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Targeted Victory in the News: Zac Moffatt Speaks at Google-CNN Panel: “Exploring the 2012 Digital Election”

December 10, 2012 By

Zac Moffatt, our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign, spoke at a panel sponsored by Google Politics and CNN titled “Exploring the 2012 Digital Election”. At this panel, Moffatt shared details about the campaign’s digital strategy and commented on the evolution of digital technology in the political sphere.

One such technology to evolve in the 2012 election was geo-targeting, particularly on Facebook:

Moffatt said the Romney campaign was able to use geo-location on Facebook, where it could post relevant messages in respective areas. “We were doing 40 to 50 posts a day that most people didn’t see” because they were showing up in targeted areas, he said.

Though the Obama campaign entered 2012 with a built-in list size lead, Moffatt and the Romney digital team were able to gain likes rapidly:

The Republican nominee spent heavily on Facebook ads nationwide to boost his follower numbers… “The low-hanging fruit was still there,” in terms of list-building and follower acquisition, he said. Additionally, Romney’s Facebook following was highly engaged.

Looking forward to 2013 and beyond:

Moffatt said he thinks “the party’s in a much stronger place going forward.”

He referred in part to the “legacy item” of more than a million donor names the campaign handed over to the Republican National Committee this week that are brand new to the RNC.

With the ballots cast and counted, the 2012 election cycle has concluded. Yet, the digital political landscape is just beginning to evolve. With refined targeting tools, list-building and engagement techniques, and voter contacts on the horizon, the intersection of digital and politics is more exciting than ever.

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Targeted Victory in the News: Campaign Fundraising

November 6, 2012 By

Fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts are important parts of every campaign and digital is making it easier. In a new article from Advertising Age, our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign  Zac Moffatt explains how the Romney campaign is using digital to customize messaging for different locations:

It helps power the campaign through the final two weeks…We have a fully integrated GOTV ad campaign…We’ve been running absentee ballot and early vote and GOTV ads for up to a month in some places.

Digital enables the Romney campaign to tailor messaging based on location

By using different methods including social media, online advertising and mobile apps, the Romney campaign can target more people and motivate them to either donate or vote based on where the voter lives. Thanks to digital, the Romney campaign can achieve its fundraising goals and encourage more voters to come to the polls on November 6.

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Targeted Victory in the News: Sponsored Results and Search Advertisements

November 5, 2012 By

One way the Presidential campaigns are trying to persuade online voters is through sponsored results and search advertising. People who type specific political terms or candidates into a search engine or social media website will see online advertisements from the other candidate. In a new article from Newsday, our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign Zac Moffatt explains the importance of displaying online advertisements in search results:

We think of search a lot of times as intent…If you can participate in that conversation the likelihood that you’re relevant is much higher. It’s pretty specific.

The Romney campaign has focused on reaching voters through Facebook by buying sponsored results and marketing messages for voters on Facebook mobile. This digital strategy is designed to increase interest towards Mitt Romney and allow voters to learn more information on his Facebook page.

Candidates use sponsored results on Google and Facebook as a way to reach voters online.

Sponsored results and search advertising allow the Presidential candidates to keep their names in the minds of voters and provide undecided voters with an easy way to learn more about each of the candidates by entering words into a search engine.

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Targeted Victory in the News: Targeted Online Advertising

November 5, 2012 By

Online advertising has played a big role in the 2012 election. In a new article from POLITICO, our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign Zac Moffatt explains the Romney campaign’s online advertising strategy:

What we look to is how [Romney political director Rich Beeson] and his political team breaks down the state, how our strategy team breaks down the state, and augment that as best we can…

When a person views a website or enters a search term, he or she sees online advertisements that pertain to issues concerning his or her state. These targeted online advertisements are designed to reach specific groups of voters more effectively by pertaining to the issues that they want more information. Moffatt describes the main group of voters the Romney campaign uses targeted online advertisements to reach:

We’ve moved our ad strategy really over from persuasion to mobilization…Eighty or 90 percent of our budget within there is just heavily turning to people who haven’t voted and who we want to vote…We have taken into consideration actions people have taken to this point, voting being a huge determinant, and we’ve gone into our files and taken out people we believe have voted already

By deploying advertisements specific to different states, the Romney campaign can target specific voters and encourage them to vote on November 6.  They can also stop distributing ads to voters who have already voted. Campaigns are using targeted online advertising as a mobilization tool to reach voters in specific geographical locations.

