Attch 5 - 2022 Media Plan.pdf

Paid Media Plan 2022 Midterm Election Campaign

December 8, 2021

2022 PAID MEDIA PLAN 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Goals 4

Target Audiences 4

Strategies and Tactics 4

Audience Targeting 5

Active Duty Military 5

Military Spouses Error! Bookmark not defined.

Overseas Citizens 6

Timeline 6

Media Mix 6

Flight Plans by Target Audience 9

Active Duty Military 9

Military Spouses 11

Overseas Citizens 13

Budget Allocation by Target Audience 15

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Introduction

The focus of the 2022 paid media campaign is balancing support for likely voters who are more engaged in midterm elections and actively seeking absentee voting information, while leveraging disruptive strategies that emphasize awareness of FVAP as the premier resource for absentee voting information among young, potentially first-time voters in the military.

To maximize cost-efficiency and return on investment while meeting 2022 goals, the plan concentrates the media mix on digital channels that support a two-pronged approach of (1) hypertargeting and penetrating deeply into highly qualified priority audiences with awareness messages followed by (2) retargeting those audiences who showed interest with direct calls to action on FVAP.gov that reflect ultimate target behaviors: registering and requesting a ballot and returning the ballot.

A $350,000 media buy employing solely digital channels will both drive action using FVAP’s online tools and resources and build recognition of the brand’s overall offerings — especially among the priority audience of first-time voters, who are digital natives — in the most effective and cost-efficient way.

The following paid media plan draws on insights and recommendations from the 2018 and 2020 election campaign evaluation for paid media while meeting the goals and parameters of the 2022 campaign framework, including budget and timing.

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Goals

Consistent with the goals of the overall communications effort in 2022 to make it easier for UOCAVA voters to successfully vote absentee and position FVAP as a primary resource for those voters, the paid media plan establishes tangible, measurable goals centered on reach and conversion.

Paid media goals include:

● Maximize reach to target audiences;

● Generate engagement with messages and content;

● Drive traffic to FVAP.gov; and

● Drive action on FVAP.gov in the form of priority conversions.

○ Opening the FPCA PDF form

○ Starting the FPCA online assistant

○ Opening the FWAB PDF form

○ Starting the FWAB online assistant

These conversions represent a first step to offline target behaviors — registering and requesting a ballot and returning the ballot.

Target Audiences

The paid media campaign will target three audiences:

● Active duty military (ADM) worldwide who are eligible to vote absentee, especially young (ages 18-24), potential first-time voters (priority primary audience) and would-be voters (those who wanted to vote and didn’t);

● Spouses and other family members of ADM (primary and secondary audience, in that they influence the primary audience); and

● U.S. citizens living overseas who want to vote (primary audience).

Strategies and Tactics

To fulfill the consecutive goals of reach and conversion, the paid media strategy takes a two-pronged approach:

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1. Hyper-target and maximize reach into highly qualified target audiences with awareness messages; and

2. Engage and retarget audiences with direct calls to action on FVAP.gov that reflect ultimate target behaviors:

registering and requesting a ballot and returning the ballot.

This approach follows both the purchase funnel and Stages of Change model to guide audiences through the UOCAVA voting process. Throughout the course of the digital campaign, platforms will track audiences — following from unawareness to conversion — so that they’re receiving messages customized to where they are in the voting process.

Audience Targeting

By advertising online, the campaign can serve ads to highly qualified audiences — those firmly in the target who are likely to be interested in relevant topics and likely to demonstrate target behaviors — while excluding those who aren’t.

