fix their brand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Right, especially Trump, recognized that persuasion is no longer about last-minute convincing, but about shaping beliefs continuously \u2014 building trust, shifting opinions, and staying visible through frequent engagement \u2014 just like commercial brand building,\u201d the report\u2019s authors wrote. \u201cDemocrats may acknowledge this shift but continue treating digital communication as a campaign-season sprint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republicans\u2019 audience advantage spans from podcasts, where Democrats have fretted about the influence of hosts like Joe Rogan, to social media and digital sites. On Facebook and Instagram, for example, Republican-aligned pages outspent those associated with Democrats throughout former President Joe Biden\u2019s term, the report found. The only exception of the fourth quarter of 2024, when Democratic-aligned spending surged ahead of the November election. Republicans regained the spending advantage in the first quarter of 2025, suggesting Democrats are not making up ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocrats have a brand and customers who require consistent and constant communication,\u201d said Jessica Alter, co-founder of Tech for Campaigns. \u201cAnd ads \u2026 3-6 months before an election can certainly supplement that strategy, but they can’t be the main strategy, not when Republicans never stop talking to their audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The online spending gap is not coming from political parties or campaigns. Instead, Republicans\u2019 digital advantage largely stems from allied groups and digital media companies, such as PragerU and the Daily Wire.<\/p>\n
Those sites and other similar ones are not focused strictly on electoral politics. But they have cultivated broad audiences, and spent years sharing content about issues \u2014 such as transgender students\u2019 participation in sports and opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs \u2014 that are electorally potent. And Republican candidates are primed to take advantage of those large, sympathetic audiences when an election draws near.<\/p>\n
While there are newer left-leaning media competitors, such as Courier Newsroom and NowThis Impact, the conservative pages and websites still have a larger audience and spend more on to boost their content across the platforms.<\/p>\n
When it comes to campaigns, Democrats do have a financial advantage. But although Democratic campaigns consistently outspend Republicans on digital platforms, that\u2019s often more focused on fundraising than persuasion and mobilization ads. That\u2019s a mistake, Tech for Campaigns argues.<\/p>\n
While former Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 campaign spent nearly three times as much as Trump\u2019s across Facebook, Google and CTV after she entered the presidential race in July 2024, only a small share, 8 percent, was devoted to mobilization, the report finds. That allowed Trump and his allies to close much of the gap when it came to digital content designed to get voters to the polls.<\/p>\n
But the report cautions against simply trying to recreate what Republicans have done well \u2014 for instance, by trying to find a Democratic equivalent of Rogan or even assuming that podcasts will be the most important medium for 2028. Instead, it argues, Democrats need to be willing to try different formats, testing what works and adapting as needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimply increasing funding to replicate Republican tactics from the last cycle won’t be sufficient \u2014 nor will continuing to rely primarily on the same networks of talent,\u201d the report concludes. \u201cSuccessful right-wing influencers emerged largely organically outside party structures, not through top-down creation.\u201d<\/p>\n