Politics and Elections Blog
Trends, tools and news from the Google Politics & Elections team
Digital Lessons Learned from 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Posted by: Rob Saliterman (R Team), Evan Rowe (D Team) and Luke Rodehorst (IE Team) Google Politics and Elections Team
Last week, Google and CNN convened more than 300 campaign operatives and journalists to discuss how political campaigns broke new ground this year in using the internet to fundraise, persuade, and mobilize with unprecedented targeting and measurement. The event, “
Exploring the 2012 Digital Election
,” featured the Obama and Romney campaigns’ digital masterminds, but it’s important to also recognize the innovative strategies and tactics of down-ballot campaigns and issue advocacy groups.
Google’s “
Digital Compilation from the 2012 Campaign Cycle” booklet
contains eight case studies on how the internet has revolutionized politics.
Here are four key examples from groups that set a new standard in online political advertising:
1. Delivering Maverick PAC’s Message to the Right Audience
Maverick PAC, led by Co-Chairs George P. Bush and Jay Zeidman, is engaging next generation Republican leaders from business, politics and law to build a national network. To gain traction with a younger audience and maximize visibility, Maverick PAC turned to YouTube to tell their story. By partnering with Story Partners -- a DC public affairs firm -- they maximized the exposure to the target audiences.
Read the full case study here
.
2. Ami Bera went up early to avoid the noise and define the candidates
Dr. Ami Bera ran for Congress in 2010, losing a close race in the Sacramento suburbs. In 2012, with voters inundated with messages from dozens of candidates and ballot propositions, as well as statewide redistricting, guaranteed a tighter race. But in an area with many competitive races and proposition campaigns, the Bera campaign knew traditional media alone would be insufficient to communicate with voters effectively. So they turned to digital to extend the reach and frequency of their offline ads and reach key audiences efficiently.
Read the full case study here
.
3. Click-to-Call-Congress
As the U.S. Senate considered legislation critical to the clean coal industry this spring, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) sought ways to mobilize grassroots supporters of the legislation across the country to make their voices heard. Partnering with social media marketing firm New Media Strategies, ACCCE used numerous Google tools, including click-to-call mobile advertising, to connect constituents with their Senators.
Read the full case study here
.
4. Extending the Reach of TV with a complimentary online video strategy on YouTube
Priorities USA Action, the leading Super PAC in support of President Barack Obama, turned to online ads in order to outmaneuver their better-funded opponents: Republican Super PACs American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS, and Restore Our Future. Working closely with agency Global Strategy Group, Priorities developed an efficient and effective YouTube video and Google search strategy to re-elect the President of the United States.
Read the full case study here
.
New study: Voters tuning in earlier, find Internet the most reliable for candidate info
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Cross-Posted by
Karl Agne, Founding Partner GBA Strategies
and
Robert Blizzard, VP Public Opinion Strategies
[From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest, and are very pleased to have Karl Agne of GBA Strategies and Robert Blizzard of Public Opinion Strategies join us here. – Ed.]
New post-election research conducted by GBA Strategies and Public Opinion Strategies in Colorado -- a critical swing state in 2012 and 2014 -- contains several key lessons for those seeking to understand not just what happened in 2012, but what this election means for 2014 and beyond. First, the traditional campaign timeline for communicating with voters - slowly building communications volume and television point levels to reach a crescendo in the final weeks of the campaign - is history. This research examined not just when voters tuned in to the campaign, but also when they tuned out. The lesson - voter engagement peaks in September and early October; by the final week of the campaign, more than 1-in-3 voters have stopped following congressional campaigns completely.
Of course, persuadable voters still break much later, forcing campaigns to weigh the relative importance of turnout messages geared toward base voters with persuasion targeted to a much smaller (but often decisive) universe of swing voters who engage in the campaign much later, make their voting decisions much later, and wait much longer to vote. And that leads to inevitable questions of how to reach these very different groups of voters in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Increasingly, campaigns are turning to online tools to answer those questions. This poll shows that voters now identify the Internet as the most reliable source of information for learning about the candidates in a congressional campaign and gathering the information they need to make their decision.
Learn more about this new study and
read the memo here
.
2012 was the breakthrough year for digital persuasion across 4 screens
Monday, November 12, 2012
The 2012 campaign will be remembered as the first four screen election.
