A recent Washington Post piece discussed how television is becoming the latest battleground in targeting voters. Targeting in any form, whether it’s canvassing, mailers or digital ads, serves the dual purpose of speaking directly to your ‘target’ and saving money on broad ad buys. If a campaign chooses to advertise on television, even in smaller media markets, it’s going to occupy a huge part the budget which is why campaigns are turning to data and technology to ease the burden:
The technology, known as “addressable advertising,” is the latest front in a growing battle to reach voters…
…the push in recent years among both Republicans and Democrats, particularly in the wake of the 2012 presidential campaign, has been toward harnessing data analytics to tap into increasingly sophisticated voter records databases and deliver customized online ads to would-be supporters.
Now that’s moving into, perhaps, the last part of American political life to be untouched by the data revolution: your television.
“Audience-based decision making is the future of running a campaign,” said Zac Moffatt, digital director of the Romney 2012 campaign. “It has to be. Not embracing technology is embracing inefficiency.”
And while technology is critical it needs to be backed by high quality voter data to ensure potential voters, donors etc… are actually the people with whom you’d like to speak. The Post goes on to discuss the tactical shift campaigns are making from targeting what you’re watching to who you are:
“We’re not buying television shows anymore. We’re buying lists of people. We don’t really care about what program you’re watching,” said Andrew Bleeker, who ran online marketing for the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns. “This is one of the few things where political is really driving corporate in a really interesting way.”
The piece concludes with a quote from Bleeker:
“Addressability is where all media is going to be in the future. And the shift is happening shockingly fast.”
L2 gives PACs, associations, consultants and campaigns the power of addressability including the ability to target on TV. With the permission of National Cable Communications (NCC Media), L2 DataMapping now offers detailed voter targeting tools and NCC Cable Zone boundaries. With L2 DataMapping, putting your television message in front of the right audience while maximizing your return on investment is a simple three step process. See how it works below:
For more information on L2′s email lists, high quality enhanced voter data plus industry leading platforms DataMapping and GroundGame email L2 Executive Vice President Tracy Dietz at tracy.dietz@L2political.com.
