The dust is finally starting to settle. On first count, the President of the United States has unofficially been selected, the House leans left, and control of the Senate is potentially in the hands of Georgians. Nothing unusual to see here in 2020. But how did we get here?
According to an Advertising Analytics update, It took $8,395,330,216 across 5,618 elections to get to this point. Did I mention this equates to 9.4 million ads across traditional and digital media? To put this into comparison, the 2018 midterm elections came out to over $5.7 billion dollars. In 2016, all federal campaigns came out to $6.5 billion dollars. The total spend for 2020 is astronomical, and how it was used was just as amazing.
The Trump campaign took a strong focus on YouTube in the election. For both Election Day and the day prior to Election Day, the Trump campaign purchased the YouTube Masthead. Exact costs are unknown, but it’s estimated to cost $2,000,000 per day. However, Trump was one of the last organizations to purchase it. Going forward, advertisers will be able to purchase the masthead on a per impression basis. This is a radical change from the full day reservations that have been allowed up until now. It’s unknown if Trumps use of the masthead led to this change, but now no campaign or company will be able to buy it out right for a day.
The Biden campaign, on the other hand focused on a more standard advertising course. Broadcast television and Facebook ads took the lead. But unlike previous presidential candidates, Vice President turn President-elect Biden focused on national buys instead of local buys. This is an unusual move for a candidate. And it was made possible by the truckloads of cash his campaign was able to pull in. National buys, unlike local DMA level buys, have insurmountable reach across the country. But they come with a price tag no candidate dreamed of paying, until now.
As we move forward, candidates up and down the ballot will start preparing for 2022. There were many new techniques and challenges that presented themselves in 2020. Candidates across the country each approached the challenges in their own way, thus creating new playbooks that may or may not be used again. Digital advertising continues to grow across the races, but it looks like the tried and true “Broadcast is King” mentality may have won the 2020 elections.