Digital Politics With Karen Jagoda

Steve Alembik, Founder of SMA Communications, has extensive experience in mining voter data to derive predictive models for persuasion, fundraising, and voter turnout. Steve is an experienced data scientist who reflects on Florida politics, voter touchpoints for political and PAC campaigns, and following the money. We talk about: The staying power of incumbents and the limited number of competitive races Variety of modeling techniques and the issues that are probed in voter polls and surveys The explosion of data that is available about voters Driving interest in voting Surprises seen in close races in the 2022 Midterms Predicting the behavior of swing voters and ballot splitters @SMAComm #PoliticalAds #VoterModeling #Voters #Fundraising #PersuadingVoters #GOTV #YoungVoters SMAComm.com

Sean Duggan, VP of Advertising, SXM Media, talks about surprises and ongoing trends in the use of audio ads for political and advocacy campaigns. Decisions for media buys were delayed this year which meant that inventory was scarce, and campaigns found themselves making hasty decisions. The 2022 election cycle demonstrated that the audio audience could effectively be persuaded with compelling messages that leveraged geotargeting. This was particularly true in the most competitive congressional races.  We talk about: Impact of audio ads in the last few weeks of the midterm campaigns Campaigns that deployed GOTV takeovers of premium inventory in the hottest contested races meant a dominant share of voice Frequency and targeting best practices First election cycle with political ads on podcasts targeted at a state level The life cycle of the ads for ballot initiatives New and old mistakes that campaigns made in 2022 media buys Predictions for 2023 and 2024 advertising strategies @SXMmediaGroup #VoterPersuasion

Ben Katz is the Chief Architect at ISPolitical and a pioneer in using the internet and technology to solve challenges for political and advocacy campaigns. Working with hundreds of campaigns in 2022, Ben has seen some significant changes in this cycle and makes the point that all politics is not local anymore. With an emphasis on the accounting side, Ben points out the increasing difficulty of reporting contributions to federal and state authorities and the value of technology to scale operations to keep costs down so that donations are not eaten up by overhead. We talk about: The increasing number of down-ballot races reaching out to raise money from a national audience, not just local voters Fundraising slates Celebrity status driving donations doesn't determine a winning campaign The reporting requirements for campaign contributions Value and costs of pursuing small-dollar donors 2024 races began the first week in November, even before the midterm election New challenges for future campaigns to cut throug

Henk Rogers is the Founder of the Blue Planet Alliance, an organization advocating for islands and countries around the world to legislatively mandate a commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2045. BPA is shining a light on how the use of fossil fuels particularly impacts island nations stressed by global inflation and limited resources. With a history as a computer game developer and publisher, Henk is looking for new and better ways to fight the good fight. We talk about: The fossil fuel challenge and what it takes to get commitment to zero emissions  Building alliances with stakeholders in local, national, and global communities to reach net zero Case study of success in Hawaii and replicating the model with large ocean states Unique challenges of providing energy on islands and finding alternative sources of renewable energy Role of consumers in advocating for environmental change #BluePlanetAlliance #ZeroEmmissions #RenewableEnergy #NetZero #ClimateChange #LargeOceanStates #Hawaii BluePlanetAlliance.or

David Fenton is the Founder of Fenton Communications, the first public relations firm dedicated to progressive social change. David has written a new book, The Activist's Media Handbook: Lessons From Fifty Years as a Progressive Agitator, based on his extensive experience working with politicians and celebrities. While the channels and styles for communicating political and advocacy messages are changing, the basic principles of communication remain the same. The way the brain processes words and images does not change though there are critical differences in how different individuals perceive a message. Currently, David is focusing his efforts on the climate movement and taking advantage of the web to drive action. We talk about: The underground anti-war protests in the '60s Keys to mobilizing the public to support a cause The differences between crafting a message for Republican and Democratic voters The problem with "Woke" language Biggest campaign surprises and most inspiring and challenging clients Limi

Scott Goodstein is the CEO and Founder of Catalyst Campaigns and is active in the war against spam. He sets the stage with a description of the early days of mass text messaging by the Obama campaign in 2008. We talk about: Voter lists and targeting political text message spam Impact of texting moving from opt-in to spam Use of text messaging for consumer products versus use for political fundraising and persuasion Weaponizing peer-to-peer texting for political disinformation and fraudulent fundraising Changes in the rules surrounding political texting and inadequacies of 10DLC Role of the FCC in defining and determining legal use of political campaign texting Need for a DoNotText List with teeth @CatalystCmpgns #10DLC #Peer2PeerTexting #P2PTexting #Fundraising #PoliticalDisinformation #Spam CatalystCampaigns.com Background on this issue:   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/03/us/politics/senate-republican-committee-funds.html   https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/disinformation-text-message-problem

