DNC ad targeting

In the run up to the 2016 election, political ads were unavoidable. While for most Americans the onslaught has subsided, a select group of Democrats has been hit with hyper-targeted advertisements, reflecting advertisers' increasing ability to home in on specific populations.  

In a vote today, about 450 voting committee members of the DNC will select the next party chair. In yet another example of how social media has upended the traditional political landscape, this small group has been aggressively targeted on Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapshot with advertisements for various candidates. Candidates have been using various methods to reach their intended audiences, including targeting people with certain online behavior around specific political events (i.e., serving ads to people within a certain distance from a particular venue). For those committee members, the traditional tactics of calling and emailing have been aggressively supplemented with a deluge of targeted ads. The efficacy of these particular ads remains questionable, but the tactic does seem to highlight advertisers' evolving ability to target very specific segments.