I don't like losing
Doomscroll 4.9.23
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One Question
In 2023, what should the digital strategist’s role be on a campaign? Should we stay in our lane? Be content with our digital bucket? Or do we have enough wherewithal to have a say in overall strategy - and not just execute the digital piece? I don’t know about all of you, but the loss in Wisconsin had me rethinking this all over again.
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about whether or not TikTok should be banned. The answer is? 63% of you said yes to banning the commie spy platform. 27% said no, and 9% said you seriously do not care, which I respect. As to why we shouldn’t ban TikTok, most of the responses were along the lines of it creates a slippery slope of government intervention and a ban violates the First Amendment. Someone else, on the other hand, said we should ban it simply “because Democrats use it,” and fwiw I appreciate the honesty.
P.S. Happy Easter, everyone.
Who’s Doing What
--TrumpTrumpTrumpTrump
I seriously considered not talking about Trump at all in this edition of Doomscroll. Everyone else has covered the indictment and his online presence to pieces this week. But what kind of chronicler of GOP digital tactics would I be if I didn’t at least mention the former president’s efforts? Sigh. Instead of rehashing, I’ll just make note. Team Trump claims to have raised $12 million of his indictment, which is an impressive figure if true. But it makes sense given how much he’s spent on fundraising ads this week. There’s really nothing I can critique from his digital campaign the last several days and trust me- I went looking. The emails were pretty solid. The ads were quality. The merch? On point. I even nodded along to this video - not gonna lie. I was also pretty shocked that ABC News chose to blur out the SMS opt-in language on his podium. That’s pretty insane, and no, I don’t buy the “misunderstanding” explanation. The only thing that really made me roll my eyes was the absurd “1,500% impact” promise on this WinRed page that went out in several emails. Anyway, we’ll see how it all continues to play out. And that, my friends, is my very basic take on the Trump stuff.
--Yes, we’re going to talk about abortion
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) posted a reel this week talking about how important women’s issues are to her; that how when it comes to compassion for women, public policy should be about more than just abortion exceptions for rape and incest. It wasn’t her first post on this subject, but it was certainly timely given the Wisconsin Supreme Court race this week (this is how you utilize social media as an elected official). Anyway, I hesitate to talk about policy and political strategy in Doomscroll because most of the time it’s not really what I’m here to do. But f_ck it. How many elections are we going to lose because the left rails about abortion and the “loss of reproductive freedom”? For weeks, I saw ad after ad after ad from progressive groups pouring cash into messaging about abortion rights in Wisconsin. The ads were direct and to the point. And we said…what, exactly? A conservative outside group spent money on an ad claiming Janet P cozies up to “predatory abortion profiteers” with zero evidence to back it up. Another group spent about $20,000 on one video ad telling people “Don’t California our Wisconsin. Vote Dan Kelly.” Wow. Powerful stuff. There were other ads about Janet P’s lousy sentencing record, but they obviously didn’t break through or make much difference.
Are we really ok with ceding the abortion issue when it comes to electoral politics? I want to win. So maybe it’s not so insane an idea to suggest that the digital strategists in the room can speak up and have a say in our party’s messaging on issues like this. We are the ones, after all, that are communicating directly with voters. So maybe it’s time to a) get our candidates to talk about this issue better and b) run ads that effectively counter the left’s narrative.
Nancy Mace is someone who does a good job communicating effectively on this issue in a way that doesn’t alienate middle America (IMO). And honestly, it’s our job to lead the horse to the trough (bad analogy, but you get what I’m saying). Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
--Mr. Podcaster
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has launched a new daily podcast called The Vivek Show. I like creative, out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to candidate branding, so I’m digging this in theory and in concept. Execution, however, is another matter entirely, so before everyone runs to jump on the podcast bandwagon, there are some things you have to think through. Podcasting is not for everyone. I repeat: Podcasting. Is not. For everyone. Here are some questions to consider:
Do you have enough content to sustain a regular publishing schedule? A daily podcast is A LOT and frankly, I seriously wonder whether Ramaswamy will be able to keep up this cadence as the campaign trail heats up.
Do you have a place you can consistently record to produce high-quality audio? Maybe you don’t have millions like Ramaswamy has to invest in a state-of-the-art studio. if not, think about whether finding recording locations gels with your travel/campaign schedule.
Are you ready for reporters to pick apart everything you say - especially when it’s unscripted and off-the-cuff?
Do you have the time and bandwidth to grow your podcast audience? If not, consider whether this is worth it. If you do think you have the bandwidth (and that’s great!) be sure it’s not coming at the detriment of other, more fundamental digital tactics. AKA don’t ignore your email list because you’re so focused on a podcast.
Some more notes: the daily podcast has me wondering what Ramaswamy’s goal is. Is his goal to win the presidency or is his goal to become a national public figure with a massive following? Those are two very, different things. And full disclosure: I’ve only listened to a bit of the first episode, but what I heard already has me scratching my head a little. He says his biggest pet peeve in politics is when parties get too focused on “the who.” My man - you are running for president. You WANT voters to be focused on the WHO and you want them to decide that it’s YOU. #facetopalm.
