A snapshot of Labor's digital advertising push (Image: Supplied)

Attack messages focusing on the federal government’s most controversial figures — Barnaby Joyce, Peter Dutton and Bridget McKenzie — changes to Medicare and the lagging vaccine rollout are being targeted at key seats in a new digital advertising blitz launched by Labor earlier this month.

Crikey analysis of the Australian Labor Party’s Facebook and Google digital advertising spend reveals that it has significantly ramped up the amount of money and number of campaigns against the government for the second half of this year.

On Facebook, it has spent more than $70,000 in the past 28 days to July 28, far more than any other political party or candidate. It had only spent a total of $27,000 since Facebook began reporting expenditure in the 10 months before that. 

Similarly, two-thirds of Labor’s spend on Google search and YouTube advertisements since the number started being reported in November 2020 happened this month — more than $12,000.

These ads, which can be viewed on the company’s advertising transparency databases, provide insight into the messages that Labor wants to reach voters in seats it hopes to pick up.

Political parties tend to use social media in two ways. The first is their organic, normal posts on profiles such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In a way that’s not dissimilar to ads on major television networks or widely read newspapers — they are viewed by many. The difference from that on traditional media is that on, say, Facebook the more engagement the ad gets the more people the platform tends to show it to. Parties tend to post messages that they hope will be red meat for their base (in this case, Labor voters) to share into their networks.

The second way is through targeted advertising. Digital advertising allows political parties to narrowly target users based on details like their age, gender, location and interests while providing real-time feedback about how much people are engaging with them. This allows them to pay platforms to help them reach people who may never otherwise engage with their content.

As such, political parties will often run different messages between their organic posts and their digital ads (and within their assortment of digital ads). 

In this case, Labor is running multiple campaigns. Its biggest remains about the government’s stunted vaccine rollout, comparing Prime Minister Scott Morrison in videos with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

Another major campaign focuses on Medicare, including both a positive pledge from Labor to “protect Medicare” and a negative “Mediscare” campaign about the government’s changes to the scheme. 

Other smaller campaigns focus on the controversial ministerial grant schemes and Labor’s policies of criminalising wage theft, funding the ABC, electric cars and renewable energy. These also show who Labor has identified as political targets among the government. Other than Morrison, Joyce’s reelection to the Nationals leadership features heavily as creating instability. McKenzie and Dutton and their roles in ministerial grant schemes are also named.  

While Facebook only reports geographical targeting down to a state level, Google’s transparency library shows it down to the suburb. From this, Labor’s target electorates can be surmised.

For example, it displays that the Labor Party is running micro-targeted ads in the outer suburbs of Perth that overlap with Pearce, Christian Porter’s seat. Other targeted seats include Brisbane (held by LNP) and Newcastle (held by Labor).

With less than a year until the latest possible date for the election and with the Coalition’s support sliding, Labor has begun to step up its spend and sharpen its messages in areas it thinks the government is weakest.