People Have the Power to Change the Narrative.
Microinfluencers prove highly effective in shielding candidates from misinformation.
The 2022 campaign cycle saw the highest ever advertising spend in a midterm election season, with over $900 million spent on digital political advertising, 64% of which was spent by Democrats, according to AdImpact. Coincidentally, Democrats were able to outperform expectations and maintain control of the Senate.
We aren’t here to say digital is the reason for this, but Democrats’ success this season has proven the critical role that online advertisements play in campaign strategy. Considering this, it is imperative that we continue to optimize digital advertising through a multitude of avenues. This past election cycle we partnered with Shield PAC to produce microinfluencer content in seven critical Congressional races and run a post-campaign study to better understand microinfluencers’ ability to change the narrative.
With over $8 billion spent on political advertisements last cycle, it was difficult to break through the noise. In seven critical Congressional races, we ran a campaign aimed at correcting the misinformation being spread about candidates' lack of ability to work across the aisle.
In all seven of these races, Democrats were able to secure their seats in the House and aid in the promotion of a less divisive electorate. Our campaign averaged around a 5.87% engagement rate, reaching over 5 million people organically, and gaining an earned media value of over $43 million.
Following the success in these races, we ran a post-campaign survey to better understand the role that microinfluencer advertising played in each campaign’s broader strategy. Our study found that users did in fact have significant message recall after ingesting personal narratives from microinfluencers.
We also found that our creators were able to reach a range of undecided voters: 55% of respondents identified as having a more neutral perception of the candidate prior to being shown content.
This demonstrates the power of organic microinfluencer content to connect with difficult to reach audiences. These advertisements had both high levels of recall among supporters and successfully broke through the noise to serve as a way to communicate with a persuadable audience.
Taking it a step further, we find the highest levels of learning when it comes to their candidates’ impact on bipartisan issues among undecided voters. Within this group, 75% confirmed that they learned something new about the candidate, furthering the point that microinfluencer content was both able to be recalled and had an impact on viewers' knowledge of the candidate.
This specific campaign discovered the unique ability of microinfluencer content to reach Hispanic/Latinx voters. Among all responders, message recall was highest for Hispanic/Latinx responders, and they also learned the most from candidates’ personal narratives relative to other groups.
Ultimately, we were able to understand how, in a campaign aimed at shifting the narrative, microinfluencers are equipped to break through the noise and connect with hard to reach demographics and undecided voters.
Bottom line: Microinfluencers provide a unique value in the digital advertising strategy for progressive campaigns. They can both reach undecided voters and connect with them in a unique and memorable way.
Reminder if you are in the DC area to join People First to learn more about these findings at our DC Happy Hour Thursday March 2nd!
Connect with the political, advocacy, and marketing communities in Washington DC for an evening of socializing, refreshments, and networking. Enjoy meeting old colleagues and making new connections, while learning about the power of recruiting authentic community members to drive awareness, engagement, and advocacy for your organization.
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