Marco Rubio for President
USA © 2016
Push Digital successfully worked with Senator Rubio on both his 2016 Presidential and US Senate Re-Election Campaign managing digital and messaging services. From the get-go, Push provided Rubio’s team with eye-popping creative and a hands on digital strategy. Whether it was a multi-million dollar fundraising effort, or specially targeted advertising campaigns, Push Digital served as the strong digital arm for Marco Rubio’s 2016 efforts.
Presidential Race
Our Role
Push Digital successfully worked with Senator Rubio on both his 2016 Presidential and US Senate Re-Election Campaign managing digital and messaging services. From the get-go, Push provided Rubio’s team with eye-popping creative and a hands on digital strategy. Whether it was a multi-million dollar fundraising effort, or specially targeted advertising campaigns, Push Digital served as the strong digital arm for Marco Rubio’s 2016 efforts.
Our Approach
We planned on pursuing an aggressive digital strategy, but knew the biggest obstacle would be acquiring adequate funds for a high-powered digital campaign. Luckily one of our biggest strengths is expansive online fundraising as Push was able to raise $20 million for Rubio’s campaign.
The biggest difference between Rubio’s campaign and that of his opponents, was the amount of cutting-edge content pushed out everyday. We viewed the digital operation as a medium for exciting new creative, rather than the ever-repeated messaging that drives viewers away from political material. The website had a BuzzFeed-style feel to it, with eye-catching graphics, click-bait headlines, and more than just the ‘cookie-cutter’ work other candidates used.
Our advertising strategy can be summed up in one word: money. Everything we did had the goal of getting fundraising dollars back in the door. We spent money, in order to make more money – and it paid off. All of our efforts were direct responses, whether that was building our email list or fundraising. We focused on maintaining a strong return on investment, and ensuring that every dollar spent brought $2 back.
The Results
Unfortunately, Marco Rubio did not end up as the GOP nominee as he suspended his campaign after the Florida Primary in March. All said, the results spoke for our work itself…
Senate Race
Background
Senator Marco Rubio was first elected to the United States Senate in 2010.
Highlights of the 2016 United States Senate Race
In a very tumultuous political environment for Republicans, Push Digital effectively cut through the noise and directly targeted voters with Senator Rubio’s conservative record of accomplishment.
In the General Election, Rubio faced off against a credible and well funded challenger, Congressman Patrick Murphy.
Pollsters and political observers labeled the race a “toss up” which presented challenges for messaging directly to voters.
We took a new approach to our strategy. Up until this race Republicans had a bad habit of just translating english ads to spanish for the Latino voting base, but we took a new micro-targeted approach. We made specific hyper-focused ads for all the different Spanish speaking communities in Florida. Not only could they understand our message, but we were speaking directly to them.
These proven digital campaign strategies delivered a decisive 7-point victory for Senator Rubio.
Polls In the Closing Days of the Race:
CBS / YOUGOV: Rubio 47% Murphy 44% (Statistical Tie with Margin of Error)
FOX 13 / Opinion Save: Rubio 50% Murphy 46% (Rubio +1 with Margin of Error)
GRAVIS: Rubio 46% Murphy 46% (TIE)
CNN / ORC Rubio 49% Murphy 48% (Statistical Tie with Margin of Error)
As voters in the Sunshine State were casting their ballots, the media pundits thought it was anyone’s guess as to who would be elected to represent them in the United States Senate. The razor thin margins expressed in the closing day polls express just how closely contested this race was.
Election Results
Come election night, Push Digital had advanced Marco Rubio across the finish line for another term in the United States Senate. With state-of-the-art creative, and data-driven targeted advertising, Push Digital ran a stellar digital campaign, and won one of the most highly contested races of the 2016 election cycle.
Conclusion
The 2016 election cycle will go down as one of the most memorable in American history, and Push Digital provided a great lift to Senator Marco Rubio’s pre-residential and Senate re-election campaigns. When your campaign faces an uphill battle, a strong digital arm makes all the difference. No matter the task, Push Digital is up for the challenge.