Political Data

One of the biggest benefits digital advertising can bring to a campaign is data. Unlike TV and mail, you can hone in on your targets, pay attention to metrics mid-campaign and adjust as necessary, and analyze what worked and what didn’t when the campaign is over.

Democratic direct mail targeting used to be seen as a mysterious realm where political consultants pulled voter targets out from behind a magic curtain. With the advent of modern voter file software by folks like Catalist, NGP VAN, Targetsmart, NationBuilder and L2, you can have direct access to the voter data and models you need to make targeting decisions for your campaign. But if this is the first time you are running a campaign or working with voter data, here are some tips for Democratic direct mail targeting, these tips will also be helpful in developing your field and phone program.

Advanced micro targeting can be the advantage you need to win your campaign. Before we get deep into micro targeting voter modeling other advanced targeting, let’s start off by defining targeting so that we are all on the same page. This is a basic rule for all campaigns: candidates, ballot, independent expenditure, etc.

For political organizers, data entry and turf cutting are the two most likely tasks that will be keeping you up late into the night. Unlike cutting turf, which can be strangely comforting, data entry is only really enjoyable when it is complete. So to help out political organizers still in the field we have compiled a short list of tips to make data entry a bit easier.