Though formally limited to presidential races because of expensive data aggregation, Alex Lundry, CAO, Deep Root Analytics believes we're moving toward a point where targeting techniques will become affordable and commonplace among the various political campaigns.

With 2016 already forecasted as a pivotal year for digital, Steffi Decker, Partner, Chong + Koster believes that the lines between screens - TV, computer, and mobile - will begin to blur. The focus will shift towards the user and his/her's technological fluidity.

With make-goods being an unavailable "plan-B" in political media-buying, Christina Beaumier, SVP, Xaxis Media suggested that marketers need to take precaution through being realistic about what they can and cannot do.

"We have to be very protective of our subscribers" said Fariba Zamaniyan, SVP, TiVO Research at our Marketing: Politics Conference. She warned that if the information and P.I.I. used for targeting is every released, it would be a mistake from which no company can recover.

At our Marketing Politics Conference, Cooper Reves, Digital Director, America Rising PAC recounted a time when he was able to supplement a campaign’s intent based on data with analytics to better define and reach their target audience.  Listen to more anecdotes and strategies at our Marketing: Politics event site. 

Looking into the future, Tim Lin, Partner, Bully Pulpit, foresees innovative campaigns molding their strategies around clever combinations of target mediums to better leverage emerging technologies and broaden reach.

Lobbying is dying a slow, painful death. The capricious political environment we've witnessed over the past decade has ushered in new generations of political leaders - and lobbyists have not developed long-term relationships with them. Federal reforms, evaporating earmarks and junkets that run afoul of the law are also helping this form of persuasion wither away.

While candidates may be hoping that social-media followers translate to votes, a vibrant social media presence won't be enough to sway millennials this time around. For the 2016 elections, shrewd candidates will turn to a new configuration of an old formula: personalized, data-driven digital ads.

Elections are not won in Facebook fans (yet). But in 2016, almost every campaign, even on the most local level, will devote some -- or a lot of -- resources to their digital presence, engagement strategies and paid media. Candidates may not literally win online, but their use of digital and social media could tip an election in their favor. What can campaigns do to maximize their digital resources and set themselves up for success?