Sally Lehrman is a journalist and Founder and CEO of The Trust Project, a global consortium of news organizations responding to the misinformation crisis.  With support from Microsoft and other partners, The Trust Project has launched the National News Literacy campaign to address the need to rebuild voters' trust in journalists and highlight sources of misleading and disinformation. We talk about Eight Trust Indicators to evaluate sources of information and opinions Assessing news sites and journalistic value of information Need for transparency to help differentiate between real news and click-bait The believability of news from real journalists, hyperpartisan news sources, and the impact of confusing posts on social media sites Educating the public about their ability to share accurate information and avoid misinformation The Anxious Middle of news consumers @_TrustProject #TheTrustProject #Misinformation #Journalists #Journalism TheTrustProject.org    

Thomas Peters is the Founder and CEO of RumbleUp and has been in the peer-to-peer texting space for many cycles. Working with all the Republican committees, RumbleUp is offering a self-service texting program and turn-key solution that can be used to build a relationship with voters and be quickly deployed for rapid response.  Now that social media companies have stricter rules about political ad campaigns, Thomas emphasizes the value of the phone carriers' campaign registration requirements to insure more reliable delivery of messages. We talk about: How COVID stimulated the growth of political campaign interest in P2P texting  Cost-effectiveness of using P2P for voter contact compared to traditional outreach Value of targeted P2P text campaigns for down-ballot races Best uses of enhanced video texting and value of EVT for extending the value of ads created for linear tv Challenge of cleaning up voter contact lists due to redistricting and wrong information Best practices for creating and sending P2P texts

Scott Minkoff is an Associate Professor of Political Science at SUNY New Paltz and a co-author of Politics on Display: Yard Signs and the Politicization of Social Spaces. Taking a step back from focusing on virtual social interaction, Scott recognizes the impact of out-of-home campaign messaging, particularly yard signs for persuasion and increasing voter turnout. We talk about: Who puts out a yard sign, and what message does a campaign yard sign communicate Most effective use of campaign yard signs How down-ballot political campaigns can benefit from using yard signs The past and future of campaign yard signs How yard sign research is conducted #ScottMinkoff #PoliticalCampaigns #PoliticalAdvertising #YardSigns #OOHAdvertising #VoterPersuasion #GOTV scottminkoff.com

Richard Greene, The Civics Dean, political strategist, and author of WTF are the Midterms, is driven to engage low-propensity voters by putting more specific names on the Midterm elections by focusing on what issues voters are most concerned about. Richard makes an argument that more civics education is needed to drive understanding of issues, how Congress works, and why registering and voting matters. We talk about: The voices of women and the fight for reproductive rights Fundraising messaging and missed opportunities The basic math for the Democrats to keep the House and Senate Value of trusted celebrity influencers to get the attention of unlikely voters Using social media to reach voters with meaningful stories and reasons to vote @TheCivicsDean #Fundraising #GOTV #Midterms #2022Midterm #Instagram #SocialInfluencers Richard@WordsThatShooktheWorld.com RichardGreene.org

Adam Probolsky is the President of Probolsky Research, a non-partisan market and opinion research firm and brings insights about consumer brand advertising to the political and advocacy campaign world. Adam brings a clear eye to the pollsters' job,  the value of polling, and how that data should be used. We talk about: Best time to plan and conduct public opinion and opposition research Using polling data to build the campaign brand and narrative How candidates project authenticity and the impact of polling data on the candidate's brand Finding the connection to voters Value of opinions posted on social media Best methods to drive responses to voter surveys Different polling techniques and timing for candidates and initiatives @AdamProbolsky @ProbolskyRsrch #PublicOpinionResearch #Polling #VoterPolls #Election22 ProbolskyResearch.com

Josh Justice, President, Peerly, on how campaigns of all sizes use peer-to-peer texting to engage and motivate voters.  With high response rates for rich media P2P texting, this is a cost-effective platform to do A/B testing and measure what messages and formats are working for each target audience. We talk about: The evolution of P2P messages Why HDVideo peer-to-peer texting is taking off Advantages of P2P over traditional linear commercials and other digital ad formats Driving down the cost of P2P The need to have a follow-up to P2P campaigns 10DLC protocol and the Campaign Registry for verified trusted resources @PeerlyInc #P2P #PeertoPeerTexting #Midterms #10DLC #VideoMMS Peerly.com

John McClung is the Director of Sales at AdQuick an Out-of-Home network of diverse advertising inventory. This category of OOH advertising covers everything from bus benches to digital billboards to skywriting. AdQuick has created a system to allow political and advocacy campaigns to achieve their goals by targeting voters with ads when they are out and about. We discuss: Advantages to advertising to people within a specific geography Hyper-targeting specific audiences and the benefits of OOH for State and local campaigns Restrictions to placement and messages using OOH Social sharing potential of OOH political ads Testing OOH messages, formats, and placement The world of OOH ad inventory @AdQuick #OOH #OutofHome #GOTV #NameRecognition #Persuasion #Fundraising #PoliticalAdvertising #Billboards AdQuick.com

