Provinciale Statenverkiezingen 2023

How do political campaigns target voters?

Methodology

In collaboration with Who Targets Me, we monitored over 1000 Dutch political advertisers during the 2023 Provinciale Statenverkiezingen (Provincial elections) to better understand how campaigns use different targeting methods made available by Meta. To do this, we used data from the Meta Ad Library, using the new ‘Audience’ data which gives some detail on how pages target their ads.

To better understand the regional election, we kept only advertisers who:

  1. Advertised in the last 7 days (Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023)
  2. Advertised in the last 30 days (Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023)

Note: Meta only provides 7, 30 and 90 days windows for the targeting data in their Ad Library. Meta’s data also lags by a few days. We will update this report as soon as new data is available.

Topline Statistics

Meta

Daily Spend

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

In total, political parties spend €921,805 and ran 7021 ad copies on Meta in this timeframe.

Number of Advertisers Top Spenders Number of Ads Total Spend

PvdA

43


1. Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) (€66,437)
2. PvdA Zuid-Holland (€28,224)
3. PvdA Noord Holland (€12,024)

712

€151,900

GroenLinks

26


1. GroenLinks (€125,617)
2. GroenLinks Zuid-Holland (€7,500)
3. Jesse Klaver (€3,613)

417

€145,935

CDA

41


1. CDA Noord-Holland (€16,009)
2. CDA Zuid-Holland (€15,636)
3. CDA Provincie Utrecht (€10,303)

718

€109,911

VVD

53


1. VVD (€45,025)
2. Limburgse VVD (€16,490)
3. VVD Provincie Utrecht (€6,618)

1,010

€99,343

SP

15


1. SP (€70,484)
2. Lilian Marijnissen (€4,225)
3. SP Noord-Brabant (€1,115)

429

€77,384

FvD

4


1. Forum voor Democratie -FVD (€69,357)
2. Thierry Baudet (€2,136)
3. Wybren van Haga (€760)

543

€72,353

Volt Nederland

4


1. Volt Nederland (€29,371)
2. Volt Noord-Holland (€8,049)
3. Volt Brabant (€5,178)

1,205

€46,485

D66

22


1. D66 Noord-Holland (€8,967)
2. D66 Zuid-Holland (€4,691)
3. D66 Provincie Utrecht (€4,121)

222

€41,455

PvdD

14


1. Partij voor de Dieren (€24,683)
2. Partij voor de Dieren Zuid-Holland (€3,367)
3. Partij voor de Dieren Noord-Holland (€2,636)

313

€38,063

BVNL

8


1. Belang van Nederland - BVNL (€30,758)
2. BVNL Gelderland (€512)
3. Arjan de Kok - BVNL (€356)

107

€32,613

BBB

7


1. BBB BoerBurgerBeweging (€25,528)
2. BBB Boerburgerbeweging Noord-Holland (€1,295)
3. BBB Boerburgerbeweging Limburg (€569)

76

€28,444

Ja21

4


1. Ja21 (€14,440)
2. JA21 Noord-Holland (€2,874)
3. JA21 Drenthe (€314)

344

€17,768

ChristenUnie

21


1. ChristenUnie Flevoland (€3,779)
2. ChristenUnie (€3,684)
3. ChristenUnie Provincie Utrecht (€1,777)

271

€16,394

PVV

13


1. Geert Wilders (€9,198)
2. PVVLimburg (€1,984)
3. PVV Fryslan (€569)

77

€13,638

50PLUS

5


1. 50PLUSpartij (€10,080)
2. 50PLUSFlevoland (€1,792)
3. 50PLUS-Overijssel (€576)

96

€12,844

DENK

4


1. DENK (€6,582)
2. Mahmut Sungur DENK (€969)
3. Ekrem Selimspahic (€332)

379

€7,983

SGP

5


1. SGP (€2,550)
2. SGP Zeeland (€1,480)
3. SGP provincie Gelderland (€1,189)

64

€5,419

Alliantie

2


1. Henriette van Hedel - Alliantie (€1,997)
2. Alliantie (€1,876)

38

€3,873

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

In total, political parties spend €579,635 and ran 5141 ad copies on Meta in this timeframe.

