Under The Influence

Advertising

Twitter fails to report some political ads after promising transparency
Politico.com
“The lack of disclosure casts doubt on all of the political advertising data released by the platform and makes it hard to assess which groups are using Twitter to fundraise or sway voters ahead of 2024. It also highlights the hodgepodge of voluntary transparency efforts that experts say falls short when it comes to informing voters about who is trying to influence them online.”

Campaigns

How One Dem Firm Tapped Influencers To Help Sway Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Election
CampaignsAndElections.com
“The other hurdle is giving up complete control of what the influencer posts. Hougland said he creates guides for clients to share with their influencers, pointing them to specific issues to address or language to use. And that the payment ensures that the client gets to make copy editing or other minor changes. But ultimately, it’s up to the influencer to decide what to post.”

Biden's digital strategy: an army of influencers
Axios.com
“Four Biden digital staffers are focused on influencers and independent content creators. The staffers officially work for the White House, not Biden's campaign — but reaching young and suburban voters is clearly a priority.”

Trump pours money into digital ads ahead of 2024
Axios.com
“Trump substantially ramped up advertising leading up to his indictment, spending roughly $258,000 between March 19 and April 7, compared to just $8,000 the three weeks prior.”

Content

Vox Media Spins Off NowThis, the Viral Politics Site, a Year After Buying It
NYTimes.com
“The deal, just more than a year after Vox Media acquired NowThis, is backed by Accelerate Change, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing civic engagement among underrepresented groups. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but one person familiar with the transaction, who was not authorized to release financial details, said Accelerate Change would make a cash payment to Vox Media in addition to contributing capital to NowThis.”

Vivek Ramaswamy's 2024 campaign launches daily podcast
Axios.com
“This is just part of an initial $10 million investment toward creating a media production studio within his long-shot political campaign — an atypical operation that will continue even if he drops out of the race, his team said.”

Design

How candidates are rebranding for 2024
Yello.Substack.com
“Republican strategist Eric Wilson called it the “bore-ification” of campaign logos after Pundit Analytics, a political data firm, noticed the trend of bland rebrands in campaign email fundraising.”

Fundraising

Rubio demands probe into ActBlue after reports of ‘fraudulent’ fundraising off seniors
FoxNews.com
"In knowing that foreign actors use fake accounts to exploit donation systems that do not have robust verification processes and systems in place, most individual campaigns and political action committees (PACs) require CVV numbers as part of making an online donation. However, in breaking with most organizations, ActBlue does not require CVV numbers as a requirement for donating, and thus lending itself as a facilitator of fraud," he wrote.

How to Treat Donors Well & Common Mistakes to Avoid
Trailmapper.io
“Not all interactions with donors have to be pleas for more donations. Donors should be treated as friends, not piggy banks. A simple friendly phone call from time to time can go a long way in building a strong relationship.”

Social Media

Meta won’t say if politicians can post AI-made fakes without warnings
WashingtonPost.com
“Trump’s move to share a deepfake of himself added to the flood of AI-generated content surrounding his indictment in New York — perhaps the first major political news event in which sophisticated, if not always entirely convincing, synthetic media flowed freely across the internet.”a