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Targeted Victory in the News: Digital in the 2012 Election

November 5, 2012 By

The 2012 election marks the first time campaigns are significantly using real-time digital media. Campaigns are using real-time digital media to encourage online debate and provide information to voters on different platforms. In a new article from Forbes, our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign Zac Moffatt explained how Republicans have put more emphasis into digital in the 2012 election. During this election cycle, Republicans have increased their digital presence through several ways including more online advertising and social media.

One social media website Republicans are using is the question and answer website Quora. It allows voters to learn more about the candidates in an positive atmosphere and candidates can use Quora to answer questions posted by voters. Moffatt said in another article from Forbes how Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan helped the Romney campaign learn more about Quora:

We were excited as a digital team when Congressman Ryan joined the team, it was one of the first things we asked him…It is a much deeper conversation.

Quora is emerging as a new, important digital tool for campaigns because it helps voters and candidates interact with each other in an honest manner. By using Quora, campaigns can narrow the gap between candidates and voters.

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AllFacebook: Romney/Ryan Wins War Of Words On Facebook

November 5, 2012 By

By: Jennifer Moire

The debates are over. The rallies are coming to a close. The presidential candidates are getting hoarse. Now that the election is almost over, Socialbakers answers the question: “Who won the war of words” on Facebook?

Socialbakers uses likes and shares as a measure of engagement rate, as well as comments, although it noted that those figures are always smaller. Looking at the Facebook buzz following each of the four debates, Socialbakers named the winners and losers.
…
The bottom line? Despite — or because of — having lower fan bases, the Romney campaign has the stronger engagement rate and ties or leads the president in several other metrics, except Twitter. That should make Romney’s digital strategist, Zac Moffatt, happy.
…
This article is excerpted from AllFacebook. Click here to view the full article.

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Targeted Victory in the News: Real-Time Media Buying in the 2012 Election

November 1, 2012 By

Real-time media buying is a powerful new tool for campaigns. Our co-founder Michael Beach and TubeMogul CEO Brett Wilson wrote a new op-ed from MediaPost on the impact of real-time media buying in the 2012 election. Campaigns can shift their content and messaging immediately through real-time media buying and target voters based on different demographics such as geographic location, browsing history or age. For example, campaigns can select online advertisements for supporters that encourage them to volunteer, while simultaneously distributing online advertisements about job creation to voters that live in cities with high unemployment. Real-time media buying offers campaigns flexibility and adaptability that has not been seen in previous elections.

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Targeted Victory in the News: The Evolution of Romney’s Digital Strategy

October 28, 2012 By

Digital strategy for the Romney campaign has evolved as the election gets closer. While the campaign focused on fundraising and building name recognition during the Republican primary, the campaign is now focusing on increasing mobilization among supporters and persuading undecided voters. In an article from Forbes, our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign Zac Moffatt explains the main goal of the Romney campaign digital department:

The goal of this digital department is to be the best digital department to help win an election…not to make pretty pictures and tell everyone how smart we are.

By focusing on numbers and collecting accurate data, the Romney campaign digital department can target voters more accurately in key swing states. They can use the data to develop emails and online advertisements with effective messages. Moffatt later described how this plan is producing results:

We’re doing what we feel is necessary to be successful. We see all the numbers. We don’t make determinations based upon our gut, which way the wind is blowing that day — we make it based upon data, and our data is telling us what’s working.

The Romney campaign has developed a complex digital strategy that emphasizes data. As the election gets closer, the goals of the campaign’s digital strategy have changed but the concentration on numbers has not. This strategy has helped the Romney campaign develop effective emails and digital advertisements that cater to different demographics and encourage engagement.

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Targeted Victory Featured in Frontline Special “The Digital Campaign”

October 26, 2012 By

Watch the full special here.

