With only seven days until the polls close, most campaigns have already made their final media purchases for this cycle. However, even though campaigns are winding down their paid media purchases, there is still plenty of time for you to run a low-cost, easily changed, personalized paid advertising campaign for whatever swing state or whatever congressional campaign you wish.
It is time to ramp up the Personal Paid Media campaign. Between now and the election, I will personally run at least 15 of these, and probably closer to 30. In the last twenty-four hours alone, I started three new Google Ad campaigns, all targeted at key congressional races. Check them out in the extended entry.
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Here they are:
- Here is my ad on the Georgia Senate campaign, which I started at about 3:00 a.m. eastern last night:
As of 6:00 p.m. eastern today, the ad was viewed by 2,851 Georgians searching for information on Saxby Chambliss online, and 17 clicked through the ad. It has cost me $19.16 so far, though I capped my daily spending on the ad at $20.00. It is running throughout the entire state of Georgia on about 20 keyword searches related to Saxy Chambliss and Imperial Sugar.
- Here is my ad on the Oregon Senate campaign, which I started at about 3:45 a.m. last night:
As of 6:00 p.m. eastern, this ad was viewed by 2,601 Oregonians looking for information about Gordon Smith online, and 7 of them clicked through. It isn't performing as well as the Saxy Chambliss ad, but I still like it because it's funny (or, at least, I think it's funny).
So far, it has cost me $8.91. It is running on twenty keyword searches across the entire state of Oregon. The searches are related to Gordson Smith and recipes.
- Here is an ad on the Washington 8th congressional campaign, which I started at about 5:45 p.m. eastern, today:
In just one hour, this ad was viewed by 190 people, and clicked through twice. The ad is running on fifteen keyword searches for Google and its search partners in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area.
Since September 10th, I have run several, McCain focused ads in this vein in a rotating array of swing states (Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Pennsylvania). All total, my ads have been viewed by 103,111 people using search engines (mainly Google) for information on John McCain or one of these congressional campaigns. A total of 413 people have clicked on the ads, and they have cost me $258.01.
Think about that: over 100,000 voter contacts in key swing states and congressional campaigns for only $258. Given that these ads can be targeted only at people in the swing state or congressional district you are targeting, given that their content can be changed at a moment's notice, given that you can spend whatever amount you like on these ads (high or low), and, most importantly, given that you will only reach people who, at the very moment you reach them, are looking for information on the candidate you are targeting, this is a remarkably good deal.
By far the most common political action Americans engage in online is to search for information about political candidates. Now, as long as you have a Google account and a credit card, you can reach these people with your own personal paid media campaign. It is quick. It is easy. And it can fit any budget.
Here is a quick introduction on how you can get started with this campaign:
Run Your Own Paid Media Campaign (Seriously)
And here is a primer on how to maximize the effectiveness of your campaign:
How To Maximize Your Personal Paid Media Campaign
Now, I personally prefer targeting Republicans with negative messaging, because I don't want to interfere with the positive messages Democrats are trying to get out. Also, I tend to use messages where links to local news organizations and / or non-profits can be incorporated into the ad. As much as I would like to try and reinforce campaign messaging, I don't want to just send the people viewing my ads to Democratic campaign websites. I feel a news organization or non-profit website would be considered more trustworthy by undecided voters.
Of course, these are just my personal preferences, and you can do whatever you want with your ads. This is a great way to make a difference in an election even after all campaigns have finished with their own paid media spots. With some financial assistance form BlogPac, I am going to start running ads for all of the candidates on the Better Democrats page.
So, all of you budding media geniuses out there, let's get to it! I'll report back in every day on how my ads are doing, and also start at least three new ads every day. In the comments, we can compare notes on all of our ads, and work to improve our campaigns. Millions of undecided voters are going to be searching for information on the presidential and congressional elections this weekend. Let's reach them, and make a difference! |
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