Number of Advertisers Top Spenders Number of Ads Total Spend

PvdA

40


1. Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) (€35,936)
2. PvdA Zuid-Holland (€24,364)
3. PvdA Provincie Groningen (€7,645)

522

€101,543

GroenLinks

22


1. GroenLinks (€80,572)
2. GroenLinks Zuid-Holland (€7,262)
3. Jesse Klaver (€2,680)

336

€97,098

VVD

45


1. VVD (€37,215)
2. Limburgse VVD (€11,272)
3. VVD Provincie Utrecht (€6,618)

792

€75,855

CDA

38


1. CDA Zuid-Holland (€14,619)
2. CDA Brabant (€7,578)
3. CDA Noord-Holland (€5,652)

626

€65,610

FvD

3


1. Forum voor Democratie -FVD (€48,541)
2. Thierry Baudet (€2,136)
3. Forum voor Democratie Zeeland (€100)

525

€50,777

SP

13


1. SP (€29,163)
2. Lilian Marijnissen (€726)
3. SP Noord-Brabant (€668)

230

€32,133

D66

21


1. D66 Noord-Holland (€6,505)
2. D66 Zuid-Holland (€3,286)
3. D66 Provincie Utrecht (€2,885)

112

€28,963

PvdD

14


1. Partij voor de Dieren (€13,151)
2. Partij voor de Dieren Zuid-Holland (€3,044)
3. Partij voor de Dieren Noord-Holland (€1,443)

211

€22,614

BVNL

8


1. Belang van Nederland - BVNL (€21,104)
2. BVNL Gelderland (€394)
3. Arjan de Kok - BVNL (€234)

87

€22,470

Volt Nederland

4


1. Volt Nederland (€7,921)
2. Volt Noord-Holland (€6,368)
3. Volt Zuid-Holland (€4,466)

848

€22,455

Ja21

4


1. Ja21 (€9,330)
2. JA21 Noord-Holland (€3,563)
3. JA21 Drenthe (€311)

198

€13,342

ChristenUnie

18


1. ChristenUnie (€3,365)
2. ChristenUnie-SGP Noord-Brabant (€2,000)
3. ChristenUnie Flevoland (€1,766)

204

€12,493

BBB

5


1. BBB BoerBurgerBeweging (€7,534)
2. BBB Boerburgerbeweging Noord-Holland (€711)
3. BBB Boerburgerbeweging Limburg (€569)

31

€9,412

50PLUS

5


1. 50PLUSpartij (€6,916)
2. 50PLUSFlevoland (€1,004)
3. 50PLUS-Overijssel (€150)

49

€8,270

PVV

11


1. Geert Wilders (€4,801)
2. PVVLimburg (€1,587)
3. PVV Provincie Utrecht (€500)

47

€8,198

DENK

4


1. DENK (€3,045)
2. Mahmut Sungur DENK (€370)
3. Ekrem Selimspahic (€332)

253

€3,847

SGP

4


1. SGP (€1,174)
2. SGP Zeeland (€745)
3. SGP provincie Gelderland (€596)

47

€2,615

Alliantie

2


1. Alliantie (€1,840)
2. Henriette van Hedel - Alliantie (€100)

23

€1,940

Google

For Google platforms, data accessed via the Google Transparency Report provides exact spending on how much money was spent by parties in last 30 and 7 days.

Daily Spend

Feb 14th to Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

In total, political parties spend €504,300 and ran 2239 ad copies on Google in this timeframe.