-- $30 mil, no big deal
Does anyone else abbreviate Never Back Down PAC to NBD PAC and then immediately read it as “No Big Deal PAC”? Maybe it’s just me. Anywho, big news this week in the fundraising world was that the pro-DeSantis Super PAC raised a cool $30 million since its very recent launch. No word on how that pile of cash breaks down into large vs. small donors, and gross vs. net revenue. FWIW, I’m signed up for emails from the group and am opted into its SMS list. I haven’t gotten any messages from NBD in a while…draw your own conclusions.
--Haley hits it out of the park
Team Nikki Haley announced a fundraising haul of $11 million during the campaign’s first six weeks. Of note: 70,000 donations came in from all 50 states, with 67,000 of those being contributions smaller than $200. NOT TOO SHABBY. Congrats to Team Haley! The campaign is working with fundraising veteran John Hall, who recently started his own venture on the idea that Republicans can raise money AND treat donors with respect. Clearly, there’s some method to his madness! And - it’s working. P.S. You can hear him talk more about that here.
--Tim’s Up
Longtime aide, first-time candidate Scott Parkinson is the first to officially challenge Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine in Virginia. Looks like he’s working with Axiom and Poolhouse (the vendors who helped Glenn Youngkin win in 2021). You know me - I like a quality candidate introduction video. Parkinson’s is on point. Watch it here. His website isn’t bad, either. And call me sentimental, but my heart grows fonder every time I see a candidate talk about the need to compete with ActBlue. Bless.
Who’s Spending Where
Between March 30 - April 5, the top center-right spender on Facebook ads was Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee. No surprise there. They spent more than $106,000 on ads fundraising of the Donald’s indictment and arrest. PragerU came in second with about $89,000 in spend, while Newsmax followed in third place with around $85,000 in total ad spend. Women Speak Out PAC came in fourth place with ads in Wisconsin, and Proud Patriots came in fifth with about $62,000 in ads hawking pro-Trump merch.
The top Republican spender on Google ads during that same time period was, yes, Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee. From what I can see, the ads are pretty much all search ads pointing people to his WinRed page. WMC Mobilization Issues Council Inc. and Fair Courts America came in second and third place with ads attacking Janet P’s record in Wisconsin. Fourth and fifth place go to Vivek 2024 and the RSLC.
P2P
Industry Watch
Here’s a helpful breakdown of the best and worst times to post on social media in 2023. Read it and burn it into your brain.
Once again, Facebook says it’s giving users more control over their newsfeeds. Apparently, users in the U.S. will soon have the option to choose “reduce more” or “don’t reduce” when it comes to certain kinds of content. Ok.
The Grapevine
Flagging this Twitter thread by Cavalry’s Michael Duncan. “We lost on money and message.” Story of our GOP lives, huh?
IMGE released a bit of a manifesto this week announcing the end of “just doing what’s worked before.” (I’m paraphrasing). The agency is leaning into testing and creating a whole new set of best practices. The whole thing is really worth a read, and I’m stoked to see an agency of this size and stature acknowledging that maybe it’s time to learn some new tricks.
Mark Ronchetti, who ran for governor in New Mexico in 2022 is suing his digital vendor, Go Big Media, for allegedly botching his website rollout. Yikes.
Also some personal stuff: Yours truly launched her digital consulting shop, Anchor City Strategies, this week. Wanna work together? HMU!
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Fav West Wing episode? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Ever heard of the Courier Newsroom? You should. It - and founder Tara McGowan - got the Wired treatment last fall. In a nutshell: The Dem political operative got donors to invest a sh** ton of money into creating a “mini empire of progressive local news sites” that she insists are legit (narrator: they are not, in fact, legit). Then, she set about spending a sh** ton more money on highly-targeted Facebook ads around the country. Cool, cool. I want to highlight the ads The Courier ran last week on Facebook in Wisconsin. This is a tactic in the digital playbook that the right doesn’t really do - at all. The left tries to shape thinking; the right beats people over the head (truth hurts; it’s hurting me right now). In other words: Liberals like McGowan disguise their political goals with relevant, cultural messaging and then wait for the opportune time to hit them up with a political broadside. Seriously. Last fall the group ran ads in Wisconsin about “small, local burger joints” and (I kid you not) fall colors in Wisconsin trees. Then they ran a ton of different creative supporting Mandela Barnes. They did the same last week with ads talking about the “facts” about reproductive rights and the Supreme Court race. See for yourself.
Also: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched a PAC called Campaign for Democracy (not to be confused with this Nigerian group).
From the other side of the tracks:
The Verge published a nice rant this week about pop-ups and I feel so seen. A snippet:
The spammy website marketing industrial complex insists the recent deluge of pop-ups — I counted seven in one browsing session on one website — generate valuable conversions and are totally justified. Their SEO-jacked sites, some of which are, of course, run by companies that sell pop-up products, cite “studies” with very small sample sizes and questionable methods or note that even if users find pop-ups annoying, they keep using the website. When I asked some marketers to explain themselves, I started feeling like I was talking to an AI assigned to the prompt “tell me why pop-ups are good, actually.”
Look, I’m just as guilty as the next digital marketer of using pop-ups. But I’m putting my foot down right here, right now: if you’re working on a candidate website or general landing page, no more pop-ups, please. There are other, less disruptive ways to get your asks in front of eyeballs and drive conversions. My exception will be exit-intent pop-ups. If they’re already on their way out, what’s one more last-ditch effort to get a conversion, know what I’m saying?
Lastly, this has nothing to do with digital, but I’m including it because it made me lol. Chipotle is suing Sweetgreen over its Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!