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Doomscroll 8.20.23
Was this email forwarded to you? Are you reading it the whole way through while your kid watches another episode of Bluey? Welcome. You have found your people, so you may as well subscribe.
One housekeeping note: Doomscroll will be on hiatus next week. Sad! Your author will be traveling and well, two missed weeks in 7 months ain’t so bad!
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about what’s on your forever to-do list! I have to say… I have a small amount of regret for even asking that question because thanks to your answers, my list is 10 times longer than it was before. It’s ok; I realize that being chronically curious is a personal problem that I, and I alone must deal with. Anyway, here are some of your responses!
Figuring out how to place digital spots at gas pumps. I’ve been told it’s not inventory available for political spots but it could be a game changer.
Experiment with new ad formats vs stick to tried and true
An attribution model that is anything other than last click
More memes because, when done right, they reach more than almost any other post.
Purging/reorganizing the messy dropbox I inherited :)
Raise your hand if you have NOT been personally victimized by someone else’s dropbox folder. ::scans room:: Didn’t think so.
Also, for whoever said gas station ads: I was right there with you last cycle. Unfortunately, my rep at Gas Station TV told me the company was no longer accepting political ads…RIGHT before I was about to drop some dough on GOTV. I may have even written about this before…but the unofficial word on the street was that the DNC ruined it for everyone when they used gas station TV to tell people the high prices they were paying at the pump really weren’t that bad! In fairness, Americans for Prosperity also ran their own gas station ads that summer attacking prices from the other side…so maybe it was a combo of both and GSTV execs just decided enough was enough and people should be able to pump in peace! Who knows…but if you’re out there and you have any insights...HMU and I’ll share your knowledge anonymously.
This week’s One Question has to do with what is probably our LEAST talked about social media platform: Snapchat. I know it’s all the rage for progressive advertisers and it’s wholly ignored by the right. I get why…but should that change? Should Republicans start getting on Snapchat to compete for those younger eyeballs - especially if we’re not using TikTok? I was recently talking about this with another friend in the digital space and we both agreed Snapchat may as well be a big, black hole as far as we’re concerned. FWIW it’s not my cup of tea as far as social media goes. But…as someone who just entered the mid-30’s stage of life it’s possible that I’m just old and missing out on a good opportunity here.
Who’s Doing What
--GOP Men in Richmond
Let’s talk about what’s going on in Virginia. Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the RPV are putting a ton of time, money and effort into electing Republicans in the state legislature this November. For someone who lived in the Commonwealth for almost a decade, what’s going on right now is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Also full disclosure: I am involved in a handful of these state leg races! ANYWAY what I can’t take any credit for whatsoever is the governor’s efforts on the digital front. I wish I could.
It started right after he assumed office. Team Youngkin started doing a weekly, grassroots email pretty much right away, and it’s a great blueprint for how every officeholder should approach their email list. It hits the same time every week, and it’s full of quality stuff. He also has a short code SMS list that I’m on, but I don’t get constant spammy, over-the-top messages. I just want to give kudos to whoever is handling his email and texting program!
The push with Secure Your Vote Virginia has been excellent as well. The website is nice and clean and simple, and the explainer video is excellent. The RPV is even spending money on ads to push early voting on Facebook. I’m just saying: it’s nice to see this kind of effort on a state level, and what’s happening in Virginia right now should be a model for how to invest in a digital game that persuades and turns out votes.
--The Education Blueprint
Louisiana GOP gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry is out with a new ad that is, quite literally, the Republican messaging blueprint for anything and everything our party will say about education in the next two years. Seriously. It contains every single bullet point. Here’s the formula:
Republicans empathize with public school teachers
Most teachers want to teach kids how to think not what to think (this is a big one!)
It’s time to get back to the basics in the classroom
Parents matter
Our kids deserve the best.
Boom. There’s your ad script.
--Winning WinRed
WinRed launched WinRed Academy this week, which the company says is its “first online training program and certification to help every digital staffer learn how to use the platform.” Nice! I hope everyone takes advantage.
--Your Texting Subject Line
You know what I never really thought about until this week? How texts appear when you actually open up the app on your phone. There’s the sender name or number at the top and then one line of text underneath. Like an email subject line. If you’re thinking “wow, Amanda, DUH” - I know, I know. But I got a P2P text from Rep. Morgan Luttrell this week and all I saw when I opened my app was the number and then one line: “Ending this campaign.” You better believe I opened that sucker right away to see which campaign was ending and why! (spoiler: he’s not actually ending his campaign). Anyway, just thought I’d throw that out there: Put some thought into the first line of your text message!
