Microtargeting continues to emerge in new political landscape

As we at NDN and the New Politics Institute often emphasize, the advent of new technology continues to reinvent politics. The ability to reach and speak to various groups of people has become easier because of emerging tools and strategies like microtargeting, an extremely sophisticated way of maximizing the relevance of a candidate's message to their desired audience.

Microtargeting has become more and more of an asset in politics due to its potential to yield results - results which have caught the eyes of presidential campaigns like Mitt Romney's. And the media has begun to pick up on it. This June article from the New York Times mentions Romney's use of microtargeting as part of his broader advertising strategy. More recently, Chris Cillizza from the Washington Post did an in-depth analysis of the Romney campaign's use of microtargeting, the follow-up to which is featured today on Cillizza's blog, The Fix.

These articles underscore the value of being able to deliver consumer-specific messages. This is why we also recommend using techniques like search advertising and spending advertising dollars on cable instead of broadcast television.