League of Conservation Voters

Mobilizing Voters with Data-Driven Ads

When the League of Conservation Voters needed to mobilize the Democratic base in swing states during a pandemic, Trilogy built a highly customized digital ad program to educate voters and increase turnout for Democratic presidential and Senate candidates.

Highlights
  • Developed state-specific strategies informed by voting rules and trends in each state
  • Informed and mobilized voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Alaska, Montana, and Iowa
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Trilogy has been a key strategic partner on our digital mobilization program. Trilogy worked hand in hand with our team to develop a digital mobilization strategy that was data-driven and built to scale. In an unprecedented election with expanded early and mail-in voting, Trilogy rose to the challenge and reached voters in new and creative ways.

Megan Jacobs Senior National Campaigns Director, League of Conservation Voters

Election Day Becomes Election Month

In 2020, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) faced a new challenge: turning out voters for pro-environment Democratic candidates in the midst of a pandemic that would drive early and mail-in voting. They teamed with Trilogy to mobilize voters in key swing states online.

One Big Strategy, Tailored to Each State

In each state, we started with short video ads to generate voter enthusiasm (phase 1) before shifting to educational ads about how to return mail-in ballots and vote early (phase 2). Spots were modeled on a set of templates, then customized to reflect voting rules and trends in each state.

In phase 1, preflight creative testing via Swayable drove data-informed decisions about which spots to prioritize as we brought new states online. In phase 2, we collaborated with in-state partners to ensure ads filled the most critical information gaps in each state. 

Data-Driven and Built to Scale

Testing showed that attacking Trump for rejecting science was the strongest mobilization angle, increasing net mobilization for Joe Biden and Senate Democrats by 4%. Results from in-flight brand lift testing via YouTube also trended positively: Among voters 25-34, we saw a directional lift of 1.3-1.4% (about twice as strong as YouTube’s benchmark lift for GOTV in 2018). 

Trilogy's ads for LCV reached 2.3 million voters and led to more than 22 million completed video views. They helped secure Biden’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin, contributed to Senator Gary Peters’ narrow victory in Michigan, and drove a strong Democratic offensive in red states for LCV to build on in 2022.

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