With 100 days until May’s UK general election, Twitter have announced that political parties (and any other advertisers) can now target ads to users within specific postcodes.
The election on May 7th is set to be one of the tightest in recent history and this new tool will let parties engage via Twitter with voters en mass like never before.
Twitter the decider?
Many are calling the 2015 general election the first ‘social media’ general election, though similar claims were made five years ago. Labour strategist Douglas Alexander has said social will be “priceless” in the next 100 days.
With certain seats balanced on a knife edge, politicians can now put specific issues in front of key swing voters, raise their profile, and craft their message differently across the country so that it resonates better.
The new advertising uses geo-location to pinpoint the location of Twitter’s 15m UK users. Parties had previously been able to target users on a wider basis. Areas included the East Midlands, the North West and South East England.