• by Mark Davenport , Op-Ed Contributor, July 5, 2016

This 2016 presidential election has been anything but “business as usual.” Unexpected candidates, combined with unconventional stances and opinions, plus heightened media coverage have defined the bizarre campaign trail thus far. But most of America’s wide eyes are looking at the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.

As Trump enters the ring and waits for his opponent, many Americans are scrambling to brush up on his stance. Heads are spinning with the endless stream of news stories and media coverage picking apart all of “The Donald’s” comments, regardless of where they fall on the outlandish spectrum.

What started as a controversial campaign built on ideologies that harped on the grievances shared by many American people has increasingly gained momentum, signifying that his message is resonating with a large portion of the population. But what are the repercussion of these ideals? How does his message go into action?

This is a frequent narrative in American politics, and something that programmatic advertising can help course-correct. The core message of candidates is often lost in the noise of the social media echo chamber, the voices of those closest to each candidate and those expertly ingrained in the campaign trail drowned out by reactionary and uninformed static.

It is in each candidate’s best interest to combat the misinformation, and present policy in a clear and coherent way. Clarifying the complicated voter landscape is tough to do in any campaign, let alone in one as intricate as 2016. With so many misrepresented facts, how do you make sure a confused voter finds the information they’re looking for?

The more complex the issue, the tougher it is to fight the spread of misinformation about policy initiatives. It’s always been this way, but the audience insights gleaned from data management platforms make programmatic ads an effective way to combat the confusion.

Knowing more about your audience can give you more power to identify the pain points a single voter is experiencing. If a voter’s cookie profile shows they are a frequent visitor to right-leaning publications known for perpetuating the “building of a border wall” rumor, you can deliver an advertisement to that person that shows why you think the rumor is baseless.

Perhaps more importantly, audience insights empower advertisers to proactively seek out stakeholders in policy decisions and offer them important information and calls to support legislation. You can deliver a very different message to a voter who is likely in favor of a policy than to someone who is likely against it.

The road ahead
Between social media and partisan publications, today’s Internet is an echo chamber for the individual voter. What we can now determine about our audiences gives us the power to break up the repetition by introducing new ideas and help swing voters. This is a huge opportunity to disrupt partisan groupthink and actively engage people on issues that are important to them.

The 2016 election will be a strong road map for how businesses and advocacy groups use programmatic advertising to sway voters. Audience insights are advanced enough that policymakers and influencers should start shifting ad dollars away from big TV ad blasts to targeted, measurable digital channels. Though it’ll take some time, this year is likely a turning point, with promising opportunities ahead.