Voter registration and turnout reached historic levels during the 2020 election despite a global pandemic. This was only possible because campaigns around the country adapted their strategies to reach and engage voters online like never before.

With the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder County Clerk and several local community organizations, Fenton sought to ensure LA County voters had the tools and resources needed to vote and in 2020, particularly to vote-by-mail. With DSPolitical’s advanced voter targeting tools, Fenton was able to run a robust media campaign with tailored creative and personalized messaging targeting hard-to-reach groups like non-English speaking communities, African-Americans, seniors, and other low-propensity voters.

Grassroots community engagement, especially among communities of color and non-English speaking voters, often depends on in-person events and canvassing. Fenton had to engage these voters almost entirely online. To increase the efficacy of that effort, their creative was personalized to reach 26 different target audiences. To reach non-English speaking voters, Fenton produced creative in Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, and Tagalog telling voters it was safe and easy to vote-by-mail. Fenton specifically targeted low propensity voters within these demographics to appeal to those who may not normally vote.

Fenton also targeted people over the age of 65 and created custom segments based on whether voters had ever cast their ballots by mail before. DSPolitical helped Fenton find and reach these people with both programmatic targeting and geofencing around vote centers. If a target voter was within walking distance of a center they were served an ad reminding them to vote.

The 2020 election saw voter turnout rates reach 76% in Los Angeles County, up 7% from 2016 with 80% of those votes cast by mail. The combination of over 26 target audiences, coupled with DSPolitical’s match rates and Fenton’s personalized custom creative, helped provide voting information to often-overlooked communities of color throughout America’s most populous county. DSPolitical helped Fenton demonstrate that programmatic advertising can reach voters regardless of demography.

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