets
User-generated content that helped push the campaign into perpetual virality for the final 2 weeks
And that’s going to be the sole focus of this case study. Let’s get started.
The Campaign Launch Video
Aftyn’s campaign launch video was posted July 9th across TikTok, Instagram, Threads, and X. It notched just over 9K likes and 700 comments across these platforms.
There were a couple reasons it did so well.
Her first line was “Republicans just passed the Big Bullshit Bill.”
She tailored what is typically an evergreen piece of content to something timely. And strategically cursing is the first sign of her authenticity.
Then she mentions how billionaires are getting a tax break and says “how about a member of Congress that doesn’t sell out her constituents?”
That’s her first signal of being anti-billionaire and grassroots funded, 2 things that keep people watching.
Next she pivots into how the BBB will affect her district, pointing to a specific rural hospital at risk of closing.
She says “This bill is so toxic…”, and that is language that instantly triggers familiarity in millennial and gen z voters.
After she wraps up the BBB costs, she goes into what she did in terms of organizing to fight the MAGA agenda in Tennessee when Trump first got into office. This adds credibility to the fighter vibe she’s established in the video so far.
“Many have you have been with me…fighting on the front lines” This type of in-group acknowledgement is what inspires sustained passion in a ground game. People love to be part of an “us vs them” mentality. It’s what Trump was so good at exploiting to get elected in 2016.
Wraps up with a focus on keeping rural hospitals and nursing homes open if elected.
“If we don’t bring change to Congress, billionaires and bought-out politicians will continue to rig the system.” Solidifies her lane as anti-billionaire, anti-corporation.
Her ending line is “Because hell will freeze over before we let them get away with this.” This really drives home the fighter persona with a relatable idiom.
So this launch video did well for 5 reasons:
Opened with something timely to ground the announcement in a context relevant to the viewer
Opened and closed with coarse language, signifying authenticity and relatability.
Gave district-specific context of why she’s running and what she’ll do to fix it
Clearly defined her ideological lane (an anti-billionaire, anti-corporation fighter for the people)
Told a story that gave credibility to her positioning as a MAGA fighter.
Behn used social early to define her lane
She was anti-billionaire, anti-corporation, anti-special interest from day 1…but a video on who is funding other candidates in the race really solidified her ownership of that lane in the minds of voters.
This video is centered around a website called cash for clout, which tracks who is funding politicians across the state of Tennessee.
This message lands because it’s empowering viewers to go and check out who is funding candidates for themselves.
It’s a cleverly disguised dig at her primary opponents wrapped in a voter empowerment message.
It solidified her lane as the underdog, grassroots political outsider who will owe favors to no one but the people if she’s elected.
Another lane-defining post, which got 8,000 likes, was a short clip of her at a speaking event in which she mentions how she’s the only woman in her primary.
This video was an early sign of her commitment to being a symbol representing what an empowered woman running for office looks like.
The earlier you define your ideological lane, the faster you can carve out mindshare in the minds of voters.
Behn struck the perfect balance between politician, influencer, and journalist
I think the biggest mistake congressional candidates make on social is that their content feels too much like releasing a political statement.
It’s just what people think content from a candidate should be, with no real consideration of providing value.
My philosophy is that the perfect social media strategy positions you as part politician, part influencer, and part journalist.
The politician part is obvious. These are the campaign trail posts that everyone (rightly) posts to showcase their journey and show thanks to the people who have joined them along the way.
Influencers build loyal audiences by being so authentic and relatable that people develop a parasocial relationship with them.
They make you feel like a friend, which is why their recommendations drive action at a clip legacy marketing channels can only dream of.
Politicians need to make people feel like it’s their friend running in that primary, and Behn does a great job of this with her ‘Wranglin’ time’ video series.
She sits in her Jeep Wrangler with a tiny mic and educates the viewer on a trending news topic. Some topics she covered:
Grassroots vs gated communities
Privatizing TVA (energy)
Making groceries affordable again
Her opinion on Nashville
Lowering utility costs
Aftyn humanized herself throughout her content
This sounds crazy, but her cat making an appearance in a couple of videos was probably some of her most effective campaign content.
Do you remember as a kid when you didn’t really process your teachers as people? It was jarring to see them outside of school doing normal people stuff.
Well, people feel that way about politicians.
Everything they do feels like it’s motivated by a quest for political capital.
Share your pets. Share family outings. Share yourself doing your favorite hobby…but don’t overdo it. Aim for the 5-10% range.
Dropping lore made people buy in to her ‘hero’s journey’
You, as the candidate, are the ‘hero’. People want a reason to emotionally invest in you and root for you to succeed along your journey.
Your lore, your lived experience, is how you do that on social media.
Aftyn has a video in which she is canvassing where she drops the lore that motivated her to run.
One key factor here is that she dropped it while doing something else. You can’t just make dropping lore the main topic of the video. Her telling the story while canvassing adds a crucial human element.
She grounds the story in a specific point of time - her start as an organizer. In the hero’s journey, this is called ‘from humble beginnings’. They’re just a regular person inspired by a specific call to action that, if acted upon, sets them on the path to becoming a hero.
She then goes into a story about her Tennessee State House race. It gives her credibility as an underdog who has already beat the odds once.
By the end of the video, anyone who has been underestimated in their lives is emotionally invested in her success.
As much as she crushed it with video, though, her digital ground game could have been even better.
She should have created content specifically tailored to Threads
Her social media strategy was very video-centric. So much so that for Threads and X, she was just cross-posting whatever they posted on Instagram.
To be fair, she didn’t do terrible on Threads with this strategy, but it’s the only algorithm that heavily favors text-only posts.
I would have taken the amazing video content and used it to create 3-5 text-only threads per video. It would have been a quick and easy way to 3-5x the surface of her digital ground game.
This would have given her 3-5x the chance to generate comments to respond to, which is the fastest way to build affinity on social media.
She did do an excellent job of showing up on the platform and responding to supporters in the final few weeks of the campaign as it reached sustained virality…but that’s the thing.
Sustained virality happens on Threads (and X) because these are the apps people flock to for conversations.
By posting on Threads with content tailored to its algorithm throughout the campaign, Aftyn would have been well-positioned generate even more buzz for her campaign.
(Disclaimer: I am NOT saying she would have won if she just used Threads. That’s silly.)
All this social media success is nice, but what results did it drive to her campaign?
Social media success drove real-world results
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people who do not live in Aftyn’s district directly donated their time and money.
When you have a strong social media strategy, it’s like having someone work call time for you 24/7…and the list you’re working with is every Democrat with a social media profile.
Aftyn’s social presence also inspired folks to create their own content in support of her. Influencers wanted to interview her. They wanted to be part of the in-crowd that was building a movement.
And when you have this machine working in your favor, it puts immense pressure on your opponents.
Especially when it’s paired with an amazing ground game. They feel like you’re everywhere.
Your homework:
Study this analysis, pick an issue, and create a video. No script. Just vibes.
Video isn’t my forte, but text-based social media is.
I’ve helped a client generate over 2.5 million views and grow their following 450% on Threads since we started working together, and we’re in position to make major moves as his primary heats up.
I documented the strategy and turned it into a free 7-day educational email course that will help you turn Threads into a campaign asset in just 90 minutes a day.
Check it out here: www.winyourprimary.com