Number of Ads Top Spenders Total Spend

GroenLinks

123


1. GroenLinks (€117,950)
2. Stichting GroenLinks in de EU (€0)

€117,950

FvD

21


1. Forum voor Democratie (€100,700)

€100,700

D66

148


1. D66 (€62,950)

€62,950

CDA

177


1. Christen Democratisch Appèl (€38,200)
2. Stichting statenfractie CDA Gelderland (€10,050)
3. CDA Doetinchem (€50)

€48,300

Volt Nederland

989


1. Volt Nederland (€44,500)

€44,500

VVD

153


1. VVD (€22,050)
2. Stichting Liberaal Dordrecht (€9,650)
3. Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (€1,900)

€33,600

SP

39


1. SP (Socialistische Partij) (€28,050)

€28,050

BBB

145


1. Marc-Michel Strijker (€26,300)

€26,300

PvdA

20


1. Partij van de Arbeid (€12,550)

€12,550

JA21

20


1. Conservatieve Liberalen (€9,300)

€9,300

DENK

24


1. Politieke beweging DENK (€6,850)

€6,850

50PLUS

140


1. Stichting fractieondersteuning 50plus Flevoland (€4,000)
2. VLG (€2,200)

€6,200

PvdD

2


1. Partij voor de Dieren (€2,800)

€2,800

BVNL

25


1. Belang Van Nederland (€2,100)
2. Engel Huibert van Dalen (€250)

€2,350

ChristenUnie

213


1. ChristenUnie (€1,900)

€1,900

Mar 9th to 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

In total, political parties spend €356,400 and ran 1777 ad copies on Google in this timeframe.

Number of Ads Top Spenders Total Spend

GroenLinks

95


1. GroenLinks (€93,000)

€93,000

FvD

19


1. Forum voor Democratie (€80,800)

€80,800

D66

142


1. D66 (€50,850)

€50,850

CDA

168


1. Christen Democratisch Appèl (€37,650)
2. Stichting statenfractie CDA Gelderland (€4,850)

€42,500

VVD

112


1. VVD (€18,150)
2. Stichting Liberaal Dordrecht (€5,150)
3. Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (€700)

€24,000

Volt Nederland

747


1. Volt Nederland (€20,300)

€20,300

SP

30


1. SP (Socialistische Partij) (€14,300)

€14,300

BBB

133


1. Marc-Michel Strijker (€9,550)

€9,550

PvdA

18


1. Partij van de Arbeid (€5,800)

€5,800

JA21

20


1. Conservatieve Liberalen (€4,150)

€4,150

DENK

21


1. Politieke beweging DENK (€3,650)

€3,650

PvdD

2


1. Partij voor de Dieren (€2,800)

€2,800

50PLUS

41


1. VLG (€1,700)
2. Stichting fractieondersteuning 50plus Flevoland (€300)

€2,000

BVNL

25


1. Belang Van Nederland (€1,200)
2. Engel Huibert van Dalen (€250)

€1,450

ChristenUnie

204


1. ChristenUnie (€1,250)

€1,250

Combined Stats

Daily Spend

Total Spend

Digital Ads as Percentage of Total Budget

Meta vs. Google vs. Snapchat

Spending per Targeting Criteria

How much did campaigns spend on different targeting methods?

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Overall

By Party

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Overall

By Party

Top Targeted Audiences

Here, we show the top targeted audiences for each party (ranked by amount of Euro spend). Most (but not all) of these audiences are “interest” audiences, i.e. the parties targeted people interested in “Books” or “Politics”.

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Top Contested Audiences

Here, we show the top most contested audiences, i.e. where all parties have spent considerable amounts of money competing to reach voters with the same interests. Most (but not all) of these audiences are “interest” audiences, i.e. the parties targeted people interested in “Books” or “Politics”. In each row on the right hand side, you can see how much in total was spend on that specific target audience.

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Age Targeting

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Gender Targeting

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Education Targeting

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

Job Targeting

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

Mar 9th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 7 days)

ZIP Code Targeting

The following maps show ZIP code targeting for a few parties that spend a lot on this kind of targeting method. It’s important to note that the spending here “overlaps”, i.e. one cannot sum up across all different ZIP codes as some targeted ZIP codes have a shared budget.

Feb 14th - Mar 15th 2023 (Last 30 days)

VVD

CDA

ChristenUnie