The second debate also provided a new search term that was a popular query post debate that turned into latest Internet meme featuring graphics using the phrase, Amazon reviews of binders, dedicated websites and Tumblr pages.  The search term “binders full of women” ranked as the 21^st most popular search term in the US on Oct. 17^th. The term was the #3 non-branded term as you can see in the table below behind “kate gosselin fired” and “pink loses 55 pounds. The term was the 2^nd most popular non-branded search term driving traffic to Facebook.com on Oct. 17^th and 32^nd overall. The term was the 20th most popular search term overall driving traffic to Twitter.com on Oct. 17^th.

Of all the searches performed on ‘binders full of women’, 52% were on Yahoo Search that day. The top sites to receive traffic from the search term that day include Yahoo.com, NBC Politics, Yahoo News, CNN Political Ticker and Facebook to round out the top 5. The Tumblr page devoted to the search term was ranked as the 20^th most popular downstream site on Oct. 17^th

Understanding flash trends like this can help marketers when planning real time search and ad campaigns and when developing new content. Learn more about consumer insights like these for your industry by visiting: Experian Hitwise

Potential voters are highly engaged online during this election.  Statistics show that an ever-increasing amount of campaign spending is going towards online advertising and social media – where campaigns are targeting specific audiences for their messages.   Political advertisers are realizing what other marketers have already embraced, that it is critical to target advertising messages and dollars online to reach the high value consumers that you want to reach.

Experian Hitwise took a look at where to reach party loyals as well as key swing voters online. The segments highlighted in this post include the Super Democrats and Ultra Conservatives segments, which represent the most party loyal voters for Democrats and Republicans, respectively. And one of the important swing voter segments during this election cycle, Green Traditionalists.

The segments come from the Experian Simmons PoliticalPersonas consumer segmentation system, which classifies U.S. adults into one of 10 unique segments based on the individual’s political outlook and party ID as well as their attitudes and opinions towards key topics.

Source: Experian Simmons
We looked at each of the segments and their share of visits to various print, broadcast news media and political websites to see how they differ. The rankings below are based on share of visits for each segment and compared to the online population.

For the Super Democrats group USA Today captured the largest share of visits in the print news and media category, followed by The New York Times. When comparing this segment’s news consumption to the online population they have a stronger propensity to visit local news sites in Northern California, Seattle and New York centric publications.

In the broadcast news & media category, CNN.com received the largest share of visits from the Super Democrats segment but interestingly for a more liberal group, Fox News is second along with other various Fox News sites which may reflect that they are going across various properties to gather different perspectives on the news.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

Within the print news and media category, Ultra Conservatives had some similarities to Super Democrats in terms of sites that captured the largest shares like USA Today and The New York Times.  When comparing to the online population, Ultra Conservatives are less likely to be reading The New York Times and more likely to read The Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Other sites like Taste of Home, Reader’s Digest and Galveston County Daily News may be smaller sites but are effectively capturing a high share of visits from this group.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

In the broadcast news & media category, not surprisingly Fox News captured the largest share of visits from this segment and CNN.com as the number two site. Ultra Conservatives are far more likely to visit sites across the Fox News properties when compared to the online population.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

For the key independent voter segment Green Traditionalists, the political websites they are more likely to visit is interesting to see where they are getting news about the candidates and issues. The highest share of visits is to the NBC election news site and they are far more likely to monitor election coverage here than the online population. Environment issues are a driving force for this group and that is reflected in the appearance of Governor Cuomo’s site as one that they are more likely to visit during the four weeks ending August 11. Cumo has been in the news recently related to the passing an anti-fracking bill and this group seems to have particular interest in the health and environmental impacts of processes like this. Green Traditionalists are clearly independent as they do visit websites on both sides of the spectrum with right leaning sites as well as some of the more liberal sites with environmental focus such as Care2Petition.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

Publishers and campaign advertisers can drive strategic planning and highly targeted ad spend based on these insights.

View our webcast for more on insights on the PoliticalPersonas. For more political trends updated weekly – check out our Trend Center .

When asked in July of this year, “Do you think that you are better off or worse off financially now than you were 12 months ago?” 26% of U.S. adults responded “better off,” while 30% responded “worse off” and 44% responded “about the same.” Taken as a snapshot, things still look pretty glum for the pocketbooks of Americans. But when we examine the trend over time, we see that every year more and more Americans say they’re doing better, while fewer are doing worse.

Specifically, in January 2009, just before President Obama took office, only 16% of adults said they were better off financially than they were a year earlier and fully half said they were worse off. In fact, since Obama took office, there has been a relative increase of 63% when it comes to the share of the electorate who say they are financially better off. Meantime, there has been a relative decrease of 60% in the share of adults who say they are financially worse off. Both trends support the argument that Americans are better off today than they were when Obama was elected. If only things were so simple.

