• by Ben Frederick , Staff Writer @mp_benfred, January 7, 2016

Say what you want about presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, the man’s got millennials hyped about voting.

And if there’s one thing that advertisers love, it’s millennials. And if there’s one thing millennials love, it’s their phones. And though unfortunately they aren’t as likely to vote now, millennials will be the next generation of voters. And if there’s one thing that politicians love, it’s votes, because votes give them access to power. And if politicians want to reach millennials with political ads, then it will probably be through their phones.

At least, I’m pretty sure that’s how it all works.

As the 2016 presidential nominee battle/campaign finally gets to flex its muscles because it’s actually 2016 now, some politicians are starting to experiment with geo-targeted mobile political ads in caucus and primary states. This year will most likely see political marketers dipping their toes in the ever-deepening waters of mobile advertising. But that’s only a taste of things to come.

Early in December, Interpublic's Magna Global, Publicis' ZenithOptimedia and WPP's Group M all released forecasts predicting that digital media would surpass TV advertising spend by 2018 at the latest (Magna Global thinks it could happen by this year).

It’s not far-fetched to expect this shift will deeply affect political campaigns.

With cord-cutting on the rise as well, all signs point to TV losing its dominance as a medium. But political ads bring in especially high revenues for local broadcasters. During the 2012 election, local stations brought in almost $3 billion in political ad revenue.

A report from the Associated Press highlighted the efforts of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) to keep hold of ad dollars shifting from TV into digital and mobile. TVB is running a PR campaign called “We get voters” as well as sponsoring events and meeting with high-powered lobbying groups in DC.

It’s hard to say whether these efforts will pay off. TV is inherently better at providing reach to ad campaigns, but mobile devices are becoming the primary device for average Joes. And as attribution becomes more accurate, advertisers will be able to single out those likely to vote and target them.

It will be interesting to watch how these developments affect local politics as well. For now though, grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.