Microtargeting: Political Campaigns
We naturally preach to the choir. Whether you are a Democratic or Republican candidate, or affiliated with another party, it's easy to communicate with already like-minded constituents. But as a political candidate, you have other groups of people to which you must direct your message.
There are people who need extra attention to ensure they turn out to vote. Communicating a specific message for a specific audience—known as micro-targeting or message targeting—is smart, effective campaigning:
"Microtargeting has become so widespread that it is now used by all House and Senate candidates, on both sides, in state legislative races and, in some cases, all the way down the ballot to local school board elections . . . . For Democrats, the big awakening came in 2006. On the day before Election Day, Democrats used microtargeting to identify 15,000 Montana voters who had never been contacted by the party but who appeared likely to vote for the party’s Senate candidate that year, Jon Tester. A last-minute get-out-the-vote blitz focused on those voters, and Mr. Tester won by 3,000 votes."
- Leslie Wayne (10/31/2008).New York Times, "Democrats Take Page From Their Rival’s Playbook"
Microtargeting allows you to focus your efforts in a campaign. Take for instance, the capability of using your website to communicate targeted messages to your constituents.
Microtargeting for the Web Audience
Example 1. Go to Sugar and Spice, a website for a fictitious bakery.
The home page is a general page that would appear if the URL is typed in, or if the user uses general search terms to find the bakery.
Depending on the context of the viewer, the home page can change to better match what the user is expecting. The following screens depict not just other pages on the site, but present different home pages altogether to greet viewers according to their search topics.
Change #1 (click Home page after .EDU domain, in the upper navigation): Users who come from a university fundraising page see a different home page with a message about how Sugar and Spice can help with fundraising efforts.
Change #2 (click Home page after key word search ‘catering' in the upper navigation): Users who google "catering" see another home page with a message targeted to them about how Sugar and Spice can make their event memorable.
The capability for a message custom-tailored for each user is not limited to the homepage. It's available to every page on the website. This capability could be used by political candidates.
For example, if CNN runs a story on you, you can tailor an article in response that will be seen by people who come to your site from the CNN story. A different response can be implemented for other audiences, for example, those who find your site after a Google search on your platform.
Opportunities for Message Targeting
Here are some examples of microtargeting opportunities where custom-tailored messaging can be highly effective.
Opportunity 1. On 3/5/2010, the Plano Blog in Dallas Morning News talked about the endorsements of local candidates and included links to their websites.
Using microtargeting, you can tailor your message to those users who clicked on your link. When they arrive on your Web site, you can showcase the endorsement that was mentioned in the post and highlight other endorsements you received.
Opportunity 2. Further down on same the Dallas Morning News page, you can find people that commented on that blog post.
You can post a quick comment to the blog post or to a user response and include a link to your website. When users click on that link, you can emphasize the relevant and appropriate messaging on your site, whether it is to clarify or support your position.
A Missed Opportunity for Microtargeting: Rand Paul and the Civil Rights Act, a Case Study
On May 25, Rand Paul, a Republican Party nominee for one of Kentucky's United States Senate seats, was getting bashed in the media for his comments on the Civil Rights Act.
Screenshot 1. Searches on "Rand Paul" shot up at the start of the controversy.
You can see that "civil rights act" is of high interest as it became one of the top suggestions in Google in connection with Rand Paul.
Screenshot 2. Results from search on "rand paul civil rights act."
Paul's response comes up eighth on the search results shown in Screenshot 2. Considering the spotlight on this issue, here was an opportunity for the targeted message to be shown at the top of the list.
Screenshot 3. Rand Paul's Civil Rights Act response page.
When you do examine the article from the search results in Screenshot 2, it leads to Rand Paul's response from his blog page:
Screenshot 4. Rand Paul's home page appeared to downplay the issue, despite a pressing need for a response:
Rand Paul's home page throughout the controversy changed very little. You could argue that displaying the amount of funds donated to date may have been perceived as distasteful during this time.
Rand Paul's Response and How it Fell Short
Rand Paul did write a response and make it available online; however, there was a missed opportunity for him to get the message to people at the peak of the search. Consider this:
- The title of the blog shown in Screenshot 3 is "Rand Paul Sets the Record Straight." Having this title does not improve search results on this issue, because the predominant search terms include "Civil Rights Act." The title and a main heading within the blog should have contained "Civil Rights Act."
- If you had visited his homepage directly (Screenshot 4) on May 25, 2010, the response was not readily available. In order to see it, you would have had to scroll down and scan for this blog (that did not show "Civil Rights Act" as part of its title, on the left. This could give the impression that the information was not important to him, or relegated to the side in an effort to "move on."
- Traffic to Paul's site likely spiked at the beginning of the media attention, giving him an opportunity to address a large audience. It's likely that many visitors left the site after not readily seeing the response. Imagine the impact had Paul's response been given a featured area that was hard to miss.
How Microtargeting Could Have Clarified Rand Paul's Message
Many of the news articles about Rand Paul's comments on the Civil Rights Act include links to his website. By setting up a microtargeted response, a visitor who arrives at Paul's site from such an article would see a home page that directly addresses the issue, instead of a home page that touts how much money his campaign has raised. This can give Paul's campaign a way to clarify his message and reaffirm or convert support from his constituents.
Microtargeting Could Have Clarified Other Candidates' Incidents
As you pay attention to the ongoing campaigns, you'll notice other incidents where a swift microtargeting strategy could have enhanced a candidate's response to a controversial situation. For example:
- Meg Whitman and the Shove
- It was reported that Meg Whitman, nominee for California governor, physically shoved an employee.
- Carly Fiorina and the "Hair" Comment
- Carly Fiorina was recorded allegedly mocking an opponent's hairstyle just hours after becoming a nominee for California senator.
- Joe Barton's "Shakedown"
- Joe Barton apologized to British Petroleum for the $20 billion escrow fund the company was pressed to create by President Obama.
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