In 2024, a coalition in the Pacific Northwest hiredREAL Strategies – now Statara Solutions – to help pass a statewide initiative that would protect a resident’s right to utilize all available energy options that best suit their needs. The state was trying to restrict what energy sources would be allowed in new construction, and this statewide initiative sought to prohibit the state from outright banning any one particular product or service.

The Campaign Strategist utilized internal polling that showed a specific, yet large voting segment needed to be reminded that energy choices are directly tied to cost of living and private property rights. The team created a plan that both secured a victory and furthered the coalition’s long-term advocacy goals.

The ballot initiative’s campaign was advertising on tv in key metro areas, so the coalition was advised by Statara Strategists to focus on more rural, sporadic voters in order to reach the key demographic that would help push the ballot past the finish line. The target audience was comprised of ~87,000 voters at ~70,000 households with ~51,000 wireless numbers.

The makeup of the audience were all registered voters whose partisan score matched the identified ideology that needed to be reminded about how energy impacts their lives and who rarely vote in off year elections (those that don’t include a presidential candidate).

Programmatic display ads run through Statara Media Platform were used to direct voters to the website for two weeks where the Digital team placed a WIRE pixel to allow us to capture visitors and retarget the ads to that audience for another week. In addition, two MMS text messages were sent to the universe of voters during the final two weeks of the campaign – one acting as a persuasion piece, the other serving as a GOTV style messaging. Finally, general supportive reminders were sent to the coalition’s advocate base who frequently turn out for advocacy causes and events.

From October 21 through Election Day on November 6, display ads received a total of 309,394 impressions and a click-through rate (CTR) of .43%. The retargeting ads shown from October 28 through Election Day received 8,386 impressions and a CTR of 1.324%. Over 5,500 advocates received one of three GOTV email reminders and over 750 advocates received a text message. The Initiative passed with over 1,940,000 votes, garnering 51.71% of the total votes.

It’s important to turn out both your active base and infrequent, but reliable ideological voters and fold them into your base of support. The strategy to target those overlooked voters in more rural areas with digital advertising both informed and activated people. In between election cycles, the coalition will have these new voices in the advocacy toolkit, which will enable the coalition to activate these supporters when these advocacy issues come up.