In quest for Gen Z votes, 2020 could be the year of the influencer by blrshepherd
WASHINGTON — As the race to secure frontrunner status for the 2020 election accelerates, political campaigns are looking to win over the youngest segment of voters: Generation Z. Generally considered to be individuals born between 1997 and 2012, the freshest members of the electorate are nearly impossible to reach with traditional media. In politics, 2020 could be the year of the influencer.
Marketing agencies that specialize in influencer advertising told Yahoo News that they have had conversations, of varying degrees of seriousness, with national political campaigns. Segar said her team is nearing a partnership with a campaign, but declined to specify which one. “[Politicians] are getting out there with their own content, but that is just not enough. You have to amplify that content out,” said Segar.
Ad campaigns such as these would be tailored to specific social media platforms. For example, candidates wouldn’t be encouraged to post a video outlining a point-by-point policy proposal on TikTok, an app with typically lighter fare. Instead, a politician may perform a “challenge”— often a lip-syncing video or comedic bit, a la Vine — with an app star and opt to house more serious messaging on Instagram, through which audiences can be moved to “activations” via the Stories feature.
Candidates like Bernie Sanders “exploded on social,” says Gagliese — a claim supported at least anecdotally by Twitter metrics. Sanders’s 9.29 million follower count blows current Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden’s 3.58 million out of the water. Even the 4.24 million following of freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’s seen tremendous success on social media, pales in comparison.
“The last thing you want to do as a candidate is to get involved and start a half a day challenge on [TikTok] and all the Gen Z-ers are like, ‘This guy’s a loser.’ If you start pushing sustainability in a very political way on TikTok, you’re going to get hammered. Start a challenge around things [Gen Z] can get behind, whether it’s electric vehicles, using less water, things a young person can understand.
Influencers aside, Butterfield predicts that campaigns and PACS such as Priorities USA will target nontraditional channels, such as Instagram and YouTube, to get their messages in front of younger eyes. Data published by Google shows that 85 percent of Gen Z teens use YouTube, with 80 percent of those utilizing the platform to “become more knowledgeable about something.” Over the past year, political advertising on Google platforms, including YouTube, totaled $83 million.
Even though influencers may not receive direct cash payments from candidates themselves, the cost to campaigns could be significant. Campaigns would be paying for access to advisers who understand the language of the internet and social media, as well as tools that provide a full social listening sentiment analysis. Simply put, a candidate could track a single piece of data from an influencer, including that data’s reach, impressions and success rate.
“What I’ve noticed is that young people all want to get involved in some way,” said Fenster, who also moonlights as the Northeast regional director of the anti-gun violence group March for Our Lives. “[Gen Z-ers] are always looking for something to take leadership in, it comes naturally to them. But oftentimes, they’re not really given the spaces. Also, people can get intimidated when the spaces are created and monitored by adults.” So, Fenster, a high school junior, built her own space.
Buttigieg joked about reaching young voters through the seemingly ubiquitous video game sensation “Fortnite” at a South Carolina rally earlier in May, following a precedent set by Barack Obama in 2008 when he made history by placing ads in 18 games across the XBox Live network. Later in 2016, Hillary Clinton lurched at a similar demographic by hosting a campaign event at a “Pokémon Go” gym. Even former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner tried to make digital friends on “Second Life.
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