Combining Influencer Content with Paid Media Strategy with Nicole Dunger and Ryan Davis People First
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Release Date: 11/21/2025
How Southern Voters are Reshaping American Politics with Howard Franklin Ohio River South
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Howard Franklin, CEO of Ohio River South, joins me to shine light on the evolving political, economic, and demographic landscape of the American South. The question is how these shifts have changed the electorate and created opportunities for a new wave of political candidates. The most effective ways to reach Southern voters still include traditional in-person engagement alongside digital outreach to reach urban, suburban, and rural communities. Howard and I talk about Outdated historical perspectives about Southern voters Where Southern voters live and why people are moving to the region...
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Civic Technologists Bringing Expertise and Organizing Tools to Strengthen Elections and Political Campaigns with Xena Ni Trestle Collaborative
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Xena Ni, Co-Founder of the Trestle Collaborative joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the world of civic technologists and the need to help progressive organizations and campaigns to use technology safely and effectively. She contrasts the resources and mandates of commercial tech with those of the political and non-profit sectors. The mission of Trestle is to provide resources and support to leverage technology, build a strong campaign infrastructure, and protect against cyberattacks. Deepak and Xena talk about Motivation for entering civic tech from Silicon Valley...
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Mobile-First Political Strategy Featuring 4K Video Drives Higher Voter Engagement with Josh Justice Peerly
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Josh Justice, CEO of Peerly, focuses on the evolving role of text messaging in political campaigns, particularly the shift from mobile optimization to a mobile-first communication strategy. The dominance of texting and reliance on small screens have driven the shift from simple SMS to text messaging with full HD and 4K video, and campaigns are thinking about content and advertising in new ways. Using AI responsibly builds in efficiency and scalability to target and engage more voters. Josh and I talk about: How text messages using video in motion integrated with AI tools offer a highly...
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Musician Turned Politician Leveraging Social Media Experience to Run for Tennessee Governor with Adam Ditch Kurtz
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Adam Ditch Kurtz, a Democrat, is running for governor of Tennessee in a race with 4 candidates competing in the August Democratic primary. A career musician, Ditch is building a grassroots campaign informed by his live performance experience and long-term use of social media to communicate authentically and respond rapidly to voters. He outlines his strategies for reaching rural and working-class voters and engaging the established political machine. We talk about The current political climate and appeal of an outsider running for public office Using social media to build an authentic...
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Electoral Organizing Guidebook for the Working Class with Tomas Garduno
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Tomas Garduno, organizer and activist, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the power of the working class and what tools are necessary to organize and mobilize this diverse cohort. After 25 years of political experience, Tomas has written the Fundamentals of Electoral Organizing to support this community and encourage more people to get involved. He points out that the electoral arena offers a unique opportunity for the working class to leverage its numerical strength against those with extreme wealth. Deepak and Tomas talk about Need to overcome the...
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Why Political Billboards Cut Through Right-Wing Propaganda in Rural America with Stephen Schear
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Stephen Schear, activist and billboard expert, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss a strategy to penetrate the right-wing propaganda machine by placing billboards with concise, visually powerful, and often negative messages in purple rural areas. Stephen details the logistics of creating, funding, and placing these kinds of billboards, emphasizing their cost-effectiveness. Deepak and Stephen talk about Why billboards are persuasive in rural communities Media habits of voters who believe false claims Collaborating with local county Democratic parties to target...
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How the SAVE Act Creates Barriers for Legitimate Voters with Michael McNulty Issue One
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Michael McNulty, Policy Director at Issue One, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss fixing democracy through campaign finance reform, election protection, big tech accountability, and defending the constitutional powers of Congress from executive overreach. The SAVE Act and Save America Act are identified as partisan attempts to create significant barriers to voting based on a false narrative of widespread voter fraud. Deepak and Michael talk about Lessons learned from international work observing authoritarian tactics to undermine elections ...
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Local News Sites Untapped Goldmine for Political Ad Buyers with Chris Nolan Spot-On
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Chris Nolan, Founder of Spot-On, points out that political consultants often overlook local news sites in favor of national sites with large audiences and programmatic advertising capabilities. Local news sites offer highly effective geographic targeting and audiences engaged in current events and their communities. With shifting loyalties to political parties and a move towards issue-based decisions, local news publishers have an opportunity to play a larger role in down-ballot races. We talk about: Why direct ad buys on local news sites can be more effective and financially smart for...
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Handwritten Postcards Featuring Political Cartoons Breaking Through Media Bubbles with Erin Miller Cartoons for Democracy
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Erin Miller, Founder of Cartoons for Democracy, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss using postcards to enable people who can't canvass due to age, location, or time constraints to support campaigns. A political cartoon on one side of a postcard with a handwritten note is an eye-catching way to communicate a message quickly and humorously to a broad audience, and it is proving effective at getting attention from voters. Deepak and Erin talk about Why postcarding is a crucial tool for activism and complementary to other tactics Finding ways to overcome digital...
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Why Nonprofits Need to Make Complex Issues Part of a Larger Narrative with Caroline Sanchez-Avakian BISC
Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda
Caroline Sanchez-Avakian, Strategic Communications Director at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, BISC, offers advice to nonprofits on effectively managing their communications and earned media strategies. The media environment continues to change, requiring nonprofits to tell authentic, clear, and concise stories about complex topics that fit into a larger narrative. We talk about: The need to move beyond episodic campaign-based thinking to building a comprehensive ongoing narrative Connecting policy to real-world community impact is essential to getting the attention of reporters...
info_outlineNicole Dunger, Vice President of Growth, and Ryan Davis, CEO of People First, highlight the value of integrating influencer content into paid media strategies, a practice becoming more common in the political and advocacy space. The use of micro-influencers is key for state and local races, and the paid amplification can promote authentic voices to hard-to-reach voters. Campaigns are planning their influencer strategies earlier in the campaign cycle and effectively using creator content to inform messaging to a broader audience.
We talk about:
- The common practice of commercial brands to use creator content in paid advertising
- Why micro-influencers with 5,000-50,000 followers are the sweet spot for congressional races
- Measuring ROI from influencer campaigns
- Learning to cede creative control to influencers, trusting them to know how best to communicate to their followers
#PeopleFirst #Influencers #InfluencerCampaigns #InfluencerMarketing #PoliticalCampaigns #DigitalCampaigns #VoterOutreach #Election2026
