Brad Parscale is a digital strategist who transformed political campaign advertising through data analytics and micro-targeted social media outreach, serving in senior roles across Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns.

Web Design and Early Trump Work

Giles-Parscale (2011-2015) Parscale co-founded the San Antonio-based web design and digital marketing firm Giles-Parscale in 2011. The firm grew to employ dozens of staff and serve hundreds of clients. Beginning in 2011, Parscale developed websites and managed digital media strategies for the Trump Organization, building a working relationship that would later shape presidential campaign operations.

Campaign Website Development (2015) In early 2015, Trump hired Parscale and his firm to build the website for his exploratory presidential campaign, marking the beginning of Parscale’s transition from commercial web design to political digital strategy.

2016 Presidential Campaign

Digital Media Director (2016) Named digital media director for the Trump for President campaign in June 2016, Parscale oversaw all aspects of digital media, online fundraising, and elements of traditional media strategy including radio and television placements. He invested heavily in Facebook advertising, utilizing the platform’s micro-targeting tools to deliver personalized ads to individuals across the country. The campaign’s digital operation ran extensive A/B testing on ad variations and messaging, producing thousands of ad iterations daily to optimize engagement and fundraising performance.

2020 Presidential Campaign

Campaign Manager (2018-2020) In February 2018, Parscale was named campaign manager for Trump’s 2020 re-election effort, elevating him from digital operations to overall campaign leadership. He oversaw campaign infrastructure, fundraising, rally planning, and media strategy. In July 2020, he was replaced as campaign manager by deputy Bill Stepien and reassigned to a senior advisor role focused on digital and data operations.

Post-Campaign Career

Salem Media Group (2025) Parscale was appointed Chief Strategy Officer at Salem Media Group, bringing his digital and data expertise to the media company’s operations.

Digital Political Impact

Parscale’s influence on digital politics includes:

• Demonstrating the effectiveness of micro-targeted Facebook advertising in presidential campaigns at unprecedented scale
• Building a large-scale digital fundraising operation that set records for online political donations
• Applying commercial digital marketing techniques and A/B testing methodologies to political campaign strategy
• Expanding the role of data analytics in voter outreach and message optimization
• Elevating the digital director position from a support function to a central campaign leadership role

Strategic Approach

• Data-driven ad targeting using platform tools to reach specific voter segments
• Rapid iteration on ad creative and messaging through continuous testing
• Integration of digital fundraising with broader campaign operations
• Use of social media platforms as primary channels for voter engagement and mobilization

Parscale’s work on the 2016 Trump campaign became a widely studied case in the application of digital marketing methods to political campaigns, influencing how subsequent campaigns approached online advertising and voter targeting.