On November 9th the new landscape will be set and having your data in place will be critical. Whether you use L2 or another provider here are some tips on getting the best value.
- Dream Big: Think of everything you may want and demand a proposal for it. Voter, consumer, donor, modeled issue data, email, cell phones, digital ad integration etc... There's always a chance of sticker shock but you never know, you might be pleasantly surprised by the features you can afford.
- Test Drive: If the provider has an interface with which to access their data, play with it. We all provide trial subscriptions, see which is the most intuitive and does what you need it to do. It's also a good idea to make sure a non-data expert on your team who will be pulling counts can easily navigate the interface.
- Avoid Data Dumping: Don't get stuck with a mountain of data that can't be utilized. Make sure your partner integrates with your platform(s) of choice. Don't buy in only to discover some rule about exporting or using their data outside of their tools.
- Timing Is Everything: If you're working in one or multiple states consistently think about asking for a multi-year agreement with the data being used for multiple campaigns. That'll give you the most data for the lowest cost per record.
- Negotiate: It may seem odd to negotiate on price with a voter data company but it beats not asking for it, taking a free file and losing. If you want to use L2 or another top tier provider but the candidate or other member of the team wants to take the cheap file and run, tell us. L2 offers an array of options making it possible to customize your request.