2024 Roundup
Will Hurd was on Honestly with Bari Weiss, and he announced he met the 40,000 donor threshold. Listen and see here.
Gov. Doug Burgum showed the guys from the Ruthless Podcast how to eat rattlesnake at the Iowa State Fair. Watch it here. Hashtag content.
Debate Drama: Axiom posted a debate strategy document online for the Ron DeSantis team…and of course someone else found them. Insert big scoop for the New York Times. Read the whole thing here.
Vivek Ramaswamy promptly began fundraising off the leak. See his associated WinRed page here.
Mike Pence continues to lean into his role in the 2020 election certification on social media. See his Facebook post referencing it here and the identical Twitter thread here.
SOS America PAC continues to pour money into ads aimed at getting Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on the debate stage. See them here.
Donald Trump revived his NOT GUILTY ads on Facebook following news of his fourth indictment. See the ads here.
Who’s Spending Where
Between August 10-16, Sound of Freedom Movie was once again, the top center-right spender on Facebook ads at $154,000. Maybe it’s not fair that I consider this movie to be a conservative advertiser, but I’ve been lumping it into this category for so long, it feels kinda weird to stop now. Americans for Prosperity is in second place with about $100,000 in spend, followed by SOS America PAC at $90,000. The Daily Wire ($69,000) and Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee ($65,000) round out the top 5.
On Google during that same time period, Never Back Down Inc was the top spender, at $161,000, while Hurd for America Inc came in second at $141,000. SOS America PAC spent $114,000, while Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee came in a distant fourth place with $54,000. Vivek 2024 rounds out the top 5 with $51,000 in ad spend.
P2P
Industry Watch
It’s happening! Linear TV’s slow and painful death is drawing nigh. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Broadcast and cable networks made up less than half of all TV use in July — the first time linear TV viewing has fallen below 50 percent in Nielsen’s two-plus years of tracking viewing time by platform.”
There’s more:
“Streaming was up from 37.7 percent of TV viewing in June, marking its third consecutive month of an increased share of viewers’ time. July was also the third straight month that streaming’s share of TV use hit a high.”
Get ready to pounce on those media budgets, friends!
The Grapevine
Congrats to Daniel Kopp for joining the digital team at National Public Affairs as an account manager! See other great opportunities at NPA here.
Speaking of Snapchat, they’re hosting a political summit in DC on September 21. Here’s the invite.
Uh-oh…Lauren Boebert has a primary challenger.
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Fav instagram influencer? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Per Axios, the Courier is expanding once again with newsrooms in Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the Courier is a progressive content machine funded by Reid Hoffman and George Soros. They pretend to be journalistic outfits that aim to “tackle disinformation” online. And they’re extremely effective - mostly because major progressive donors decided it was worth investing money into news and content with a strategy as simple as “let’s write mostly about local events and then slide in a couple political messages about how Republicans want to control women’s bodies.” And here’s where I, once again, lament the lack of seriousness our side has when it comes to content creation.
If you’ve been a Doomscroll reader from the beginning, you know I’ve written several times about how much I hate that Republicans don’t have their own cadre of faux newsrooms. And yes, I know a thing or two about this (RIP Free Telegraph). What’s more, just a couple weeks ago I wrote about our fragmented media environment and how these days we have to work overtime to get our messages in front of people. The flip side of that coin is the reality that Americans aren’t even turning to traditional news outlets for news anymore. They’re getting it from liberal TikTok influencers and random, opaque Instagram accounts. The Courier has 11 newsrooms, each with a website and a newsletter. They’re active on TikTok, and they’re not slowing down. The question is - will Republicans catch up?
P.S. On a different note, The Hill had a piece this week about Quiller, a Democratic AI tool that progressive campaigns are using to spit out fundraising copy. Give it a read if you haven’t already. I actually applaud Quiller’s CEO rationale behind the product: “efficiency, access, and combating burnout for staff.”
Hear, hear.
From the other side of the tracks:
Ok so there’s a YouTuber/influencer named Aprilynne Alter (what a name!) who is claiming that she’s figured out the secret sauce of mega YouTuber Mr. Beast. And for starters, if you don’t know who either of these two people are: bless you. Anyway, Ms. Aprilynne posted her findings in a Twitter thread and they’re pretty interesting if you’re into making content and videos. The basic gist? Good content takes a lot of time and effort. :)
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!