Targeted Victory was featured in a new Frontline special called The Digital Campaign.  The program looked at how the Presidential candidates are using digital to target and persuade voters. Frontline visited the Mitt Romney campaign headquarters in Boston and our office in Alexandria over the summer. Our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign Zac Moffatt explained to Frontline correspondent Hari Sreenivasan the importance of digital in the 2012 election.

For the Romney campaign, what we have determined [is] that if we only rely on national television, we will lose this election. This is the first time in presidential history that people take dollars out of television and move it online.  And so digital becomes a persuasion-mobilization effort, as opposed to historically just being list-building and fundraising.

Both Presidential campaigns have placed more emphasis on digital as it becomes a bigger part of our everyday lives. More voters are now spending a majority of their time online compared to watching TV or reading print media. These “off the grid” voters will determine the result of the election. Moffatt defined what makes a person an “off the grid” voter:

We define them by this term of people who we call time-shifters, people who don’t watch live television anymore.  Other than sports, they kind of─ they choose to live their lives on demand… They’re choosing when they consume their content, so that’s the big differential for them.

Instead of investing in television advertisements, the Presidential campaigns must focus on reaching “off the grid” voters through different digital mediums including: email, social media and online advertising.

Our study with SAY Media found that one third of voters are going “off the grid” and no longer watching live TV.

One way the Presidential campaigns are reaching “off the grid” voters is through new data collection software. The campaigns can use this software to select specific advertisements based on a person’s interests. Our co-founder Michael Beach explained how campaigns can target voters with specific types of information with tools such as Lotame‘s Crowd Control:

So you first run geographic.  It’s kind of your initial way to narrow down an audience.  And here, you know, we’re just going to run to Virginia… And then after that, it’s starting to get into what kind of medium are you trying to run.  Are you trying to reach people on desktop?  Are you trying to reach people on mobile, reach people on tablets?  And then that’s starting to get into demographic information to kind of narrow your target further.

The Romney campaign can use tools including Lotame‘s Crowd Control to target online advertisements based on demographics specific to different voters.

By using targeted online advertising, the Presidential campaigns can collect data on a voter’s interests and select the advertisement that corresponds to their interests. Not only can online advertisements be customized based on a voter’s interests, but also on the advertisement’s objective. Beach explained the importance of selecting an effective call to action:

There are a lot of data points available.  The challenge is for online to be effective for a campaign, it has to scale…But I think the idea is to definitely cut off as much waste as you can, and then really figure out the top objective of the ad, whether it’s to─ like you said, to mobilize or it’s just to persuade.

The digital campaign is an important part of the current election cycle and will continue to play a significant role in the future. More voters are going “off the grid” and the Presidential campaigns are investing more of their resources into digital instead of traditional TV and print advertisements.  Digital allows the Presidential campaigns to use new technology as a way to target people based on their interests and encourage them to volunteer, donate or attend campaign events. Thanks to digital, the Presidential campaigns are reaching voters more effectively and efficiently.

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Targeted Victory in the News: Dual Viewers and the Debates

October 22, 2012 By

More people are now watching the Presidential debates while simultaneously using their computers and smartphones. These “dual viewers” participate in the Presidential debates through online engagement and the Presidential campaigns are targeting them actively. In a new article from Financial Times, our co-founder and digital director for the Romney campaign Zac Moffatt explains the significance of dual viewers:

We have completely embraced our two-screen strategy…In order to win this election, we had to change the way we treated online.

The Romney campaign has developed Facebook posts, Twitter accounts and promoted Twitter trends that relate to the Presidential debates. They are updated frequently and allow dual viewers to interact with each other by posting their reactions to different comments and topics discussed in the debates.

debates.mittromney.com       Romney Response

Websites including debates.mittromney.com and Twitter pages like @RomneyResponse are designed to target dual viewers.

These social media pages enable the Romney campaign to keep dual viewers engaged and are effective persuasion tools. As the percentage of dual viewers increase, campaigns are creating new ways to keep this important new voter demographic involved in the Presidential debates online.

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