Rocket Fuel Probes Voters, Finds Digital Influences Swing States

Programmatic audience targeting is not new to the political spectrum. In fact, some might argue that political media campaign strategists have been among the leading innovators and developers of audience targeting and exchange-based marketplaces and some of the best DSPs and DMPs of our time are political specialists. But that didn’t stop one of the industry’s best known generalists -- Rocket Fuel -- from dipping its toes in the political waters, albeit with some interesting new research showing how registered voters in key swing states respond to digital advertising.

The findings, which are based on a survey of 2,832 voters in five so-called swing states (Colorado, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Wisconsin)The thin, is the first in a series of reports Rocket Fuel plans to publish leading up to the 2016 elections, and the highlights indicate that programmatic could be a significant swing factor.

Some of the top lines include:

  • 42% of swing state voters recalled seeing digital political media prior to the 2014 midterm election.

  • After seeing a digital political ad, 47% of voters were compelled to take some form of political action, including 36% who got to the polls to vote.  

  • Contrary to traditional political advertising practices, the study found that 70% of self-identified decided voters said that they committed to a candidate more than one month prior to the election, while 40% of self-identified undecideds had done so in a similar time frame.

  • 26% of registered voters had already cemented their choice of candidate more than three months before Election Day.
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