Political campaigns are rife with successes and failures. And while they may drive constituents crazy during election years, businesses can glean valuable lessons from political campaigns. Here are eight lessons you can put into practice to benefit your business.

Political campaigns can offer businesses valuable insight into the dos and don'ts of reaching customers.

1. Embrace big data

Today, it's easier than ever to collect data about your customers. Big data played a big role in President Obama's re-election in 2012. You may not need to collect quite so many data points, but focusing on a few that are relevant to your business can help you determine how to best approach or persuade certain customers to buy, donate or engage with your brand.

2. Experiment with social media

Traditional advertising is expensive, so businesses have to stick with proven advertising methods to make the most of their money. Fortunately, social media offers the perfect opportunity for advertising experimentation because of the low cost of advertising and engaging. If you want to try something new, see how it lands on your social platforms first.

3. Meet with your advertising team more frequently

Politicians don't have the benefit of waiting months to see how their campaigns are going. They have to reevaluate their strategies every single day. And while that may be unrealistic for a business, more frequent meetings (weekly, for example) can be beneficial. Technology has made data collection easy, so there's no reason not to gauge your customers' responses to your ads frequently.

Don't be afraid to change your advertising campaign if research shows it's not being well received.

4. Choose your words carefully

One misspoken word can completely alienate important demographic groups. When it comes to advertising, choose your words carefully. You don't want to end up making a "binders full of women" mistake reminiscent of the Romney campaign (unless you want to end up on the wrong side of a viral meme).

5. Don't be afraid to show your personality

Where many politicians fail in this social era is the inability to connect with voters on a personal level. And if you can't connect with your customers in a more personal way, your business may be poised to fail, too. No matter what kind of image you want to project, you don't have to be stuffy and impersonal. Interject some personality into your ads and interactions - it will make your brand more memorable.

6. Keep ads consistent across all your advertising channels

You can't portray a hipster image on social media and a conservative image on television as some politicians have tried to do. Customers can sniff out inauthenticity from a mile away. Whatever you do, make sure that your branding and your message are consistent across all your advertising channels.

7. Go mobile

Sharing on mobile devices is easy--with a couple of taps, users can share your message with their friends on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and through other channels. Targeting mobile users through SMS messages is one of the best ways you can spend your advertising dollars. Club Texting can help you with this, and you can even try it for free.

Target mobile users through SMS messages to reach your customers on the go.

8. Encourage mobile users to take action

With mobile users in particular, it's important for businesses to use action statements rather than making polite requests. During the 2008 and 2012 political campaigns, analysts found that statements like, "Help get this message out" were more effective than requests such as, "Will you please vote for me?" So rather than making a hard sale by asking directly for a donation or purchase each time, mix up your messages to ask your customers to spread the word.

No matter how small or big your business is, these lessons transcend business size. By watching and learning from past and future political campaigns, you can gain valuable insight on ways to better connect with your own constituents -- that is, your customers.