Empowering Every Voice: Tailored Messaging for a Diverse Electorate
The Census reports that over 315 languages are spoken across the United States. The Social Security Administration provides official documents in 15 languages. And yet, far too many politicos talk about reaching Spanish speakers as if it were new information.
Let’s be clear: multicultural outreach has never been a trend. It has always been a necessity. The ever-increasing diversity of the American electorate forces both parties to reckon with a scary truth: they must modernize quickly or risk losing entire voting blocs.
There is so much that we can learn from corporate advertising. Ford speaks 42 languages. John Deere speaks 32. Disney hires anthropologists to understand where they are failing to connect. When they found they were struggling with boys aged 6-14, Disney built Carsland.
Connecting with diverse audiences requires every piece of the puzzle to play their part. The candidate, the pollsters, the speechwriters, the creatives, the agencies and the vendors. Every single one of us needs to be researching, revising strategies, recruiting and retaining staff who represent the diversity of our voters, and re-examining our assumptions about what voters want.
As political operatives, we're seeing the emergence of an 'audience-first' approach—a strategy born from a necessity to connect with diverse audiences. But it’s not enough to just meet voters where they’re watching. We have to speak to voters in ways that resonate with their lived realities.
Research shows massive differences in media consumption patterns across ethnicities, genders, and generations. Notably, AAPI viewers tend to have the most streaming apps downloaded on their smart TVs. The broad market is tuning into Hulu, yet App Science found that Hulu doesn’t appear in the top 10 streaming apps for AAPI, Black or Hispanic viewers. Almost 70% of digital video content in the US is consumed on smartphones. More than 76% of Americans aged 18-34 watch video content on their phones. Creatives need to think about this when designing ads. Far too many political ads rely on words or images of headlines that simply won’t be readable on a 6-inch screen.
Recognizing and adapting to these tendencies isn't simply a ‘nice-to-have’—it is the foundation on which effective strategies must be built. When branching beyond traditionally “premium” placements like a Hulu or Max, advertisers must implement stringent brand safety measures and viewability guardrails. You can write the best ad in the world, but that message is lost if the audience can’t actually see it.
Thankfully, there are a lot of strategies we can take from the corporate ad playbook to modernize our approach.
On the most basic level, advertisers can geofence. This is the cheapest, most straightforward option. While geofencing may seem basic, it is still miles ahead of DMA targeting. At the very least, geo-fencing ensures you are only running ads to your voters, not voters in the neighboring state. Other strategies include in-language browser settings, in-language searches, site traffic, interest behaviors, third-party interest and demographic segments, and first-party voter data. Ideally, you are marrying as many of those approaches as you can to pinpoint the right person while retaining scale.
It’s also important to deliver dynamic creative. If an advertiser learns that a person is a parent of young children and they have a creative aimed at that audience, the ad delivery should update in real-time. Static segments may miss the moment to create a meaningful, personal connection.
But how do we, as campaigns and advertisers, make this shift without stumbling?
Discard one-size-fits-all mental templates. Successful strategy demands a balance of cultural sensitivity with data acuity. Advertisers have a wealth of insights at their disposal to not only personalize content but to contextualize it.
Multilingual communications should be drafted by native speakers – not run through Google translate. No one wants to have a “Ich bin ein Berliner” moment.
Idiomatic nuances matter. Spanish does not sound the same in San Diego as it does in Miami. A French accent is not a French Creole accent. Invest in voice-over artists who understand the differences in regional accents and slang.
Think beyond Spanish. Remember: there’s a reason Ford uses 42 languages. Arabic is the fastest-growing language in America. Nearly 150,000 people in Michigan speak Arabic. Catering to multilingual voters is critical in the race to gain ground.
Find new ways to get feedback. Implement brand lift studies. Test where possible. Stock away lessons for the next election. Don’t let learning opportunities that would make you better for the next election pass you by.
The stakes are too high to cling to the comfort of the familiar. Campaigns must invest in multicultural advertising that is thoughtful, authentic, and delivered in relevant contexts. It is past time for political advertising to evolve. By broadening our approach to advertising, we can bring new voters to the table and create an engaged electorate that looks like America.
Jess Ellis is a seasoned political strategist with a background in digital campaigning for political and non-profit clients. As a client partner at VDX.tv, Jess plays a pivotal role in customizing VDX.tv's solutions to meet the unique needs of political clients. While attending Tulane University, Jess developed a strong passion for Southern politics. She went on to work with southern candidates like Jaime Harrison, Doug Jones, Jon Ossoff, and the late John Lewis. Today, she lives in Washington, DC with her partner and two dogs. Contact info: jessica.ellis@vdx.tv
[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from VDX.tv. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]
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