Go “mobile-first” to reach underserved communities and expand the electorate
There's no question that digital is a powerful tool for reaching voters. But what many don't realize is that by going “mobile-first” they can better target underserved communities and expand the electorate. That’s because young people, people of color and low-income individuals are more likely to have a smartphone and less likely than home internet. According to Pew Research, these communities are also more likely to say they had not been contacted by a political campaign in 2020. There are literally millions of potential new voters who are now within reach through mobile targeting.
Mobile-first targeting allows you to find the mobile device IDs of individuals on the voter file who do not have an IP address (home internet), but it also allows you to build audiences of individuals seen at other locations like campuses, rallies, churches, and businesses. The device ID is like a unique serial number for each mobile device that, unlike an IP address, does not change with location and isn’t shared with other devices making it far more accurate.
Imagine not just reaching more of your voters from the voter file but targeting and registering new voters who frequent locations that indicate a propensity to support your values and causes. We dub this new audience-building concept “relational targeting”. Relational targeting is the perfect complement to relational organizing where voters reach out to their personal networks via social media and texting. With that in mind, mobile targeting via device IDs can also help supercharge your social media campaigns. Recent platform restrictions and bad data from voter files mean that successfully matching your voters to their social media profiles is mediocre at best. VoteMAP’s mobile data includes device IDs that provide a 1:1 match of the devices seen in certain locations to the apps installed on those devices. In other words, if the devices we find have Facebook or other social media apps installed you will be able to serve them ads on those platforms.
Device IDs also work for targeting voters beyond social media across the entire web and within any mobile apps that display ads. They can be used to serve surveys and deliver rich media that allows mobile users to send emails, schedule a time to vote, and enter text campaigns with just one click on the screen. Additionally, because our technology identifies the language a device is set to, we can ensure that a diverse audience receives ads in their preferred language automatically. It’s as simple as having a copy of your ad creative in whatever languages the community you are targeting speaks and our innovative platform does the rest.
The bottom line is that old forms of targeting leave out large numbers of low propensity voters and thus perpetuate the cycle of these individuals feeling ignored and left out of the political system. So, if you want to help expand the electorate and reach more underserved communities, connect with us. We can work together to develop a mobile-first strategy that targets young people, people of color, and low-income individuals – all of whom are more likely to have a smartphone and share your values. Let’s make sure everyone has a voice in our democracy.
Meaning, that you no longer need to rely on incomplete and outdated phone numbers or email addresses from the voter file to try and find a match on social media. If the mobile devices we find have Facebook or other social media apps installed we will find a 1:1 match.
If new targeting restrictions are preventing you from effectively serving your political ads or you want to improve your engagement with hard-to-reach audiences, our team is here to assist you. We have years of experience crafting effective and compliant social media campaigns for our clients, and we would be happy to put that expertise to work for you. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you maximize the reach and efficiency of your social media ad budget.