The Internet has fundamentally transformed how voters receive information on candidates and issues. Access to political information no longer comes from one place, or one screen. That means that campaigns that adapted to this new reality - and adopted a four-screen strategy to persuade and connect with voters - more often than not won. The trend is clear: those who invest in online win. In fact, 9 of the top 11 US Senate races who spent more online with Google won on Tuesday.
Let’s look at how the four screens worked together in the closing days of the race.
Of the four screens, mobile’s role in political campaigning grew the most from 2008. Voters use their devices to stay up to date about key issues, look up quick answers, or find last-minute information like where to vote. Candidates who recognized these behaviors and developed mobile strategies to reach people on their smartphones were able to drive voter interaction. Specifically, we found that as election day neared, voters turned to their mobile devices for election-related information.
Total US Mobile searches related to finding a voting location
increased by 164% from Monday to Tuesday
. This trend was even more pronounced in battleground states.
Quite a few voters leave their homes on Election Day and are
still undecided
.
On the day of the election, throughout the US, the majority of Obama-related searches occurred on mobile devices as millions of Americans stood in line and travelled to their polling places.
Search, especially on larger screens like laptops, is an essential voter tool for fact-checking and education. It is also a critical campaign tool for for rapid-response and persuasion. We saw campaigns and issue advocacy groups use search to respond, educate or even ‘bracket’ events in real-time. There was a real shift toward voters using (and trusting) the Web as a fact-checker, especially around offline events like debates. 64% of voters use the Internet to verify or “fact check” a claim made by a candidate or issue group and it is clear that it is key to formulating voting decisions.
In Maryland
, where same sex marriage legislation was passed,
total searches for gay marriage increased by 482% from the same period last year
.
Since April 2011, when Romney officially entered the race, over 700,000 videos mentioning Obama or Romney have been uploaded to YouTube, and these videos account for
2.8 billion views
.
Television - especially around live campaign events like debates - is a powerful catalyst to drive action on digital devices. Savvy campaigns built presences across all screens to stay connected with voters that are driven online by TV to fact-check or research.
77% of TV viewers use another device at the same time in a typical day. (
Google Multi-Screen Research)
And, finally, while tablets are still a relatively new device, they distinguished themselves as an important tool this election. The most notable role that tablets played was as a couch companion, helping voters find more information and react to the things they saw on TV. While this TV + Tablet multi-screening was the most mainstream behavior we are also seeing a growing number of people who are turning to tablets first to consume news and find information.
During the second Presidential Debate,
energy-policy related searches on tablets spiked by 359%
immediately after the question about gas prices. This shows how people reach for their tablets in response to things on TV.
Campaigns who don’t come to grips with these changing voter behaviors will have a harder time giving that victory speech on Election Night. Campaigns who go online and develop a multi-screen approach to persuading and connecting with voters will win. It has never been more clear that the road to victory requires a
four screen strategy
.
Posted by: Jennifer Gross on behalf of the Politics & Elections Team
During debates voters turn to mobile for instant answers
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Posted by: Adam Grunewald, Politics & Elections Team and Mobile Ads Marketing
While it’s easy to get caught up by the passion and finger pointing in Tuesday night’s debate, it’s important to remember the real purpose of a presidential debate - educating and informing the American people.
We wanted to understand how viewers use their smartphones and tablets as ‘second screens’ to research and fact-check topics during and after the debate. So we took a look at debate-related search queries coming from mobile devices on Tuesday and found that:
Mobile has become a central component of this year’s election:
2,000% increase in debate-related searches on mobile in 2012 vs. 2008
Mobile helps voters find spur-of-the-moment information:
3,300% increase in searches related to Libya immediately after the question about presidential accountability for the Benghazi attack
Mobile is used simultaneously with television:
47% of Tuesday’s elections-related mobile searches occurred during and immediately after the debate
Mobile devices: our couch companions
Already this election season, we’re seeing voters research issues, find information, and even register to vote across desktop, smartphone, tablet and television. This data reinforces the need for political campaigns to engage voters across all
four screens
- especially during key campaign events. With the portability of mobile devices, many people are using them while watching television to search for follow-up information or to fact-check. The debates were a great example of this mobile multi-tasking as people turned to their mobile devices in real time to find more information about the comments and issues raised by the candidates. Looking at a timeline of searches for a specific issue like energy throughout the debate, we can see that the spikes in searches occur in direct response to specific conversation sparks on television.
