A new era of advertising is upon us and offers capabilities Don Draper and the rest of the Mad Men could only have dreamed of.
While online advertisers have been using tracking pixels – commonly known as cookies – for years, the advent of social and mobile data has unlocked a whole new world for marketers. For political campaigns, this means targeting the right voter with the right message at the right time in the right place.
Digital strategists have been touting Big Data for campaigns since 2010, but the 2012 election represents the first time this new technology is being used aggressively by campaigns to win votes. As the Atlantic reports, both the Obama and Romney campaigns are using this data to line up votes before Election Day.
Big Data has given us insights into the cultural differences between Republicans and Democrats. For example, Cracker Barrel diners are more likely to be Republicans who turnout to vote in higher than average numbers and Democrats who rarely vote tend to prefer drinking 7Up more than the average American.
These are just two examples of the thousands of data points marketers anonymously collect from Americans every day that, when combined, provide an incredibly accurate picture of our lifestyle, shopping habits and political preferences.
When social networking data is added to the mix, the picture gets even clearer. Take a look for yourself with the Wisdom App on Facebook, which shows that people who like Mitt Romney are also fans of most Fox News shows as well as Mormon programming. Barack Obama’s supporters, on the other hand, are fans of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.
With this information, political advertisers on both sides of the aisle can make sure that the 7Up Democrat sees “get out the vote” (GOTV) messaging and the Cracker Barrel Republican learns about Romney’s stance on key social issues.
This highly accurate behavioral targeting can backfire, as in the case of one teenage Target customer whose parents found out she was pregnant when the retailer started sending her coupons for baby supplies after analyzing her search habits based on their “pregnancy prediction” score.
And despite the benefits of well-targeted ads, a recent survey found that 87% of Americans preferred not to be tracked by websites. While advertisers and retailers are responsible for being transparent about the data they collect, Americans should always keep this advertising pro saying in mind – especially when they walk into the voting booth:
“If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold.”
