In 2016, $6.5 billion was spent on the presidential and congressional elections combined. Even more staggering, congressional races alone accounted for $4 billion, compared to $3.8 billion in 2014 and under $3.7 billion in 2012. With political spending predicted to approach $10 billion in 2020, it’s clear that political advertisers will have their hands full over the coming months!

Political campaigns have focused budgets on TV, digital and radio in recent years; however, with people spending more time than ever before outside the home and on the go, it’s increasingly important to extend their reach beyond these traditional channels. Enter: digital out-of-home.

Why You Should Cast Your Vote For DOOH

Digital out-of-home offers politicos an effective and proven way to engage their constituents, in the real world. To reach voters, DOOH provides advanced data solutions based on demographics, zip codes and behavioral traits – all of which are critical components of building a comprehensive political audience strategy. Additionally, the ability to react to breaking news or opponents’ ads, and to have mass reach in markets that tend to have high costs or low availability, make DOOH the perfect candidate for your political campaigns!

To help political planners gain the support they need in the places they need it most, we’ve assembled a list of the best ways you can leverage DOOH to drive campaign success.

How to attract voters for a local election

When you need your ads to be in front of voters at the local level, DOOH allows you to target by location.

Use congressional district, DMA, zip code, or proximity to certain POIs, like polling centers and universities as your geographic parameter, activating when and where your candidate needs to make the biggest impact.

DOOH gives campaigners the flexibility to activate with the precision of a grassroots initiative, but the strategic planning you’d see at a national level. Whether you are seeking to gain support from a specific neighborhood, or want to bolster the strength of a specific voting block, DOOH allows you to tailor your audience accordingly.

How to use DOOH in a nationwide campaign for a specific political party

Employ a third-party data strategy to reach voters based on party affiliation or voting history.

Through Vistar Media’s partnerships with the leading data providers, including 123Push, Acxiom, Claritas, Epsilon, Factual and Infogroup, you can leverage a range of audience segments. These include:

• Registered Democrats or Republicans
• Active Political Cause Donors (Conservative or Liberal)
• Green Party Affiliates
• Tea Party Affiliates
• Libertarian Party Affiliates
• Independent Voters
• Swing Voters (Highly Likely or Unlikely)
• Always / Never Votes in Local, Statewide or Presidential Elections

When it comes to your campaign dollars, you don’t have to play a guessing game – you have the ability to activate against these audiences and drive voters to the polls.

How to engage voters on a particular key issue

As an interest group, your political ads are targeting what can seem like a nebulous group, but what people do in the physical world says a lot about who we are and the things we care about.

Vistar can work with you to define a custom audience to reach exactly the voters you need based on movement trends. Examples of these audiences include:

• Frequent Churchgoers
• Event/Festival Attendees
• Frequents LGBTQ-Friendly Businesses
• Baby Boomers
• Millennials
• Parents
• Hispanic Moms

To reach these communities before election day, DOOH allows you to make a splash across a variety of digital screens with these places in mind.

Want to learn more about planning your political campaign?