From the Digital C-Suite

I recently spoke to the NY Times about how political candidates can use targeted online display advertising to precisely reach their audiences—in this case, voters. While the article focuses on how geo-targeting, online behavioral targeting, and even voting records are being used to determine how many of today’s political ads are being targeted, one of the biggest opportunities lies within the ability to target voters not just as residents of a specific state or by which websites they tend to visit, but who they are as business professionals. For example, as we’ve all heard, small businesses are creating the jobs of the future; does someone from a small business tend to vote or donate differently than someone from a larger company? And how much of an impact do politicians really have in terms of influencing voters with their online ads?

In collaboration with online brand advertising company Vizu, we conducted a study in November 2011 on the political affiliations and donation intentions of business executives. Here are some of the key results of the study:

·       More than 36 percent of business executives do not affiliate themselves with Republicans or Democrats

·       With small business executives 20 percent more likely to identify themselves as Independents versus large business executives, it is a large group of voters that can be swayed with the right message

·       Small business executives are 26.6 percent more likely to donate to a political cause than their counterparts at large companies

·       33.8 percent of large company executives claim to be Democrats, while 35.1 percent claim to be Republican

We found these results to be insightful, and as Election 2012 approaches, the data points are becoming more relevant every day. The main takeaways for anyone interested in how online ads can impact political campaigning and voting?  Data and targeting work, and the coveted business executive is still up for grabs!