(Click image above for larger version)
Immediate information
In addition to being used in front of the television, people turn to their mobile devices when they’re looking for immediate information. The “always-on” nature of tablets and “always with you” nature of smartphones make them quick and easy to pick up for a spontaneous search. During the debate we saw enormous spikes in mobile queries immediately after panelist questions or statements from the candidates. For example, within one minute of Mary Fallano’s question to Romney about his tax plan, tax-related mobile searches increased by over 500%. This is true not just while watching the debates, but also throughout the day as people use their smartphones while talking about politics with friends, listening to the news, or even after coming across an offline ad.
Four screens to victory
As we enter the final weeks of the presidential election, digital devices will be key to helping voters decide which candidate is right for them. It’s a well-known fact that one of the keys to a successful candidacy is controlling the message. What’s clear in today’s multi-screen world, is that controlling the message on any issue requires that a candidate have a strategy to engage with voters across all
four screens
.
All Politics is Local: Introducing Congressional District Targeting for Google AdWords
Friday, August 3, 2012
Cross-posted
on the
Inside AdWords Blog
In his
autobiography
, Former House Speaker Tip O’Neill famously said “All politics is local”. With all 435 seats up for election in
brand new Congressional Districts this November
, that adage rings even more true for House candidates running this fall. Through the redistricting process that takes place every 10 years, every district takes on a new shape - with new voters. This makes reaching the right voters with the right message even tougher.
Starting today, in addition to
targeting specific zip codes
, we’re enabling an even more useful solution that allows political campaigns to reach voters within a specific Congressional District.
Say you are running for Congress in the 6th District of Maryland - which features a highly publicized race between Ten-term incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett and Montgomery County businessman John Delaney. The 6th is located in western Maryland, and has been a longtime GOP stronghold, but was drastically reshaped by redistricting which has made it more competitive.
Barlett and Delaney’s campaigns are waging a battle in the oddly shaped district that has voters in many zip codes, towns and communities looks like this:
(This map embedded above is courtesy of
data from Azavea
)
As campaigns know, reaching these households in an effective manner with traditional means takes time and - importantly - valuable resources. This district is a great example - it includes voters who live in the Washington D.C. media market. But, as you can see from the map, buying TV ads in DC won’t reach your voters in the 6th District.
Now, with congressional district targeting in AdWords, campaigns can quickly and easily target their search, display, mobile and video ads *solely* within that particular district’s border. You can start by heading into AdWords and selecting your District number from the location menu populated with
district information in simple Google Maps format, prepared by Azavea
. Build your ad and you’re on your way.
We’ve built a sizeable team that is working around the clock to help all candidates get the most from their online advertising efforts. Congressional District Targeting in AdWords is just one more way that we’re working hard to deliver better ads for users and voters and better tools for political campaigns.
By working
across all four screens
, digital ads are highly accountable, precise, and continually evolving. Google’s complete solution helps thousands of political campaigns in all shapes and sizes make the web work for them. Our products are designed to work together, enabling campaigns do more with less online. Head over to the
Four Screens to Victory site
to learn more about how your campaign can win the moments that matter.
Posted by: Charles Scrase, Google Politics & Elections Team
How November Will Be Won: By the Numbers
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Earlier this year, we introduced “
Four Screens to Victory
”, a framework for political campaigns that outlined how Google can help make the web work for candidates and issues groups up and down the ballot. With these digital platforms, campaigns can build their organizations, define the issues, persuade the electorate and - importantly - get the vote out and win the moment that matters in November on Election Day.
Access to political information no longer comes from one place - or one screen. In just the four years since the last presidential election, the continued growth of the web and the proliferation of mobile devices has radically transformed when, where, and how voters access political information.
The numbers are in, and savvy political campaigns need to take notice. The rules of reaching voters have changed and new approaches are warranted because:
More than 80% of eligible voters are online
Similarly, 83% of mobile phone owners are registered voters
1 out of every 3 likely voters in November say that they didn’t watch tv in the past week
Voters are spending more media time on their mobile devices than newspapers & magazines combined
(Click the infographic below to get a larger version)
If you’re as inspired as we are by some of the data and the implications on your own political campaign, check out the
“Four Screens to Victory” site
to spark some ideas of your own and see how you can make the web work for your campaign.
Posted by: David Kaufman, Google Politics & Elections Team
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