DING DING DING! Welcome back to the Main Event: Social political targeting. Last week, we uncovered how to reach politics and politicians with Facebook Targeting. In Round Two, we dive into Twitter psychographics to reach the political targeting ring, from the fans in the stands to third-party political targeting to politically curated lists. Political Behavior […]

DING DING DING! Welcome back to the Main Event: Social political targeting. Last week, we uncovered how to reach politics and politicians with Facebook Targeting. In Round Two, we dive into Twitter psychographics to reach the political targeting ring, from the fans in the stands to third-party political targeting to politically curated lists.

Political Behavior & Exclusion: Simple, Yet Powerful One-Two Punch

Easily target everyone interested in the Main Event (politics), from the crowd to the corner and locker room to the center ring (regardless of whether they lean right, left, or Independent), with Behavior (third-party) targeting like a champ. Don’t overlook the (seriously awesome) Worked for a political party behavior. Whether one’s official political passion is current or something that existed in the past, they’re likely to still have some political ties.

In the shoes of a political advertising agency on behalf of a candidate, and looking to spread the message amongst some of our nation’s finest? A little fancy footwork with Twitter third-party targeting also accesses households with US veterans via demographics > presence in household.

Perhaps your political ad agency is (smartly) aiming for the contentious Hispanic vote. Reach these audiences with especial tailored messaging.

The power behind this basic 1-2-3-2 punch comes from combining Behavior targeting with Behavior exclusions — one of the only ways to implement the “and” operator to focus targeting in Twitter. A well-funded following can make or break a campaign. Therefore, as we target our audiences, from vets to Hispanic households, we zero in on households with more substantial incomes by excluding behaviors of moderate- to low-income psychographics.

Switch your stance from Orthodox to a Southpaw (flip the targeting around) to find potential donors who lean either right or left. No matter which way they lean, your arsenal of combinations will have them pinned in the corner.

Come Out Swinging During The LIVE Events: Debates And Rallies

Of course, one of the best times to reach people is during the heat of the moment. Reaching people who are inspired by something that’s actively happening requires marketers to be nimble and balanced. Three boxing foundational skills mimic real-time Twitter targeting: Get on your toes with in-the-moment keyword targeting, keep your spine straight with TV targeting, and maintain a strong core with event targeting.

GLOVES UP!

While keywords can vary by the minute, social marketers can start with:

• official campaign hashtags/slogans.
• candidates and high-stakes players’ names and Twitter handles at broad match.
• day-of rally event hashtags.
• talking heads’ names and Twitter handles.
• voter tweet-jargon: “I’d vote for,” “my vote,” “next president,” “commander in chief,” “lead the US,” etc.

But don’t forget, keep your spine straight and target the live debates with Twitter TV targeting:

And nail ‘em with a brick while they’re catching up daily:

Keep your core targeting strong by reaching users via Twitter’s event targeting with a simple search or browse:

Politics PRECISION With Straight Right Custom Audiences

The power of Twitter lists lives on with custom audiences because Twitter recently rolled out Twitter usernames as a custom list audience. Building out an audience of a few thousand handles is an easy internet research project any intern could handle and should include:

• candidates.
• handles of politicians (e.g., congressmen and women, governors, attorney generals).
• their staff, PACs and SuperPACs.
• any fan/spoof accounts are fair game and awesome targets for RTs.
• public figures who are politically plugged-in.
• the media (we’re talkin’ editors, writers, reporters and talking heads).

Pro Tip: When you conduct this research, take the time to categorize (one column for Republicans, one for Democrats) for extra audience flexibility.

The cost? A couple of hours of the intern’s time. Or you could use this tool.

There’s great debate as to which tactic packs the deadliest punch. Most will say it’s the broad targeting left hook, as it’s harder to see coming than the straight punch with the lead hand closest to the target (custom lists). But truly, marketers, your success comes from the right audiences and content in the ring.