Whatever your views and opinions of the political landscape in the United States are, one thing is for sure – there has never been more explosive growth in digital political advertising dollars in our country’s history. Controversy and chaos create interest and with the 2022 midterm elections being held on November 8, there may not be a more important election cycle in our lifetime. If you’re responsible for political marketing in 2022, for a candidate or issues, the digital media pros at Brkthru want to share our perspective.
Why are the midterms so important? For starters, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election, as the term the seats serve is a short 2 year one. In addition, 35 Senate seats are up for election, as the six-year terms for those 35 seats have just ended. The stakes are high in our states as well with 36 gubernatorial races on the ballot. Not to mention the thousands of races across our country on the local level and the importance they carry for our communities. With all that’s at stake, it’s easy to see how these results can shape the next two years and beyond. The candidates are on board with the high stakes and are spending the money on their campaigns to prove it!
How Much Money is There?
A LOT. The final tally in political spending on advertising in 2022 is going to be massive. Estimates range well more than $8 billion across all advertising channels. $1.5 billion of those dollars are projected to be spent on connected TV according to Kantar. Because of the greater targeting abilities that digital employs, a shift of up to 30% of linear budgets are being shifted to these tactics in 2022.
The ability to use addressable and granular targeting tactics offers agencies and campaigns a greater ability to target those highly desired, undecided voters that both sides are eager to reach. In addition, streaming opens up targeting capabilities to serve to younger voters and traditional linear buying has skewed toward older demographics.
As important as the 2022 midterms are, it is serving as the appetizer for what will come in the 2024 election cycle. The shift to digital and streaming will continue to be front and center. 2022 is a great testing ground to prepare for what will likely be the largest political spending year in history, in 2024. So how are these dollars being spent and with whom?
Trusted Political Partners
Political advertising is unique in many ways. First, the dollars spent are either raised by the candidate’s campaign or taken out of their own pockets. Second, the dollars allocated to political advertising are dollars that need to move quickly, given the nature of the political election cycle. Once election day is here, the dollars are spent, and the advertising money is gone. With the exception being a runoff election, which would extend the cycle.
Political agencies, campaigns and PACs need a trusted partner that can be nimble this year. Transparency and helping find the right audience at the right time are core needs for those running ads during this political cycle.
What Kind of Media Partner Should You Look For? One That …
Takes a Holistic Approach – Looking at the entire landscape and the challenges each candidate is facing allows political marketers to engage and mobilize voters at every campaign phase. Finding partners that optimize to audiences and performance to help drive every stage of the political campaign to one solution or platform is key to driving successful digital campaigns.
Is Agile and Focused – Working with a team of dedicated strategists, buyers and account teams that provide transparency at every phase of the campaign is crucial to your candidate’s success. A team approach to quality inventory and targeting the audience right for you is far more important that specific tactic used to reach that audience.
Works the Basics – Targeting voters at the right time is paramount to a candidate’s success during the election and focusing on partners that activate voters throughout the entire customer journey is crucial.
Is Solution Agnostic – Look for partners that are crafting successful campaigns and not those dependent on owned inventory or solutions that serve self-interests. Too many times, companies will take your advertising dollars and apply them to higher margin solutions for their interest, disregarding the campaign goals.
The Goal
Winning elections is the finish line. Voters are more engaged, educated and active as they’ve ever been. In a midterm election, voter turnout is crucial and those that typically turn up to vote in this year are more involved in the subject matter. Reaching them in the areas they are seeking education and news has never been more important. Reaching sophisticated voters requires holistic campaigns that can elicit action in a complicated political climate where the stakes have never been higher. Choose a partner that can take you through that journey and deliver victory on election day.
At BrkThru, we hold this approach to heart and during this political season, we are committed to helping advance your campaign or cause with these core principles in mind.
At Brkthru, we know one size does not fit all in political advertising, so we tailor each campaign to a specific candidate or cause. Reach out to your Brkthru digital media contact today to discuss how we can help.