The plan will use the following targeting parameters to reach each audience segment depending on the options supported by each channel:

Active Duty Military

● Age: 18–24, 18–29, 25+

● Location: U.S., overseas, Top 20 international countries by ADM population; geofencing large installations

● Demographic » Military Status » Current Military; Demographics » Occupation » Military; Political Precision » Voters by Occupation » Voters by Occupation: Armed Services

● Employer: U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy

● Keywords: military voting, military voting assistance, military voting overseas, how to vote in the military, voter registration military, overseas military voting, how to vote if you're in the military, absentee voting for military, and

500+ more

Military Spouses

● Age: 18+

● Location: U.S., overseas

● Interests: National Military Family Association, Army Wife Network, The Frugal Navy Wife, Navy Wife, Army Wife 101, SpouseBUZZ, Navy Wives Clubs of America, Military Wives, Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military

Wives, Military Spouse Central or Military Spouse

● Placements/Publications: Military Spouse Festival

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Overseas Citizens

● Age: 18–24, 18–29, 25+

● Location: Worldwide excluding U.S.; Top international countries by U.S. citizen population

● Demographic » Expatriates/Foreign Workers

● Custom Targeting: Email list from Overseas Citizen Population Analysis survey; Lookalike audiences based on

OCPA Custom List in Top 20 international countries by U.S. citizen population

● Keywords: overseas voting, overseas voting form, register to vote overseas, overseas absentee voting, overseas voting ballot, voting from overseas, absentee ballots for overseas voting, how to vote from overseas, and 500+ more

● Placements/Publications: News, Reference, Political, and Lifestyle Verticals; Local News Publications in Major U.S.

Cities

Timeline

Paid media will run throughout the election year to coincide with State Primaries and, most importantly, the General Election. A first flight February through March will focus on early action as preparation for the election year, using primary elections as a trigger, and serve as a pilot of the 2022 creative theme for testing purposes and a way to build audiences for later use

(GovDelivery, calendar widget and for retargeting). A second flight running June through October will focus on the Midterm

Election. Messaging in the second flight will follow the familiar pattern:

1. June–July: Use FPCA to register and request an absentee ballot by the recommended date of August 1.

2. August–September: Use FPCA to register and request an absentee ballot by your state’s deadline.

3. Late September–Election Day: Vote and send in your ballot or FWAB by the deadline.

Media Mix

Digital channels are ideal for maximizing return on investment — a more reliable metric as verifiable performance data are automatically tracked on online advertising platforms — as opposed to the audience and ratings estimates that traditional media channels can offer. Real-time analytics show audience exposure and engagement with ads, allowing for immediate optimization and almost constant improvement.

The digital-heavy strategy will save money while reaching more of the target audience (i.e., increase effectiveness and efficiency). With the channels included in this plan, target audiences will already be using the platform where they can convert

(e.g., going to FVAP.gov from a social network to fill out the FPCA). Cross-media calls to action lead to much higher drop-offs and thus lower conversion, such as including a URL on a print ad, as opposed to a social media post that includes a link.

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The plan will include ads exclusively on digital channels, including social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and

Snapchat), search engine marketing (Google AdWords), sponsored content and display ads in niche publications (e.g., We

Are The Mighty, Task & Purpose, and The American), live reads on relevant podcasts, and display banners. The goal of this media mix is to reach both a “likely doer” audience of motivated, experienced voters actively seeking information (through search engine marketing and contextually targeted ads), while taking a disruptive approach to reach unaware, young or first-time voter segments (YouTube, Twitch and niche publications).

Within Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and Google platforms (e.g., search engine marketing and YouTube), the campaign will first optimize ads for maximum reach and brand awareness and then will retarget users who engaged with ads or visited the website — especially those who haven’t converted as an efficient method of pushing audiences down the funnel.

To offset Facebook’s political advertising restrictions, the campaign will take a direct buying approach, instead partnering with trusted publications within high-population countries with the necessary authorization to run political advertising in that region.

This approach will also increase FVAP’s brand awareness and trust by associating with well-known, credible publications that overseas citizens may recognize and recall at greater rates.

Programmatic digital ads can follow the same pathway. Programmatic buying is the use of automated systems to purchase and deliver digital ads based on set targeting criteria and real-time data. Through programmatic buying, the campaign can serve display, mobile and in-app ads to only target audiences in real-time on hundreds of thousands of websites. The platform used to serve ads learns over time where audiences are online, how to reach more of them more efficiently, and how to solicit action from them.

Podcast placements are another format bought programmatically. Based on 2020 campaign performance, the strategy will shift away from automated, pre-recorded placements on a variety of podcasts. Instead, the campaign will secure live-reads on targeted military podcasts using contextual targeting to accurately reach and disrupt active duty military members on platforms they regularly use.

