RepublicanAds.com is an award-winning, easy-to-use digital advertising platform that helps Republican candidates run effective digital ad campaigns. Whether you're targeting specific voter groups or uploading a custom list, this guide will provide you with the best practices for booking a political digital campaign on RepublicanAds.com. We'll cover budget considerations, campaign strategy and tactics, and what makes creative ads effective.
How to Create an Effective Budget
It’s hard to establish a budget without knowing what makes a digital campaign effective. That’s where we come in. To ensure that your key voters remember your name at the polls, (1) aim for an average ad frequency of 7 ads per voter per day and (2) limit your targeting to key audiences to save on ad spend.
More Ads = More Votes
Generally, the higher the frequency, the better the recall. This applies in politics too! It’s hard to remember every yard sign and billboard you pass on the way to work, school, or church - but it’s easy to remember the ones you see the most. The more times voters see your ad online, whether it’s a banner ad or video, the more likely they’ll be to remember your name at the polls. Our frequency metric estimates the number of times your targeted audience will see your ad during your advertising campaign.
You can’t always be everywhere your voters are, but your ads can.
Your Audience Matters
Target only the audience you need to reach for a winning campaign. Decide who your most important audience is: likely voters, swing voters, a custom subset, or those focused on Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts. You know your voters and which ones will clinch the election for you - maximize your budget by reaching the voters that will help you win.
Our platform already has voterfile-matched audiences custom-built for every district, county, zip code, and state in the United States. We’re confident that we have an audience for your race, but if you want to use your own data, we can match your custom list in less than 48 hours for no additional fee.
Our FREE Budgeting Tool
Use our FREE media planning tool to see how effective your campaign can be based on different budgets, audiences, and dates.
Getting Started:
Create a FREE Account
Create a Campaign
Follow the prompts and choose your variables for geographic location, dates, audience, and creative type.
The media planner will update automatically as you progress through the steps
Adjust your budget for your target effectiveness on the "checkout" page.
Remember:
Aim for an average daily frequency of 7 ads per voter for maximum effectiveness
Only selecting key audiences will keep your budget down
Need help? Reach out to support@republicanads.com.
How to Have a Winning Political Digital Strategy
Developing an effective digital strategy is easy with this simple adage: start early and often. It’s easy to get caught up in different variables and metrics, but keep it simple with this adage.
Start Early
Begin your digital campaign early to establish name recognition. The more time campaigns have to run, the more effective they are at understanding where your voters are online and serving ads in the most persuasive placements on each website.
Ideally, campaigns should start running digital as soon as they announce. This gives your campaign enough time to resonate with your voters. However, digital campaigns can be effective right down to the wire. For campaigns with a tighter timeline, RepublicanAds.com has custom solutions ready for you
GOTV
Reach early voters before early voting starts. RepublicanAds.com adjusts its targeting to focus on early vote audiences, ensuring you reach the right people at the right time. Complement your existing GOTV efforts with digital. We’ve seen campaigns win with our pre-built GOTV and Early Vote audiences and are confident that we have a targeting strategy that works with your timeline.
And Often
Make sure that your campaigns have an average daily frequency of 7+ per person to ensure maximum name recall at the voting booth. Sometimes that can mean running a shorter campaign. In that case, we suggest building a timeline around the campaign frequency. Previous campaigns have used digital ad campaigns to complement door-knocking efforts, a major debate, or GOTV outreach.
How to Design Effective Digital Ads
Figuring out how to design effective digital ads can be daunting. Remember, banner (display) ads are small. We all have a natural tendency to want to include our entire campaign website in one small 300 x 250px box, but don’t. It’s too much!
Keep It Simple
Make sure your ads are clear, concise, and easy to read. People only look at ads for a few seconds, and ALL the information you want to convey needs to be easily understood within that window.
Messaging
Focus on ONE message per ad. Your campaign slogan works well here. Or, if you’re targeting an audience that votes on a specific issue, tailor the message to that issue. For example, if your key voters really care about healthcare, include a message highlighting your view on a proposed healthcare initiative rather than just a campaign slogan.
Name ID
Name recognition is critical. Prominently display your name and logo in your ads.
But What About Video? Or Banner?
Display (banner) ads are a cost-efficient way to engage voters, while video ads are highly effective and engaging. We’ve seen campaigns win that just use banner ads, video, or a mix of both. What matters is using high-quality creative (if your Grandmother can’t read the ad, maybe change the creative direction), in a way that resonates with your voters.
The RepublicanAds.com platform accepts the most widely used banner sizes and ensures your video content can be served on premium streaming platforms. For more questions about display and video file requirements and standards, please visit here for display ads and here for video ads.
It’s the Law: Always Have a Disclaimer
Include a legible "paid for by" disclaimer on every ad (display and video). Video ads must have a disclaimer legible for at least 4 seconds. Keep in mind that display ads are pretty small, so super tiny font sizes might not work. Check the creative! If you can’t read it, then you probably need a larger disclaimer.
By following these best practices, you can easily book a successful campaign on RepublicanAds.com. Reach your target audience, optimize your budget, and create engaging ads that resonate with voters.
Want to use this award-winning technology in your campaign? It’s free to get started!
Create a FREE account below.
Still have questions? Drop us a line!