Why Campaigns Get Digital Strategy Wrong

I recently attended an event that was the first of its kind in Europe: the Political Tech Summit in Berlin. It was full of campaign focused discussions, like what went right/wrong in the last European elections, and what lessons we can learn from the winners and losers both. 

As I went from talk-to-talk last month, I started to recognize a clear thread emerging from the speakers and strategists who came from around the world: most campaigns are losing their digital battles because their strategies aren’t aligned with actual voter behavior. 

The winning campaigns in the most recent EU elections were obviously well funded, but beyond that they were relevant, responded quickly to voters, and focused on remaining relevant to the actual concerns of the people. 

If you’ve read the Mario Draghi report from 2024 on how the EU can boost its competitiveness with the rest of the world, you’ll know that he calls for increased investment to give the economy a kick in the pants. 

This is great, and obviously on the right track. But the report is also full of suggestions that this investment should go into green energy, and focus mainly on social and ecological issues. If you watched either of the major elections last year, you’ll have seen that the candidates on the left initially shared much the same focus. 

You’ll also know that the ultimate winners did not. 

Voters might claim an issue as a top concern in official polling when they’re asked to represent their entire country, or their community. But in truth, when nobody is watching them, they’re much more likely to engage with content about the local issues such as crime, or with posts that speak to their economic anxieties. 

The far-right European parties’ secret weapon, which shouldn’t have been a secret, was their emotional resonance. Back home, we saw much of the same thing, with the price of eggs becoming more of a talking point than the life/choice divide that polling would have told us was a top issue. On both continents, the right, unlike the progressive parties, opted to speak from their gut and directly to the issues that people engaged with on social media.

One of my favorite examples from the conference was an Italian politician who campaigned against the EU’s Nutri-Score. For my American friends, this is an A-to-E grade given to processed foods, and meant to be an indicator of the overall nutrients. In this instance, Nutri-Score had labeled Italian mozzarella as an E: firmly “unhealthy.”

But this politician went on social media declaring that she would defend Italian made products, and stood up for their economy. Her posts went viral. The issue wasn’t ideological, and it certainly didn’t show up in any poll. It was a deeply emotional and local way to engage with voters, spun to ignite national pride and speak directly to their economic anxiety. This is what makes good content. 

Taking this a step further, you should realize that your ads won’t succeed on budget alone. In the crowded digital ad space, that’s getting more crowded by the day, simply throwing money at online advertising doesn’t guarantee visibility. According to insights shared by data-researchers at the summit, platforms like Meta actually prioritize your ads relevance over your budget, and will actually give you something akin to a free credit if they deem your content is more likely to perform well. 

An ad with a $5 bid can beat one bidding $7 if the algorithm predicts it will be more likely to engage users. This means that when speaking to voters outside of your base — whether it be in the middle or across the aisle — you have to use the words and touch upon the emotions that trigger those voters to engage and respond. 

To take advantage of this, deepen your audience segmentation by micro-targeting, and do your best to understand exactly what truly interests and motivates each universe. The only way to actually achieve this is by constantly testing your creative, using something like A/B testing, discarding your failures, and iterating upon your successes. This is how you will discover what genuinely resonates and set you up for success in scaling that content. 

U.S. campaigns heading into 2026 must prioritize engagement metrics over polling. Watch carefully what voters actually share, comment on, and discuss, not just what polls say they care about. Hyper-localize your messaging to embrace grassroots, issue-specific content, which often drives deeper emotional engagement. Whether you’re posting to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, the content itself should dictate what you consider a success. In the end effective content feels personal and urgent, addressing the specific concerns of voters directly. 

For practitioners, this means segmenting your audience clearly and adapting your content to each group’s preferences. Utilize trusted messengers like coalition leaders, and watch the organic posts from genuine supporters to see what over performs among voters in your district. 

We often talk a lot about “earned media,” and in the past this meant having your press release picked up, and the campaign being featured in the news, or on the radio. Today, earned media means something completely different. It means that one of your posts went viral, actually encouraging voters to actually share it with other voters within their community. 

Finally, try to convert those digital engagements, likes, shares, and comments into tangible actions. Clearly outline next steps that lead to mobilization, volunteering, or voting. Doing this, you can turn hurt-feelings over the nutritional score of mozzarella, into a GOTV push that brings your supporters to the polls.

Caitlin Huxley bridges data and strategy to help moderates win close races, leveraging 15 years of experience. She’s the author of Ancient Wisdom for Modern Campaigns: Lessons from Sun Tzu’s Art of War.