Search engine marketing (SEM) has the advantage of reaching audiences actively searching for offerings related to the campaign, and thus likely to be interested. It is the most effective way to advertise online to “likely doers” — audiences further down the funnel who have already expressed an interest and are ready to convert. In 2018 and 2020, Facebook and search engine marketing were the highest performing channels in terms of reach and conversion metrics, as well as return on investment.

The inclusion of niche publications is intended to reach qualified audiences (likely in the target segment) who are unaware or in the precontemplation stage. These outlets offer a way to pinpoint audiences who most closely identify with being an active duty military member, military family member or overseas citizen and thus potentially more likely to be interested in absentee voting. Niche publications also support sponsored content — ads native to the channel where they appear, mimicking the qualities of the publication or platform. Users associate the content of the advertising message with the publication, lending its credibility and other brand perceptions. For FVAP, the user can convert within the ad itself (by consuming the content related to how to vote absentee in the UOCAVA voting process, for example). The real estate afforded by sponsored content ads is

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greater compared to display or social media placements. For complex public education campaigns, sponsored content can deliver the entirety of the message with one placement — reducing bounce rates, audience confusion and misplaced messaging.

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Flight Plans by Target Audience

The following flight plans by target audience include campaign media mix, timeline, estimated performance and budget allocation:

Active Duty Military

The flight plan below lays out the paid media campaign targeting ADM. The age targeting and corresponding budget allocations show greater weight given to the 18–24 and 18–29 age groups.

Greater weight is also dedicated to Facebook/Instagram, Google and YouTube — the highest-performing channels in 2018 and 2020 and the channels priority segments are frequenting and consuming ad content through (according to JAMRS

Considerations for Service Member Outreach Report).

Contingency budget is reserved for additional or high-performing opportunities throughout the campaign. More budget may be allocated from proposed spend by audience or channel depending on performance. See Budget Allocation by Target Audience below.

Budget Plan

Channel Ad Type Targeting Subsegments Spend % of Total Spend

SOCIAL

Facebook /

Instagram

Reach, Conversion; video and static posts

Occupation/military status;

location

18–29 $30,000.00 14.29%

30+ $15,000.00 7.14%

Snapchat Snap ads; story ads Interest; topics; geofencing 18–29 $10,000.00 4.76%

YouTube In-stream video ads

Keywords; topics; channels;

18-34 Unknown age; Global 18-34 $40,000.00 19.05%

SEARCH

Google AdWords Search engine marketing text ads

Keywords; U.S. and top

ADM countries $20,000.00 9.52%

DIGITAL

Digital Audio Podcast live host-reads 18-24 $10,000 4.76%

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Programmatic

Display

Mobile, tablet and desktop banner ads: Cross-Platform Interstitial; Mobile

Adhesion Banner; Cross-Platform

Display; Retargeting

Contextual; Interests

Keywords; Site Retargeting;

Third-Party Data:

Demographic » Military

Status » Current Military;

Demographics » Occupation

» Military; Political Precision

» Voters by Occupation »

Voters by Occupation:

Armed Services

Keywords: military voting, military voting assistance, military voting overseas, how to vote in the military, voter registration military, overseas military voting, how to vote if you're in the military, absentee voting for military, and 500+ more

Global $15,000.00 7.14%

A18–29 $30,000.00 14.29%

NICHE

PUBLICATIONS

Task and Purpose

Sponsored article (x2) + targeted social distro; Content adjacent banners; Targeted social ads;

newsletter distribution

T&P users; e-news subscribers; social media followers Global $20,000.00 9.52%

We Are the Mighty

Sponsored article (x4), Social post

(x4), Added value newsletter distribution

Mighty users; e-news subscribers; social media followers Global $20,000.00 9.52%

MEDIA COST

TOTAL $210,000.00

Flight Plan

Channel Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

SOCIAL

Facebook/Instagram

SnapChat

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YouTube

SEARCH

Google AdWords

DIGITAL

Programmatic

Display

Digital Audio

NICHE

PUBLICATIONS

Task and Purpose

We Are The Mighty

Military Spouses

Budget Plan

Channel Ad Type Targeting Subsegments Spend % of Total Spend

SOCIAL

Facebook / Instagram

Reach, Conversion; video and static posts

Age: 18–29 Location: U.S.

