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Robyn Edie / Stuff
National leader Judith Collins has spent thousands of dollars promoting her page.
The National Party has spent thousands of dollars on Facebook advertising in recent weeks, while Labor has spent nothing.
The bombardment comes as the election campaign gets under way again after Auckland’s Level 3 lockdown.
Data from Facebook’s ad library shows that the National Party spent approximately $ 23,000 between August 25 and August 31, a substantial portion of the $ 53,000 the party has spent in total on its page since mid-July.
In the same week, the Labor Party did not spend money on its own page or Jacinda Ardern’s, and has only spent $ 318 since mid-July. The Green Party spent approximately $ 5,600 in the same period and has spent just under $ 48,644 since mid-July, while ACT spent $ 8,800 during the same period and $ 44,000 since mid-July.
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Much of National’s total spending occurred during August, with the party spending between $ 5,000 and $ 6,000 on a single ad that ran between August 21 and August 31.
That announcement, which Facebook estimates reached nearly 450,000 people in Auckland, focused on the government’s Covid-19 response. Using news footage of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and snippets of stories about the failure to test border workers with dramatic music, the ad suggested viewers “stop the yo-yo” of the lockdowns by voting National.
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Labor Party Facebook ads from the beginning of the year.
National leader Judith Collins has also spent approximately $ 26,000 on her personal page since July, with all of the ads focused on increasing her followers or “likes” on Facebook.
This appears to have had some success, as the number of fans on his page increased from 22,000 in April, before leading, to around 55,000.
However, she remains well behind Jacinda Ardern, who has 1.36 million fans. Former Prime Minister John Key has 232,000.
Tim Dorrian of digital marketing firm Aro Digital said that many parties had essentially been “paying for likes” or email newsletter subscriptions during the period.
He had noticed a significant increase in spending, particularly from National.
“I predict that as we get closer to the election, you will really start to see Labor increasing its spending. All of his spending so far has been on his campaign launch, ”said Dorrian.
“It is cheaper to reach people on social media. And you get a lot more bang for your buck in terms of eyeballs compared to a TV ad. “
AP
Facebook will be a big part of the election campaign.
He said National was targeting specific regions with ads focused on region-specific policy announcements, such as a new highway.
“They are going to go after undecided, undecided voters. They are less likely to target the audience of people that they will be really sure will already vote nationally. “
Dorrian said there was a misconception that Facebook was primarily to reach young voters, but this was not the case at all.
National has posted many announcements of aggressive attacks on the government on Facebook and Twitter throughout the period.
Some have clashed with the Advertising Standards Authority, but the party has also won many disputes.
The president intervened earlier this week to declare an ad based on a written parliamentary question misleading.
Collins said he had not seen the ad before it was sent, despite the fact that his Twitter account shared it.
