As the past couple presidential elections have demonstrated, candidates running for political office cannot afford to ignore the importance of having an internet presence if they're serious about winning. Political campaigns today rely heavily on social media and online video ads to reach a variety of target demographic voters. 

Advertising begins for Los Angeles mayoral election
With Los Angeles mayoral elections coming up in the spring, candidates have already begun advertising efforts. Several candidates have posted their video ads online, with some featuring a couple of big Hollywood names. 

Eric Garcetti, which The Huffington Post called the "hipster candidate," is currently favored to win the election and has aired three television ads in English and one in Spanish. One reason the mayoral election may be receiving significant attention from the media is Will Farrell's endorsement video, available online. The clip features a silly comical rant typical of the actor, who sports a handlebar mustache and promises waffles for Los Angeles residents every Tuesday if Garcetti is elected.

According to the Huffington Post, Emanuel Pleitez, another candidate in the race, has spent nearly $11,000 on Facebook ads and promoted video posts. None of the other candidates revealed their budget.

This recent phenomena depicts the growing importance the internet plays in creating a multi-platform campaign.

Video ads online and microtargeting are necessary campaigning tool
One of the major advantages advertising online has over television commercials is the ability to track and analyze consumer information. This is a very important tool, especially for political campaigns.

Microtargeting is aimed at identifying people's preferences and consumer behavior and allows entities to tailor promotional content to the specificities of each person in its target audience. The marketing tactic was a major component of online campaigning techniques employed during the 2012 election season, according to recent findings from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Spending on microtargeting exceeded $200 million in 2012.

The IAB states the marketing strategy can be attributed in part to the success of several candidates, including President Barack Obama.

The president's camp successfully targeted ads based on popular, specific concerns and topics like the auto bailout, in addition to reaching moderate women voters.

One way Obama's campaign mastered microtargeting involved creating equations that took into account how likely someone was to vote and how likely he or she was to vote for the president to calculate what type of content he or she should receive, The Washington Post explains.

Incorporating refined data analysis into marketing efforts can help political pundits and brands determine how to manage video advertising online.