The votes are counted, the confetti has fallen, and the victory and concession speeches have been given. So, the political season is over, right?
Not quite.
Newly elected officials are headed to Washington, D.C., and state capitols. Returning legislators are stepping into new roles. Staff will change, committees will take shape, and new alliances will form.
For public affairs marketers, the election isn’t the end of the story. It changes the cast, and that means a whole new media brief.
Reaching the lawmakers, staffers, agency officials, advisors, and insiders who shape what happens next takes more than a geofence or a generic political interest segment. Those approaches can create reach, but they can also waste impressions on people with little connection to the decision you’re trying to influence.
Public affairs isn’t about reaching everyone interested in politics. It’s about reaching the people who influence what gets debated, funded, regulated, and passed.
Meet the new political map
That’s where Atlas Influence Targeting comes in. Now available through Infillion, these specialized audiences can be activated as part of a broader media strategy.
Atlas gives public affairs buyers multiple ways to reach the people shaping government and policy. Via Infillion, buyers can activate these audiences as part of a broader media strategy. Reach newly elected leaders and their networks, or the power brokers who influence the system at large.
What does this mean in practice? Byron Daniels, Governor-elect of Florida, and Annie Andrews, Senator-elect of South Carolina aren’t names you must wait until January to build a strategy around. Buyers can already reach audiences connected to these newly elected leaders through Infillion, including the people in their personal, political, and professional networks.
Stop targeting the building. Start targeting the influence.
Geofencing a capitol can tell you who was there. It can’t tell you who has influence once everyone leaves.
Lawmakers go back to their districts. Staff travel. Agency officials attend conferences. Advisors work remotely. Advocates, consultants, donors, and professional connections can be scattered across the country.
Atlas reaches the people who matter, not the buildings where some of them work.
Atlas audiences are designed to include the people who can influence outcomes without expanding so broadly that media dollars disappear into irrelevant impressions. For buyers, that means more budget goes toward the people, networks, and institutions that matter.
So, the better question isn’t:
Who is physically near the decisionmaker?
It’s:
Who has their ear?
A person. A committee. Or a system at large.
Public affairs campaigns don’t all start in the same place. Neither should the audience strategy.
Sometimes success comes down to only a handful of people. A governor. A first-term senator. Atlas Basic reaches individual policymakers and their first- and second-degree connections, helping media buyers funnel delivery to where it counts.
Sometimes success comes down to a committee, where bills are advanced, gutted, or pronounced dead on arrival. Starting in January, once assignments are announced, Atlas committee audiences will enable media buyers to reach committee members, staff, and their first- and second-degree networks, helping buyers influence legislation through each part of the process.
And sometimes it comes down to changing the conversation itself. Power Players are state-level audiences that reach hundreds of thousands of verified political operators. Use Power Players to deliver your message to the party leaders, elected officials, donors, media voices, and other power brokers in your state.
A person. A committee. A political ecosystem. Three different ways into the same question: who can shape what happens next?
Atlas Basic and Power Players audiences are now available through Infillion, so buyers can use them independently or layer them together within a broader media strategy.
The right audience is just the beginning
Finding the right people is important. Reaching them effectively, earning their attention, and making the most of every media dollar requires more.
Public affairs campaigns have different goals. Some need to build awareness around an emerging policy issue. Others need to educate audiences on complex legislation or sustain attention over a prolonged legislative session.
With Infillion, buyers can combine specialized audiences with premium media inventory, engaging creative formats, and intelligent optimization to build campaigns around those objectives. The Infillion Brain helps optimize execution toward campaign goals, while transparent reporting provides visibility into performance.
And as the political landscape changes, the media strategy can change with it.
The signs are coming down. The influence campaigns are just getting started.
For candidates, Election Day is a finish line. For public affairs teams, it’s the starting gun. The names are new. The staff is changing. The committees are taking shape. The next policy fights are already beginning.
So yes, take down the yard signs.
Sweep up the confetti.
Then update the media plan.
Atlas Influence Targeting audiences are now available through Infillion. Build a media strategy that reaches the right people, earns their attention, and adapts to what comes next.