When it comes to personal economic outlook and that of the U.S. economy, many Americans are still uncertain. It is true that when asked in July, “Do you think that in the coming 12 months you will be better off or worse off financially than you are now?” 37% of adults say that they expect they will be better off, which is nearly double the share of Americans who say they will be worse off in the next year (19%). Furthermore, the share of adults who say they will be worse off has declined to 19% in July from a peak of 29% in January 2009. Still, since January 2010, Americans’ optimism (or pessimism) about their personal finances has remained relatively unchanged, suggesting that despite Americans increasingly reporting that they’re better off today, there is no groundswell in the belief that things will continue to improve.

Lack of confidence in the U.S. economy is likely a major driver behind this trend. In January 2012, there were more Americans who said that the American economy would be worse off in the coming year (36%) than those who predicted it will be better off (24%). Even today, pessimism outpaces optimism when it comes to our outlook towards the U.S. economy, but there is a small sign of hope. Between January and July 2012, the share of Americans who believe that the economy will be better off next year grew by a relative 8% and the share who believe it will be worse off declined by a relative 9%.

So while it seems that Americans indeed believe they are better off today than they were when they elected Obama, it’s unclear whether they have the they hope that things will continue to improve.

For more information about reaching swing voters, watch our PoliticalPersonas^SM webcast and read our blog post detailing the top indexing TV programs for reaching party loyals and swing voters.

Learn more about tracking consumer sentiment week-by-week with Simmons DataStream^SM.

Tampa: Chock full of free-wheeling boomers and retirees
Compared to the overall U.S. population, Tampa contains a high incidence of consumers over the age of 60. Headlining the over 60 crowd are a mix of newly retired, elderly couples, and widowed individuals leading busy social lifestyles. They’re physically fit for their age, politically active and earn solid incomes from pensions and investments. They’re Footloose and Family Free. Largely concentrated in Florida, nearly eight of every ten of these households contain a grandparent. But they’re more liberal than other senior segments, often voting democratic. The share of Footloose and Family Free households in Tampa is 8.8 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Call them Booming and Consuming, this is a financially fit collection of Baby Boomer couples and singles concentrated in the 50 to 60 year-old age range who are beginning to enjoy the early stages of an empty nest and retirement. These consumers have moderate incomes but sizeable nest eggs. Philanthropic by nature and interested in the arts, they donate money to a variety of causes. They are conservative in their thinking and active in the Republican Party. Think of them as the party backers who are inclined to take a date to the next GOP fundraiser. The share of Booming and Consuming households in Tampa is 5.7 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Golf Carts and Gourmets exemplify the prototypical upscale retirement lifestyle. These senior sophisticates are frequent travelers. They are twice as likely as average Americans to have taken a cruise in recent years. They also like to visit friends and relatives throughout the country. Golf Carts and Gourmets are more of a conservative bastion on political issues. Despite pockets of Liberals and Independents, a majority belong to the Republican Party. Many have a global awareness and give generously to political, educational and cultural groups. The share of Golf Carts and Gourmet households in Tampa is 2.3 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Charlotte: Home portal for the upwardly mobile professional
In contrast to Tampa, Charlotte sports an above average population of younger to middle-age, child-centered and career-driven couples and professionals. Leading the wave is a segment of upscale, family-centric households called Kids and Cabernet. These prosperous middle-aged couples with children are concentrated in the suburbs and live in homes valued at twice the national average. Their neighborhoods are havens for college-educated, white-collar professionals with well-paying jobs in the sciences, education, business and finance. Primarily harboring conservative viewpoints, Kids and Cabernet identify most closely with the Republican Party. The share of Kids and Cabernet households in Charlotte is 3.2 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Found predominantly in major metropolitan areas, Couples with Clout tend to live in downtown neighborhoods or close-in suburbs with immediate access to the central city. Largely free from childrearing costs, with fewer than ten percent having kids, these wealthy couples have high levels of discretionary income to satisfy their upscale tastes. They are well-educated, employed in white-collar and managerial professions, and are always on the lookout to upgrade their living situation. Somewhat progressive in their views, they describe themselves as political Independents. The share of Couples with Clout households in Charlotte is 2.4 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

The fast-growing, metro-fringe communities surrounding Charlotte are home to a flourishing population of digitally-savvy professionals. Let’s call them Fast Track Couples. With nine out of every ten householders under age 35, many are first-time home buyers who have settled into new residential developments filled with affordable homes. Most Fast Track Couples are either considering the idea of starting a family or already have pre-school kids at home. Pressed for time and career-focused, they’re not very active politically and have only average rates for being registered to vote. The share of Fast Track Couples households in Charlotte is 2.3 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Winning more votes
As marketers, we are always looking for imaginative ways to target and attract specific audiences. Political candidates know this all too well when on the campaign trail stumping for votes. Whether it’s the Baby Boomer and retiree market that is more prevalent in Tampa or the dynamic, youthful, white collar professional that has settled in Charlotte, each segment of the population has varied preferences, purchase behaviors and motivations to buy. In the world of marketing, consumers settle on a favored brand and then vote with their wallets. Consider taking a consumer “roll call” to determine which segments are most vital (loyal supporters) to ensuring your popularity and which segments lack allegiance (swing customers) to your message. The findings can then provide guidance for developing successful marketing campaign strategies.

