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Digital Advertising and Winning Elections.

The days of traditional political campaigning are over.  In campaigns past, a little known, poorly funded economics teacher would not have been able to unseat the House Majority Leader in a spring primary.  Especially when the Majority Leader outspent his opponent nearly 40 to 1. I am speaking of David Brat’s defeat of Eric Cantor of course; that race illustrates the change that political operatives and candidates across the nation need to take note.  While Mr. Brat’s campaign did not use El Toro’s technology, we have seen similar results with other campaigns

Between YouTube and banner advertisements, Vine, and email lists, campaigns are scrambling to find new ways to reach voters.  Besides being expensive, traditional TV ads are less effective than they used to be.  The advent of DVR gives viewers the power to fast forward through high-cost television commercials.  Further eroding the effectiveness of TV advertising is the rise in popularity of online streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, which draw voters away from their TVs altogether.

The growing field of digital advertising allows candidates to reach voters through a much more effective medium – their computers and tablets.  The shift from traditional TV and radio has not been swift, however.  Campaigns are expected to spend under 5% of their budget on digital ads this cycle.   At a glance, the data on digital ad effectiveness compared to that of traditional TV supports this small percentage.  When a candidate spends 100 dollars in TV advertising for every 5 dollars they spend on digital ads, it makes sense that the TV push will yield more results.

Here at El Toro we are moving the needle for campaigns despite the disproportionate spending.  During the last cycle, we worked with a political party in the northwest United States on a ballot initiative where our client was outspent 3 to 1. During the course of the El Toro campaign, our client gained 17 points in the polls and defeated the opposing interest by a 60/40 margin. One of our other clients referred to their primary victory as a “miracle”.  Our belief is that increasingly the key metric in political campaigns will be how effectively you spent your money, not how much money you raised.

The versatility of what we offer at El Toro allows candidates and causes to reach the appropriate voters on a granular level that has never been possible before.  Seasoned campaign vets know that the entire electoral process depends on the quality and quantity of times the candidate is able to connect with the voter.  With El Toro, a candidate is able to reach through the computer of a voter and deliver a message tailor made for that particular voter, at a fraction of the cost of television commercials.

El Toro is offering a more effective method of reaching voters at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.  We want to be the driving force behind the next wave of David Brat type campaigns.  While it is late in the 2014 election cycle, there is still time, it does not take long for El Toro to move the needle for a candidate or a cause.  Contact us today to learn how El Toro can help you on November 4th.

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