Tag: political

When the Dust Settles

November 9, 2020

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.

The Facebook Embargo

October 26, 2020

If you haven’t already heard, Facebook is going on the offensive against political advertisers. In the last twelve months, Facebook has allowed users to opt out of political ads, prevented creating last minute ads before the election, and will ban political ads after the election. So it looks like that inexpensive and effective way to reach the electorate just evaporated into thin air for the next few months. Beyond the obvious, what have political advertisers up and down the ticket lost?

A 2020 scholarly article titled Political Advertising Online and Offline took a deeper dive into the how Facebook advertising has been used. It’s a fascinating dive from a scientific perspective on Facebook political advertising. The researched noticed that Facebook advertising increases advertising quantity, can increase fundraising, and allows placing the right message in front of the right audience. Better yet, an individual running for city council in a town of 1,000 could afford to run ads as targeting as both Presidential candidates. I mean, all levels of candidates are going to need an individual like myself to get the most out of Facebook advertising, but the door was previously open without barriers to entry.

This is where having the right team can make the difference in winning and losing an election. Facebook was great. Better yet, social media platforms across the board were great for political advertising. But they are not the end all, be all of advertising. They are merely a tool. And if your media buyer knows what they’re doing, they know there are other tools in the toolshed. Just as capable, just as reliable, maybe not as shiny, but they will get the job done. So why are you using a specialist in one category when you could be using an agency specializing in all advertising?