Data to Help You Win in the Midterm Elections

February 16, 2018

The predictions of tremendous ad expenditure for the 2018 mid-term elections are already coming in. There are presently 468 congressional seats (33 Senate and 435 House) up in November. There will also be 36 gubernatorial elections. This number may go up, as more elected officials may announce their retirement. Both parties are fielding numerous candidates for each seat.

Lots of contested elections with numerous candidates make for a great opportunity, as money is needed to get their message out and differentiate themselves from the pack. However, broadcasters need a precise and focused strategy to get their unfair share of the pot of money. It is time to be proactive and not just take what comes over the transom.

An easy first step is to match up your station’s strength with the various congressional districts. In Tapscan, group the zips in each of the congressional districts within your metro.

• What is your Adults 18+ cume rating? – that is, how many potential voters do you reach?
• What percent of your audience lives in that district, and how does that compare to the market? – that shows your concentration in the only geography they care about

An even more effective way to prove your value is with Scarborough. Scarborough can document that your listeners are active voters, and for which party they vote. While their questions vary some across markets, Scarborough can answer:

• If they’re registered to vote
• How often they vote in:
  • Local elections
  • Statewide elections
  • Presidential elections
• Party affiliation:
  • Democrat
  • Republican
  • Independent
  • Independent but feel closer to Democrat
  • Independent but feel closer to Republican
  • None of these

The key is to not only compare your radio station or cluster with other stations or clusters, but compare radio to other advertising outlets. How well does your cluster perform against the local TV stations or cable channels?

Nielsen’s new Rhiza service has numerous templates that make it easy to tell the story. Like 2016, Nielsen is scheduled to release a tool that will help individual stations understand their ratings for likely candidates.

Starting soon, candidates are going to want to use local advertising outlets to differentiate themselves from other candidates. Using Nielsen and Scarborough data you can detail why your radio outlet is right for that advertiser.

Even in a campaign, data matters.

Need more information? Feel free to contact us at info@ResearchDirectorInc.com.

-Charlie Sislen, Partner

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