Interests: National Military Family Association, Army Wife Network, The Frugal Navy Wife, Navy Wife, Army Wife 101, SpouseBUZZ, Navy Wives Clubs of America, Military Wives, Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives, Military Spouse Central or Military Spouse 18–29 $12,500 71.43%

Military Spouse Festival (through T&P vendor)

Newsletter and targeted social media distribution

MSF followers (stateside, 18- 29); newsletter subscribers 18–29 $5,000 28.57%

MEDIA COST

TOTAL $17,500.00

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SOCIAL

Facebook / Instagram

Military Spouse Festival

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Overseas Citizens

Budget Plan

Channel Ad Type Targeting Subsegments Spend % of Total Spend

SOCIAL

Facebook/Instagram Brand Awareness, Conversion (or Traffic if pixel cannot be placed)

OCPA 2018 Expat Lookalikes 18+; OC 18+ Expats (U.S.) - Top Countries; OC 18-24 Expats (U.S.) - All Countries

18–29 $20,000.00 16.33%

30+ $15,000.00 12.24%

SEARCH

Google AdWords Search engine marketing text ads Keywords; U.S. and top ADM countries $20,000.00 16.33%

DIGITAL

YouTube In-stream video ads Keywords; topics; 18-44, Unknown age; Worldwide $20,000.00 16.33%

NICHE OVERSEAS

PUBLICATIONS

Canada TBD U.S. citizens in Canada $5,000.00 4.08%

UK TBD U.S. citizens in the UK $5,000.00 4.08%

Israel TBD U.S. citizens in Israel $5,000.00 4.08%

France TBD U.S. citizens in France $5,000.00 4.08%

Australia TBD U.S. citizens in Australia $5,000.00 4.08%

OTHER

Contingency $2,500.00 2.04%

MEDIA COST TOTAL $122,500.00

SOCIAL

Facebook/Instagram

YouTube

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SEARCH

Google AdWords

DIGITAL

Programmatic Display

NICHE PUBLICATIONS

All countries

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Budget Allocation by Target Audience

Budget allocation by both audience segment and channel is considered flexible and subject to change throughout the campaign. If audience segments become saturated or show potential for further penetration, budget may be shifted accordingly. Additionally, if channels are performing well or poorly, they may receive more or less budget, respectively.

The 2020 budget reflected a shift in emphasis to younger ADM in order to better reach and engage that priority segment. In

2022, the budget will do the same, while still allocating a fair percentage to motivated military members and overseas citizen voters for the Midterm Election.

2018 2020 2022

Audience Spend % of Spend Spend % of Spend Spend % of Spend

ADM $234,600 59%* $455,000 65% $210,000 60%

Spouses $41,477 10% $35,000 5% $17,500 5%

Overseas Citizens $123,420 31% $210,000 30% $122,500 35%

TOTAL $399,497 100% $700,000 100% $350,000 100%

*Of the budget allocated to ADM in 2018, 75% targeted ages 18–24. It grew to 80% in 2020. In 2022, a minimum of 60% of the

ADM budget will target 18–24-year-olds, with an additional percentage allocated through channels where age targeting cannot be specified. This decrease in percentage will ensure other audience segments will have enough budget to run and optimize throughout the year.

In 2020, greater weight was placed on overseas citizens after a particularly engaging election season in 2016 in which those voters showed heightened interest and greater need for FVAP information and resources. Information from election offices suggests that overseas citizens need more information and help than ADM because of a lack of an assistance infrastructure compared to the military, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, longer mail times necessitate overseas citizens to act earlier or find different methods for ballot transmission — especially when considering international mail delays caused by COVID-19 in 2020 and potentially again in 2022 — which calls for earlier messages. This year, a similar split with some additional weight put into the overseas citizen audience will ensure the campaign is able to penetrate the audience with high enough frequencies for recall, given a smaller spend than previous years.