For Immediate Release
August 8, 2024

Contact: Press@TargetSmart.com 

Washington, DC – Today, TargetSmart, the leading provider of political data for Democratic campaigns and advocacy organizations, announced the launch of the TargetSmart Media Buying Platform, which will revolutionize how progressive campaigns and causes place digital ad buys across CTV, OTT, Display, and Video. Over the past few election cycles, large corporations have decided to curtail or ‘opt out’ of political advertising entirely. This new platform protects against that – as the first media buying platform built by political operatives for political operatives – it is designed to be a permanent part of the Democratic and Progressive data infrastructure for cycles to come. 

“We see this is a game changer for our clients across the board, and we can’t wait to arm progressive campaigns and causes with this new tool,” said TargetSmart CEO Lindsey Schuh Cortés. “For nearly a decade, TargetSmart has rooted its business in data. With this new platform, TargetSmart is taking the voter file to the next level by allowing our clients to access that best in class data in the digital advertising space.”  

As more campaign and advocacy ads have moved to digital platforms, the way ads have been placed has been through a patchwork of adtech providers that lack campaign-specific expertise or big tech companies that routinely change terms of service for political ads, or have suddenly left the industry entirely. Microsoft’s Xandr and Adobe have banned political ads entirely, and other providers like Google have continued to change their services for campaigns and advocates. TargetSmart is creating a frictionless environment where the data that powers campaigns is seamlessly integrated with ad execution for the first time. 

TargetSmart’s new platform will match ad delivery back to the voter file, ensuring clients have insight into who the ads were delivered to, not just if they were delivered. Detailed ad logs for insight into media spends, campaign performance, impression delivery, costs and unparalleled access to TargetSmart’s industry leading audience segment data will be provided at no extra cost; making antiquated KPIs like clicks and impressions a thing of the past. 

Dating back to 2008 and 2012, Republicans and the private sector looked to innovative tactics pioneered by Democrats. Since then, the private sector has made significant leaps and Republicans continue to chase Democrats. TargetSmart’s new platform is changing that dynamic. Progressives will now have access to the same types of proprietary tools large corporations have to efficiently serve ads in a safe, reliable environment. 

“Moving forward, progressive candidates and causes can’t be held at the whims of tech companies or middle men who decide to no longer serve political ads,” said TargetSmart Senior Advisor Tom Bonier. “We need an infrastructure that is durable, reliable and built to meet the evolving needs of the Democratic ecosystem and this is exactly what that does.” 

###