Approach
The audience for the campaign was Californians with a Household Income (HHI) of $30K or less, The audience for the campaign was Californians with a Household Income (HHI) of $30K or less, prioritizing seniors, young adults, and single moms. M+R leveraged audience research through MRI-Simmons to identify where each of these priority targets spend their time, and ensure our media plan effectively reached each of them.
This data ranged from what social media services they use, to what shows they watch on TV, to how heavily they use radio, and more.
Shifting to a Digital-First Approach
The media consumption data from MRI-Simmons indicated that our audiences spend time on both traditional and digital channels, so M+R recommended a mixture of channels, with a digital first approach.
Spending more on digital better allowed us to specifically target based on HHI — not feasible on traditional channels — which was the core need of this campaign. Digital channels also allowed for better optimization and flexibility mid-campaign.
Building Audiences that Drive Results
To reach these specialized target audiences, M+R combined known demographic data with field-tested targeting strategies to maximize results:
- Customizing our media mix based on hyper-local media consumption data, such as increasing billboards and gas station out-of-home (OOH) units in more rural areas.
- Leveraging lookalike modeling to identify people whose income data may not be readily available, expanding reach to qualified audiences.
- Utilizing platform consumption data to optimize our media mix by audience, including heavying up on Meta for Spanish-speaking audiences, while focusing more on TikTok for English audiences.
- Exercising flexibility in our targeting and implementation strategies by being able to pivot audiences and their setup based on real-time performance (e.g. adjusting budget distribution between different segments).
- Being mobile-first and aiming for authenticity in creative to reach our key target demos, especially younger audiences.
Audience and Message Research
After identifying the right channel mix, we dug into creative development.
Using Swayable, a pre-market testing tool that measures opinion lift, we were able to determine the best messaging approaches to motivate our core audiences to learn more about CalEITC and submit for California tax credits. One thing was clear from the research results: One size would not fit all for this campaign. Each of our audiences had unique needs, motivations, and interests, which required us to tailor our messaging to those groups.
For instance, Spanish-speaking audiences were particularly interested in learning how to apply for CalEITC using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) whereas multigenerational households were motivated by language that focused on family values and identified as hard workers.
The result of these custom messages was an authentic campaign that cut through the noise, and built trust, enthusiasm, engagement and, ultimately, results.
