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There’s a new frustrating reality in political campaigning: TV ads don’t work anymore.
Not to say ad media is dead, per se, but they’re wildly misaligned with how campaigning works in 2025. In major media markets, your message might be on every screen, but you’re casting too wide of a net and letting the most accessible voters swim right through.
For example, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) is one of the largest media markets in the country. If you buy TV ads in DFW, congrats! You’re now broadcasting to 11 congressional districts at once. Unfortunately, if you’re a congressional or local candidate, 10 of those districts can’t vote for you. Even in larger state and national elections, where you would want all 11 DFW districts, you have little-to-no control over who is seeing those ads, and you won’t have the insights to know how well they’re reaching your audience until the election is already over.
That’s inefficient, old-fashioned, and, frankly, unsustainable.
That isn’t even taking into account the negative side effects of your ads being put in front of MAGA Republicans who may be inspired to vote against you based on the content of your ads.
This is why the most successful campaigns of 2025 (so far) have focused on targeted, data-driven voter registration efforts. Once seen as a “nice-to-have” side project, voter registration is finally being recognized as the foundation that makes every other dollar you spend (on ads, on canvassing, on GOTV, all of it) actually count.
Ads spark interest
Registration programs turn that interest into action.
You reach people who are eligible, registered, and ready to vote.
Not to mention, targeted registration programs are phenomenally cost-effective compared to traditional media. Our recent VR projects yield an average cost-per-vote (CPV) of $165, with one project going as low as $3.15/vote (which is drastically lower than traditional outreach, which can be anywhere from $500-$1000/ndv on average).
Instead of blasting ads into the void, tether your media to real strategy with data-driven, partisan-modeled VR efforts. When you do, you’ll notice that voter registration compliments ad spend and stretches every dollar that much further.
At the risk of sounding sales-y: targeted voter registration is what we do best. Let’s work together on stretching your voter outreach budget and expanding your voter base.
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