Unless you’re an Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina voter or a wealthy political donor, chances are you’re not seeing the 2016 presidential hopefuls in person. You probably won’t even see their TV ads.
But you might be seeing some of their online ads. The presidential campaigns run them now not because they think that this format of advertising will get your vote, but because that’s how their campaign staff intends to get your email address. It’s an important phase of the digital campaign because once they have your address, campaigns hope to tap you again and again for money and time.
The collection of email information is an important part of the early digital campaigns because supporters who sign up early usually are among the most reliable donors and campaigners. The campaign can solicit these early registrants for money and time throughout the election. They also give campaigns the opportunity to learn more about potential voters. The staff can try to match the voters’ email addresses to lists maintained by political parties and other organizations, including Facebook, in order to send various types of messages to them.
People visiting one of the many sites within the AOL network in the past month might have seen ads from Hillary for America, the presidential campaign committee of Hillary Rodham Clinton, or from Our American Revival, a political committee set up by Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who is weighing a bid for the Republican nomination.
The themes are generic: “Join the official campaign today!” or “What Issues Matter Most to You?” are among the messages that try to attract readers’ attention on a busy web page. The goal is to make clicking on a button easy, a reflexive action that represents a quick affirmation: “Yes, I want to be a part of this.” When that’s not enough, a little inducement — a Mother’s Day phone call from Mrs. Clinton, or a bumper sticker — can help make the pitch more persuasive.
Over the previous 30 days, AOL sites were among the most popular destination for online display ads from those committees, according to data from Pathmatics, a California company that tracks digital advertising across thousands of sites. AOL’s network includes a number of consumer, lifestyle and technology sites with millions of visitors. They target other high-traffic sites like Townhall.com, weather.com, washingtonpost.com, nytimes.com and Huffingtonpost.com.
The basic contact information — your name, email address and ZIP code — can help campaigns in multiple ways, but the initial goal is to establish a relationship. Some people will give up only an email address, but many will contribute money or time to the campaign. With even basic information, campaigns can get a sense of who their earliest supporters are, and whether they vote.
Email lists can drive fund-raising, essentially providing the campaign with a profit center that can help pay for other activities. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican senator running for president, did it with an email on April 30 offering a T-shirt for any donation of $20 or more. The amount matters — because this phase of the campaign can be self-supported — but nearly as important is knowing how invested someone is in the campaign so as to go back to get more money in the coming months.
Not all of the advertising is aimed at building lists. In some cases the goal is to shore up a candidate’s credentials on an issue important to primary voters. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican senator who announced his campaign on April 7, has advertised on a broad range of sites, including YouTube, weather.com and even DailyKos, the liberal political site. His campaign also placed ads on the website of The Jerusalem Post, an English-language Israeli newspaper, saying that “Rand Stands with America’s Ally, Israel” and directing visitors to a page on RandPaul.com that features a video of Mr. Paul.
Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican senator, used it to alert audiences that he cares about a state’s primary and to establish a presence there. When he made a trip to South Carolina in April, his campaign promoted it with ads on television station websites.
It also linked to a donation page on his campaign site that asked for an email address and ZIP code.
More in The Upshot
A SURVEY SAYS
Big Drop in Share of Americans Calling Themselves Christian
Q. AND A.
Questions About Coffee and Health: We Have Some Answers
RELIGION SURVEY
The Rise of Young Americans Who Don’t Believe in God
THE NEW HEALTH CARE
More Consensus on Coffee’s Benefits Than You Might Think
HEALTHY STRATEGIES
Readers on Restaurant Meals and Beverage Choices
ECONOMIC VIEW
Unless You Are Spock, Irrelevant Things Matter in Economic Behavior
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered