Research Shows it is Hard to Determine How Business will Vote

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By US Daily Review.

As online political campaign ad spend is expected to reach an all-time high in the 2012 election year, it is imperative that campaigns use their budgets effectively to get their message in front of the right audiences to meet fundraising objectives and influence votes. Against this backdrop, Bizo partnered with Vizu to conduct a joint campaign to characterize, in real-time, the party alignment and political donation plans of business executives, a highly coveted audience. The display campaign data reveals that business audiences and small business executives, in particular, are a critical group for candidates to understand and tap for votes and donations. With nearly 40 percent identified as Independent/unaffiliated voters and nearly 27 percent more likely to donate to a political cause versus their big business counterparts, small business executives comprise a key group of influential people that will be pivotal to success in the 2012 elections.

Politicians are not only rallying for votes, they are also jockeying for lucrative political donations. As with any online advertising campaign, the key to effective digital ad spend in political campaigning is reaching the right audiences. With political campaigns forecasted to spend record-breaking amounts, successful candidates will tap into the more than 20 percent of business executives planning to donate to a political cause this season in order to capture highly sought after campaign dollars.

Key highlights from the study include:

Republican or Democrat? Neither!: More than 36 percent of business executives do not affiliate themselves with Republicans or Democrats.
Small business executives are Independent thinkers: With small business executives 20 percent more likely to identify themselves as Independents versus large business executives, it is a large group of voters that can be swayed with the right message.
Small companies but deep wallets: Small business executives are 26.6 percent more likely to donate to a political cause than their counterparts at large companies.
Blue Party at the Blue Chips?: 33.8 percent of large company executives claim to be Democrats, while 35.1 percent claim to be Republican.

“It is clear that 2012 will be a record-breaking year for ad dollars in the political arena. This data reveals that key business audience segments are up for grabs, and politicians that identify and hone in on these influential undecided voters can reach untapped campaign donations,” said Russ Glass, CEO of Bizo. “As more and more people turn to the Internet as their primary source for news and information, the campaigns that best leverage the web as a mainstream channel to reach their audiences will gain an edge against the rest of the field.”