This report provides analyses by the Illuminating 2020 project on the topics in the ads the Biden and Trump campaigns ran on Facebook and Instagram during the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Illuminating 2020 Message Topic Report
Identifying Political Topics in Social Media Messages
In this post, we introduce our lexicon-based approach to political campaign advertisement message topic classification.
How Biden Used Facebook Ads in Arizona
Biden’s historic win in Arizona created reason to explore how he advertised on Facebook in Arizona, and how that differed from how he advertised overall.
To Swing or Not to Swing: How Facebook Ads Were Used to Reach Ohio Voters
Ohio has been considered one of the most significant swing states for decades, but for the first time since 1960 the winner did not win the state of Ohio. In this post, we take a look at how the candidates used Facebook and Instagram ads to appeal to voters in Ohio.
Noteworthy News in Nevada: A Retrospective on 2020 Presidential Election Campaign Ads in the Silver State
As a swing state with 6 electoral votes, Nevada was integral on the path to winning the 2020 election. Here we take a deep dive into how the official Biden and Trump campaign pages targeted voters within the Silver State.
How Trump Used Facebook Ads in Arizona
Prior to the election, many analysts predicted that Arizona would be a tight race and a key battleground state for both campaign’s path to victory. Donald Trump ran ads in Arizona from several different Facebook pages. Using data collected by Illuminating, trends about the demographics Trump targeted can be examined, comparing state-specific strategy to what Trump did overall.
Examining how the candidates’ amount spent per view changed throughout the campaign
Earlier in the summer, Donald Trump consistently had a lower spend per 1000 views than Joe Biden. However, in many of the final weeks before the election, it was Joe Biden’s ads that had a lower spend per view.
Trump’s Ad Spending Breakdown in the “Latinos for Trump” Facebook Page
With the election finally decided, it is clear that the 2020 election was far from predictable. Several key voting demographics defied polling and created an unexpected outcome. In this article, we take a look at the “Latinos for Trump” Facebook page and how ads were used to influence this key demographic of voters.
The Cost of COVID: For Candidates and for the Country
As the death toll in the U.S. climbs to over 230,000, let’s see how Biden and Trump are choosing to discuss COVID.
All Eyes on Georgia: How Candidates are Spending in the Peach State
As Election Day ballots are being cast, both candidates are hoping their ad spending efforts in Georgia have paid off. In this post, we take a look at how the candidates are using different types of Facebook ads to appeal to Georgia voters.