In Ohio’s Congressional District 06, Congressman Mike Rulli faced a highly competitive primary race. With a crowded field of contenders, the campaign needed a strategic approach to identify and mobilize key GOP primary voters effectively. Additionally, the campaign faced the challenge of engaging typically low-turnout groups and persuading undecided voters in a short time frame.

To overcome these challenges, our team utilized a polling-driven strategy in partnership with industry-leading voter data from i360. By combining i360’s advanced polling insights with our proprietary voter targeting platform, we developed a precision-targeted plan designed to maximize voter engagement and turnout.

Key elements of our approach included:

1. Advanced Audience Segmentation:

   • We utilized the client’s custom audience list, which was uploaded to our platform and matched through i360’s data to ensure a highly accurate GOP primary voter audience.

   • Incorporated off-the-shelf voterfile matched audiences from i360's polling data to go alongside the custom audience to refine targeting further and ensure that every ad reached voters most likely to engage and act.

2. Issue-Based Messaging:

   • We used i360’s issue models to identify voter priorities, such as energy independence and economic growth, tailoring messaging to resonate with the electorate.

3. Diverse Ad Platforms:

   • Ran a multi-platform campaign with Display and PreRoll ads, ensuring consistent message delivery across devices and maximizing reach.

Our team implemented a two-phase strategy:

• Persuasion Campaigns:

  • Focused on delivering tailored messaging to persuade undecided and low-propensity voters, leveraging i360’s voter issue profiles for impactful engagement.

• GOTV Campaigns:

  • In the final weeks leading up to the election, the focus shifted to target GOP voters with geofenced ads in key Ohio precincts, using i360’s daily voter data updates to ensure ads reached only those who had not yet voted.

RepublicanAds.com executed 18 Display and Preroll campaigns for Rulli. 

Highlights include:

• High Engagement: Delivered 665,654 impressions in the Display campaign with a strong CTR of 0.45%, demonstrating how precise targeting drove voter engagement.

• Video Impact: Achieved 166,210 impressions in the PreRoll campaign, with a video completion rate of 46.07%, well above industry standards.

• Precise Targeting: Reached a 100% match rate for the custom GOP primary voter audience, ensuring every ad reached the intended audience.

Ads reached audiences through high-visibility placements across apps and mobile devices. Each ad creative was optimized for performance, including PreRoll ads achieving completion rates of up to 46% and geofence Display campaigns delivering frequencies as high as 25 per device. Rulli won the district by 8.8%, successfully mobilizing key voter groups.

David Spencer, founder of Spencer Federal, the consulting firm managing Rulli’s campaign, praised RepublicanAds.com: 

By leveraging the power of i360’s polling data in conjunction with our advanced targeting capabilities, Congressman Mike Rulli’s campaign achieved a decisive primary victory in Ohio’s Congressional District 06. This case study highlights how data-driven strategies can transform campaign challenges into measurable success, setting a new standard for polling research in federal elections.