The New Hampshire primary results reinforced the importance for political marketers and campaigns to be active and engaged on mobile devices.
As far as reaching voters online, mobile does better than desktop, in addition to being the quicker way of connecting with voters.
Mobile strategies will be integral to many campaigns in both parties, particularly in their effort to court the growing share of young and minority voters.
Per an IAB report, previously discussed in Red, White & Blog, 67% of Hispanic voters primarily visit political sites on their mobile devices, as did 60% of African American voters. The same is true of the all-important “influential voter.” Some 61% of these voters actively use mobile devices to educate themselves on political news.
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Marketing Politics Daily spoke with the CEO and co-founder of the mobile technology company Ubimo, Ran Ben-Yair, to discuss the novel opportunities that political marketers have this cycle to reach voters on mobile.
Mobile has the ability to target voters based on a number of accumulated data points, including location, political affiliation, voting record and climate data, among other relevant information.
Of importance to marketers is utilizing “actionable insights,” as Ben-Yair puts it, to quickly respond to the most appropriate strategy at any specific moment or location.
An issue of substance, especially among tech-savvy millennials, is the sense that one’s life is being intruded upon when ads seem to know all about you. Ben-Yair acknowledges the problem, but notes that campaigns can dispel that worry by “being aware of creative and messaging” that will engage users in a less intrusive manner.
Email is also a significant cog in mobile strategy. With incredibly robust email lists, developed over years, candidates need to include varied and engaging emails optimized for a mobile audience. Over 67% of U.S. email opens occur on mobile devices, according to 2015 study by Movable Ink, and clickthroughs are higher than on desktop.
Bernie Sanders’ big success in New Hampshire and large online spending numbers will add additional clout to targeting on mobile devices and increase the ubiquity of programmatic solutions for mobile-first content.