How to Reach the Exclusive People Who Influence U.S. Policy with Tunnl

Updated JULY 11, 2023

If you work in industries heavily impacted by public opinion and policy, you know how important it is to get your message in front of the right people in power who can actually do something about it. Unfortunately, reaching "the right people in power" isn't easy.

We understand the importance of connecting with people of the highest influence in Washington, D.C., and beyond. Engaging with these power players not only means that your message is heard in America’s capital but also that it is acted upon. 

That’s why we built our premium U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience, to help advertisers get their campaigns in front of the people who most directly influence change in U.S. policy and public perception.

So, what is Tunnl's U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience and how can you use it to your benefit?

What Is the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers Audience?

For public affairs and issue-based campaigns, reaching the people who can further your mission and influence change is crucial. Blanketing the nation with your message may make you feel like you're covering your bases, but in reality, you're most likely exhausting your media budget on people who don't care and almost certainly don't influence U.S. policy.

Founded by Washington, D.C. public affairs game changers and microtargeting pioneers, we at Tunnl recognize advertisers' growing need to get issue-based campaigns in front of the niche group of people who can drive change in the only place it's capable of resonating across the nation; on the Hill. That's why we built our premium U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience made up of the 1.2 million hard-to-reach individuals in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country who hold positions of power and influence and most directly shape U.S. policy.

This premium audience consists of esteemed political and business leaders from Congress, the Executive Branch, the news media, trade associations, lobbying and law firms, and the most politically active individuals nationwide. They have the power to shine a spotlight on your message, amplifying it across the country and advocating for it on the Hill, saving you time and resources while increasing your impact.

Here's a breakdown of who makes up the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience:

The audience contains additional demographic insights into age, income, race, education, marital status, and children in household.

Essential to your ability to target U.S. Policy Opinion Makers with your campaigns are insights into the audience's media consumption patterns. Do they favor cable or streaming? Which streaming networks do they prefer? Where on social do they spend their time? What are their favorite cable channels? The depth and array of media mix insights you get into the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience depends on which Tunnl platform tier you subscribe to:

• Tunnl Free provides national insights into the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers' consumption of social media and streaming TV. An Advanced Search feature is included to create your own custom segments against your own selection of issues and/or geographies at any hour, fast.
• Tunnl Plus provides local insights into the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers' consumption of social media and streaming TV, a cable channel ranker, and a streaming TV vs. linear TV matrix. An upgraded Audience Builder is included to create your own custom segments against your own selection of issues, demographics, geographies and radiuses, and/or media consumption behavior.
• Tunnl Premium provides the best in linear TV planning and measurement with the ability to see what the U.S. Opinion Makers are watching on linear TV across all 210 media markets, down to the program and daypart levels, and see how your linear TV campaigns are tracking against the audience vs. your competitors' campaigns.

In today's ever-changing landscape, where demographics and media consumption patterns are in constant flux, it is vital to base decisions on reliable and trustworthy data. That's why we regularly refresh our U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience data, to ensure it's reflective of the audience's current state. This commitment ensures advertisers are equipped with the most precise and dependable information, empowering them to make informed decisions and effectively reach the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience with their campaigns. Rest assured, our data is always compliant with privacy regulations, giving you the confidence you need to navigate the evolving world of policy and public perception.

How Do We Build the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers Audience?

Tunnl's data scientists employed an innovative approach to develop the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience. Combining manual curation with AI-powered algorithms, they harnessed the power of our proprietary, 100-billion-point data infrastructure to create a comprehensive and detailed profile of this influential group. This layered methodology enables us to identify the most effective media mix for engaging with the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience, ensuring your message reaches them in the places where they are most likely to be receptive.

By carefully analyzing and integrating various sources of intelligence, our data scientists have been able to construct a robust and accurate representation of the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience. This audience is continuously updated and refined to reflect the evolving landscape of influence and media. The result is a wealth of reliable and trustworthy data that empowers advertisers to make informed decisions and reach this influential audience in the most efficient way possible.

The combination of manual curation and AI-powered algorithms allows us to delve deep into the media consumption patterns of the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience. With this level of intelligence, we can paint a detailed and comprehensive picture of how this audience engages with different forms of media. Armed with this knowledge, advertisers can place their campaigns with confidence, knowing they'll reach the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience.

How Can You Use the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers Audience?

While there are many different scenarios in which the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience can be applied, the two most common use cases are:

• Targeted messaging
• Measurement 

Next, we explain how you can benefit from the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience in each scenario.

Targeting the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers Audience 

The most direct way to influence U.S. policy is to get your message in front of the people who set U.S. policy. And one of the most effective and efficient ways to reach the people scattered across the nation and throughout local communities who care about your message is by U.S. policy influencers sharing it with their networks. 

Say you're a trade association that represents the automotive industry. You have a heavy interest in getting Congress to pass the latest version of the Infrastructure bill. How do you communicate the benefits of the bill for your industry to the ideal influencers and decision-makers in Washington, D.C., and beyond?

This scenario is a perfect opportunity to target your message using the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience. With it, you help to ensure your message reaches and impacts the who’s who of American political influence.

Measuring Your Impact on the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers Audience

Let’s say you are an environmental group running campaigns about the destructive consequences of climate change. Your goal is to get the federal government to change environmental regulations. How do you know if the right people are seeing your ads? How are they being impacted?

The U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience can help you answer these questions when paired with a Tunnl Premium subscription with access to Paid and Earned Media Measurement. 

Paid linear TV measurement gives advertisers the ability to measure the impact of their paid linear TV advertising against their target audiences. It also gives them an inside look into their competitors' paid media efforts. 

Earned linear TV measurement lets advertisers track the impact of their non-paid media efforts, such as media hits or interviews. It also enables them to monitor specific topics and see how they're being discussed in the media, which is especially important for advertisers that have prominent leadership members or those who are in an industry where public perception of their brand heavily depends on public perception of their industry as a whole.

How Do You Get Started Using the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers Audience?

Public opinion and policy are changing constantly. Should you want to influence real change, it’s vital that your messaging strategy includes audience insights that help you reach the right people of influence, safeguarding you from wasting your advertising dollars by reaching the wrong people.

Tunnl’s U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience is that safeguard. To begin reaching the people who can move your message forward, give our pricing page a look and talk to our sales team about the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience today.

Coming Soon in Fall 2023

For years, advertisers in public affairs and issue advocacy have relied on our U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience to connect with influential Americans who have the power to shape and determine U.S. policy. This fall brings two major updates that will allow advertisers to reach their target U.S. policy influencer audiences with even greater precision than ever before:

#1: New Data Sources for the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers Audience

This fall, new data sources will inform the U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience to represent a larger, more robust panel of U.S. policy influencers and enable more extensive–but still targeted–reach for your campaigns. The update will roll out automatically to all subscribers of the audience.

Subscribe to Tunnl's product updates to be among the first to find out when our new and improved U.S. Policy Opinion Makers audience is available.

#2: New Opinion Makers Audiences for Other Sought-After Sectors

This fall, reach the most influential people in America's most critical sectors with three new Opinion Makers audiences: Finance Opinion Makers, Technology Opinion Makers, and Health Care Opinion Makers.

Subscribe to Tunnl's product updates to be among the first to find out when our new Opinion Makers audiences are available.