Ethan Eilon, President of IMGE, reflects on how the digital landscape has changed between the 2018 and 2022 Midterms and what technology is working to reach donors and educate and persuade voters. We talk about: The increasing interest in MMS and SMS Best practices for online fundraising The growing challenge to break through the noise to get access to voters Importance of frequency and messaging to get the attention of base and low-propensity voters Thinking strategically about the countdown to Election Day to make sure ballots are returned and voters show up at the polls Role of Web3, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies in political campaigns @TeamIMGE #Fundraising #GOTV #WinRed #MidtermElections #2022Midterms #Voters #Web3 #Crypto #Blockchain #SMS #MMS IMGE.com

Joe Rothstein is a political consultant with vast experience working with candidates and causes. He is also the author of political thrillers with his newest, The Moment of Menace: The Future looks glorious unless we all die first, just released in time for the summer reading season. This is a story of U.S. President Isabel Tennyson, a Latina-American heiress, which seemed fanciful in the first book in this series published in 2016. Having taken notes along the way in his 30-year career, Joe is intent on educating readers about issues facing our society and how democracy can survive while providing a good read. Joe and I talk about: The real drama in political campaigns and the impact it can have on the candidate The evolution of Fringe Politics The changing nature of the spirit of competition between the parties Putting party affiliation into perspective and mobilizing voters in the current environment Sarah Palin's chance of being elected to the U.S. Congress #PoliticalCampaigns #PoliticalThrillers #Polit

Thad Kousser, Professor and Chair of political science at the University of California San Diego, is one of the authors of the just-released survey "Looking Ahead to November: How Will Reproductive Rights, Crime Rates and Top Two Dynamics Shape California's General Election. Thad is also the Co-Director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego, which conducted this survey that included nearly 3,000 Californians. We talk about: Apathetic and disengaged voters Which voters are most likely to be persuaded to vote Most effective tactics to get voters to change their opinions about issues and intent to vote Differences between concerns of Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters Call to action to campaigns and organizations to increase their registration and mobilization efforts @ThadKousser #UCSD #CaliforniaVoters #Midterms2022 #VoterApathy #GOTV #VoterTurnout Looking Ahead to November Survey Results Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research

Sean Duggan VP of Advertising SXM Media reflects on the advertising trends he sees playing out in the early primaries. While there was a slow start to ad buying for 2022 primary campaigns, interest is picking up for using audio ads to reach and persuade base voters as well as those not likely to vote in a mid-term election. We talk about: The lingering impact of COVID on field operations and media planning The Los Angeles Mayor's race and what to expect in the general election campaign The growing interest in targeted advertising on podcasts Locations where ad inventory will be constrained for the general election in November 2022 due to high demand @SXMMediaGroup #PoliticalAdvertising #PoliticalAds #PodcastAdvertising #Election2022 #Primaries2022 SXMMedia.com/ad-solutions

Noah Budnick, Executive Director, Together for Safer Roads is focused on bringing research and business expertise to the public sector to solve the complex problem of eliminating preventable traffic deaths. We talk about: Why elected officials and government entities need to step up efforts to reduce preventable traffic fatalities The increase in the number of vulnerable people and kinds of vehicles using roads Is averting preventable road deaths a partisan issue? Use of AI and local insights to shed light on solutions to avoid traffic crashes Fleet safety and the strong demand for direct-vision vehicles and retrofitting vehicles with blind-zones @TSRCoalition #RoadSafety #TrafficFatalities #PreventingTrafficFatalities #TrafficDeaths TogetherForSaferRoads.org

Eric Wilson is the Managing Partner of Startup Caucus, an investment fund and incubator for Republican campaign technology.  Eric is also the host of the podcast The Business of Politics, a complementary podcast to this one.  Eric and I talk about: Most popular topics on his podcast for this dedicated audience that is looking for answers and insights New opportunities for investment in technology with specific party-affiliated solutions Which entrepreneurs are most likely to understand the opportunities for technology solutions to address political campaign needs The differences between Republican and Democratic campaigns and how they are applying technology  Where Web3 is currently being used in campaigns and possible applications @EricWilson #RepublicanCampaigns #Fundraising #PoliticalTechnology #Blockchain #Web3 StartupCaucus.com  

Josh Justice is the President of Peerly, extending the capabilities of peer-to-peer texting and the effectiveness of campaign video messages sent to mobile devices. Josh points out the rapid growth of MMS technology and how it is being deployed to engage in two-way conversations directly with voters in real-time. We talk about: The capabilities of the Peerly TruHD Video texting How text is changing political campaigns Disrupting the media distribution model for reaching voters Driving down costs of getting messages directly to a voter with conversion tracking Expectations of voters and advantages of sending and replying to campaign messages using text @PeerlyInc #P2PTexting #PeertoPeerTexting #PolitcalTech #PoliticalMessaging #PoliticalTools #VoterEngagment Peerly.com