The segments come from the PoliticalPersonas consumer segmentation system, which classifies U.S. adults into one of 10 unique segments based on the individual’s political outlook and party ID as well as their attitudes and opinions towards key topics.

The segments we will focus on in this post include the Super Democrats and Ultra Conservatives segments, which represent the most party loyal voters for Democrats and Republicans, respectively. We will also profile the TV preferences of three important swing voter segments during this election cycle, including: Mild Republicans, On the Fence Liberals and Green Traditionalists. For more information about the PoliticalPersonas segments, download the PoliticalPersonas Report.

The shows in each list include those cable and broadcast TV shows with the highest concentration of viewers from each segment. For example, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central has the highest concentration of Super Democrats of any non-news cable or broadcast show on TV. Likewise, Rules of Engagement on CBS has the highest concentration of Mild Republicans. Candidates, political organizations, and even traditional advertisers trying to connect with any of these voting segments would be wise to consider advertising on the programs listed below.

For more information on PoliticalPersonas, watch our Webcast.

Download The 2012 Digital Marketer report for more on the behaviors and habits of American voters.

By having a detailed understanding of key voter segments, including in-depth demographics, responsiveness to various media platforms, and attitudes and opinions on important political issues and social trends, marketers can do a better job bringing home the vote this November.

To learn more about the PoliticalPersonas segments, download The 2012 Digital Marketer report.

In fact, “The Colbert Show” has impacted the lexicon web-users use to search for information about political action committees; people have shifted from searching for “PAC” to searching for “Super PAC” during the course of Colbert’s campaign. Moreover, people are increasingly seeking additional information about these organizations, as demonstrated in terms such as “what is a super PAC?” and “are {sic} super PAC dangerous?”

It remains to be seen whether these searches demonstrate a direct interest in political action committees or merely a desire to be “in on the joke.” Yet as people turn to sites like Wikipedia for PAC information, digital data indicates that The Colbert Report’s efforts to shine a light on the political process have been successful.

Of course, the genius of this piece in Colbert’s repertoire is that it doesn’t merely incite public curiosity in the US political system – it also drives interest in “The Colbert Report.” Traffic from searches for variations of “Colbert” has risen along with the major moments of his political shenanigans this year.

Though Colbert’s political follies have caused an uptick in search clicks, year-over-year it’s the terms “Stephen Colbert” and “Colbert Report” which have achieved the greatest growth.

Mr. Colbert’s dreams of becoming “The President of the United States of South Carolina” may have been dashed, but this election season promises to be a digital boon for the one-time presidential hopeful.

Thanks to Margot Bonner, Analyst with the Strategic Services group for today’s analysis.

The first 111 search terms in the Lifestyle – Politics category focus on Republican candidates’ names, their wives’ names and navigational searches on political blogs. One of the most striking observations we’ve made about this year’s primary as well as previous primaries, is that searches revolving around political issues don’t show up on the list until the 112^th search term.

We decided to take a closer look at just those terms that relate to political issues. The interesting observation is that while most of the primary debates have featured the economy as a main issue, there are no economic issue terms in the top ten issues searched. So what political issues are people are searching on? Here is the list of the top ten political issues searched for the last four weeks.

Political Search Terms: Top Issues Searched

(4 weeks ending 2/11/2012)

1. Israel and Iran
2. healthcare
3. abortion
4. gun control
5. global warming
6. European crisis
7. human rights
8. taxes
9. death penalty
10. Iran nuclear

Be sure to pre-order the 2012 Digital Marketer report here to receive your copy as soon as it is released.

Here are three tips on what you can do as an advertiser to effectively connect to your audience

1. 360-degree immersion
   With so many gadgets vying for the average American’s attention, it’s no small feat to actually grab it! To ensure your message doesn’t get lost in the deluge, use multi-channel audience targeting to communicate the same message on multiple platforms. Data-driven advertising that helps you understand as much as possible about your targets, enables you to consistently reach your audience regardless of channel, giving you a greater chance of being remembered when it matters.Look for partner companies that directly manage display, email, direct mail and social media platforms so that once you define your target audience, you can rest assured that the same customized message will be delivered across all channels reliably.
2. Find your right target
   Many political advertisers have a list of key segments they’d like to reach. Reputable data providers can help you connect with the right segments in a de-identified manner using targeted digital messaging. For example, political campaigns can display environmental-oriented ads to a subset list while showing a Social Security themed message to another subset from their voter database. This allows them to customize their messaging to cater to the varied interests of their constituents The same ideas can be applied in targeting your key audience.
3. Get granular
   Campaigners always know which types of voters are engaged and passionate about their cause, and connect with the most influential voters based on their political affiliation and interests. To do this with your audience, look into data management platforms that have a reputable history of gathering first-party data. They need to seamlessly combine their analytical know-how when creating sophisticated segments in a privacy-compliant manner. We call this data-driven political advertising.

Here’s an example of how we helped a government official in a local re-election campaign: Using Experian Marketing Services data, the official ran segmented TV ads in his local election area. The TV ad was tailored so that multiple ads with different messages were delivered to each of his demographic segments. The result of the targeted messaging led to strong re-election numbers and an eventual campaign win for the official.