Lessons from a data-driven campaign (Obama 2012)
The campaign's Director of Digital Analytics, Amelia Showalter, takes you inside campaign headquarters for a quick glimpse of the thrilling successes and informative failures of Obama's digital testing program.
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By Amelia Showalter, former Director of Digital Analytics of the 2012 campaign to re-elect Obama.
Barack Obama's win in 2012 was never a foregone conclusion. Big money was lining up on the other side, and the progressive base was no longer as wildly enthusiastic as they had been in 2008's historic "Hope and Change" election. To win in 2012, the Obama campaign would have to outsmart and out-organize Romney and the Super-PACs -- and raise enough money to stay competitive and pay for its technologically advanced operation.
Armed with tenacity, data skills, and a culture of rigorous testing, the Obama campaign's digital team raised over half a billion dollars online from grassroots supporters. The campaign's Director of Digital Analytics, Amelia Showalter, takes you inside campaign headquarters for a quick glimpse of the thrilling successes and informative failures of Obama's digital testing program. And beyond all the anecdotes and evidence, two broad lessons of the Obama campaign emerged: experiment on everything, and invest in a team that can pull it off.
