Twenty years ago, campaigns focused on advertising via TV, radio and through the mail.
While those outlets are still being used, Democratic and Republican campaigns are embracing technology — some even texting likely voters — to get their message across.
"The game has completely changed from the way politics were a decade ago to the way they are now," says Heather Aliano, communications director for Kara Eastman.
Continuing coverage: Election 2018
Heather Aliano, communications director for the Kara Eastman campaign, says her team has spent much of their money on tv ads, but have also made a point to put those same videos on social media.
"Social media has such power these days. There's a lot of people who have cut the cord and get their news from Facebook, from Twitter and all these sites, from YouTube. So we've made sure to have a presence there because we want to especially encourage young voters," says Aliano.
Consultant Rod Edwards assists several down-ballot GOP candidates, including two running for state legislature. Those campaigns typically avoid TV and radio.
"If you do television, and you do radio, you're really hitting a wide net of people, trying to go after that small universe of voters that you're actually trying to talk to," says Edwards.
Instead, they have a vast digital strategy including individually texting likely Republican voters, a new trend in 2018.
"I think they're a lot more welcoming of a text message then a call. We're such a text-heavy society right now, for better or for worse, I think some may argue for worse, that people are used to seeing text messages," says Edwards.
Whether it be through a text, TV ad or Facebook, the Eastman campaign says the best strategy is to layer their marketing.
"At the end of the day, you don't want to feel like you've anything on the table, you want to make sure you've done everything you've possibly could and that means targeting ads just about everywhere," says Aliano.
Facebook advertising has improved so much that campaigns can target voters by legislative district or target voters on specific issues.
