The seats under watchful eye of Labor, Greens, Liberals ahead of the election
New figures paint a picture of where Labor and the Liberal Party are focusing on in the lead-up to the election and what strategies they are using on key voters.
State Election
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Labor has been betting on the brand of Premier Daniel Andrews to take on challenges from the Greens, with money spent on his social media most often going to key inner-city seats.
The Liberals have devoted their online resources to winning back Hawthorn and other former strongholds in Melbourne’s east.
Analysis of Facebook’s advertising library has revealed the suburbs where the major parties have been directing their messages most regularly over the past 30 days.
During this time, Labor strategists controlling the Premier’s account have targeted 46 separate ads to postcodes around the electorates of Northcote, Richmond and Albert Park.
All three seats are currently held by Labor but are being bombarded by the Greens after strong results for the party at the federal election.
These areas received more paid advertising from Mr Andrews’ page than any other, followed closely by parts of the southeast such as Cranbourne and Keysborough.
The figures paint a picture of where Labor is most focused in the lead-up to and first week of the campaign, and the strategies they are using on key voters.
Redbridge director Kos Samaras said promoting the Premier’s page into these inner-city areas was “extremely clever”.
“When it comes to (potential) Greens seats, he is popular there,” he said.
Location-specific ads were more common on the Premier’s personal “Dan Andrews” page, with $22,598 spent across all posts over the past month.
Twice as much money was spent targeting women as men.
The Victorian Labor account, which spent more than $109,000 over the same period, was spread more evenly across the state.
Women also received a slightly greater share of funding, 51.2 per cent, while just 4 per cent of the money spent on ads went to all genders.
Facebook figures for the Liberals over the past month paint a different picture of the party’s priorities.
Out of about $53,110 that went towards their official Facebook page, Camberwell and other suburbs within the seat of Hawthorn have attracted the most frequent spending alongside neighbouring areas in Ashwood and Box Hill.
A surprise victory for Labor in 2018, Hawthorn is being challenged by a Teal candidate in an effort to capitalise on the success of Monique Ryan in the federal election.
Ashwood and Box Hill are both once-traditional Liberal heartland regions that the party must swing back from Labor to be competitive on November 26.
Growth areas such as Clyde and beachside locations such as Hampton and Mt Martha are also on the party’s radar.
On Opposition Leader Matthew Guy’s personal page, his home electorate of Bulleen has received the biggest share of targeted funding, followed by Glen Waverley, Chadstone and Narre Warren.
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