Most pollsters can provide media consultants and candidates with rich data on which groups to go after with which messages. Understanding the strategic dimension of that data is essential to politically efficient ad placement on broadcast TV, cable TV, radio or in the newspaper.
When it comes time to plan a media buying strategy for your campaign, the choices can be baffling.
Should you rely on the local daily paper? Is it time to jump into the brave new world of Internet advertising? Will an all-out television ad deliver your message? Most importantly, how do you get the most for your money?
Aim for the Audience
Early planning can help you answer some of these questions far down the road, when the election cycle heats up and money gets tight.
Locating your true political audience should be the first step in media buying, said John Stewart, an executive at National Media, Inc., an Alexandria, VA-based GOP media placement firm. Aim for the over-35 age group. People in mid-career, with children and aging parents have the biggest stake in elections and can be reliable voters. Then find the best way to reach those people.
To grab the attention of people already involved in politics, suggests Stewart, buy ads around the local news broadcast, the Sunday morning political talk shows, talk radio and all-news cable channels. These shows come with a built-in, politically-astute audience.
It also helps to buy early for the crowded general election season and then budget accordingly. Having enough money to spend during the week or two just before the election, when even the most sluggish voters have started to pay attention to the race, is an important budget priority that many media consultants advise candidates to do long before the spots actually run.
Also, find out what media markets in your area broadcast to the voters you want to reach. "You can't target an ad if you don't know what stations cover what areas," said Murray Webster, president of CRI Research. Most political pollsters can provide candidates, campaign managers and media consultants with rich data on which groups to go after with which messages. Understanding the strategic dimension of that data is essential to a strong, efficient media buy on broadcast TV, cable TV, radio or in the newspaper.
Great Way
A great way to target your campaign messages can be with ads in your local daily and weekly newspapers, many of which now can target by zip code, said Dean Ridings, manager of the Florida Press Service in Talahasse. If you're aiming for a demographic group or geographic region, without incurring the high costs of full direct mail coverage, newspaper can be one of the most efficient ways to reach your targeted audiences.
Although newspaper ads may not receive the attention from political analysts in major races that TV ads do, they're often the place many people look for news on local races. "The newspaper can also be a place to find great deals when it comes to a political media buy," said Democratic media consultant Bill Fletcher of Fletcher and Rowley.
In recent years, newspapers have made a concerted effort to become more "user friendly" with political campaigns. Toward that end, some now offer deep discounts as well as "one check, one order" space buying services through state press associations. More campaigns are finding that free services offered by press associations are highly valuable to campaigns that are usually short of both money and time.
As a result, newspaper usage in campaigns has been on the rise in recent election cycles. In fact, the recent nationwide survey of state legislative candidates conducted by Campaigns & Elections and the University of Maryland found that 71 percent of state House and Senate candidates buy some newspaper space. Interestingly, more female candidates use newspaper (81 percent) than do male contenders (67 percent), but the rate is high among both. In low-budget campaigns under $50,000, newspaper ads are used in over five times as many campaigns as is broadcast TV time.
"There's a misconception that newspaper ads can be too expensive," Riding said. "We have seen a new responsiveness to political needs."
The newspaper offers a great way to take advantage of voters' Sunday leisure time. Pre-election civic projects and special election-oriented publications also provide good vehicles for campaigns. Newspaper ads are also used extensively to reinforce messages also run on radio, broadcast and cable TV.
Cheap and Fast
Radio provides a fast, inexpensive way to target a narrow audience with air time. News and talk shows on radio attract audiences with high voter turnout propensities, so they become be good venues for targeted campaign messages, says Michael Shannon, a Democratic media consultant. Radio ads, typically, can run 30 to 60 seconds, longer than the average television ad.
To use radio effectively, it's best not to clutter an ad with too much copy or detail, advises Shannon. "Your job is to separate the wheat from the chaff and broadcast the chaff." It's also important to get there first and set the agenda, he added.
What's an appropriate amount of radio advertising? Shannon suggests that eight weeks before the general election, it's best to broadcast at about 150 gross rating points. Four weeks out from the election, the amount of advertising should increase to about 225 points. Then, in the last week or two, the campaign should run a media barrage, advertising at 300 to 350 points per week. "You need tremendous frequency at this point, or you'll be drown out," says Shannon.
But beware - your radio spot copy better entice voters quickly. "You have 2.5 seconds to capture people's attention, or else they're changing the station," said David Heller, a Democratic media consultant at Mainstreet Media. Pop culture references and humor can be effective ways to grab people right away, he counsels. "Use familiar songs or television jingles, and create visual images that give the listener something to imagine."
Covering the Market
Despite the many advantages of both newspaper and radio advertising in politics, television is still the most powerful way to reach the broadest audience. But broadcasting your TV message, especially in smaller races, can prove expensive.
In recent years, pollsters and consultants have advised that campaigns put more "points" behind each TV spot than ever before to make sure your messages are able to break through the clutter of campaign rhetoric and attacks. Many experts say that each ad needs at least 1,000 rating points - to drive the message home.
"The lowest unit rate is your friend," said Republican media consultant John Stewart. Federal regulation allows candidates to buy television time at the lowest unit price. For campaigns on a tight budget, a preemptable rate can be even lower.
Buying under these circumstances means you must follow-up on spot scheduling to make sure you get the time and placement that you want, cautions Stewart. Often the biggest question in television time buying is not whether to buy, but what to buy - broadcast or cable.
Broadcast still has the broadest range, said consultant Fletcher. But cable has become more important in many races, especially in heavily suburban markets where many older viewers have high cable TV viewership.
Cable usually offers local programming on only four to six channels around which spots can be placed. But Fletcher notes that a new cable trend could prove to be a boon to political advertising - targeted commercials. In some markets, cable companies are experimenting with selling more commercial time slots to local programmers.
Worldwide Wonder
With the Internet craze hot and heavy, campaigns are moving rapidly into the Web site building business. But if you don't build the right kind of site, and don't integrate it with the other components of your campaigns's media mix and message, the Internet may not prove to be very effective. It can even prove wasteful, despite its relatively low cost.
But if you do it right, and innovatively exploit online communications for its many strengths, a Web site can be a good investment. More and more people turn to the Web for information, and those people tend to be those you want to get "mind space" with, said Fletcher.
Advertising on the Web is now being tested in some campaigns. It may ultimately offer new opportunities for campaigns that want inexpensive channels to reach targeted voters.
Put It All Together
The best way to use your advertising budget is to build a strategy that will ensure as many people as possible will see your information.
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