Emery Keele
Paid Social Manager
July 25, 2024
In the shadows of the upcoming Presidential Election, tensions are rising and users are in a frenzy
During this volatile period, B2B marketers need to discover solutions to minimize the impact of politics on both their organic and paid media. With political ad spending already hitting ~25.3MM on Social between Sept 1st 23’ – Feb 29th 24’, brands must strategize and adapt to conquer impacts on their advertising.
Before we dive into Emery’s insights, we’d like to share our comprehensive guide to political ad spending during election season in a PDF format. This downloadable asset is packed with strategies and tips for minimizing the impact of political ad spending during the upcoming election season. Whether you’re at your desk or on the go, you can keep these valuable insights at your fingertips. Click the button below to download the guide and start optimizing your advertising approach today.
The Surge Is Real
Since the 2016 election, Political ad spending continues to increase with each cycle.
- 2020 Surge: During the 2020 election, there was a significant jump, with digital ad spending taking on new importance.
- Meta Dominance: Meta was pivotal in the political ad space during the last cycle, delivering 59.4% of the digital political ad share (2019-2020).
- Both candidates spent $164.1MM between June 1st and November 1st.
- X Ads: On X, before the political ad ban in 2019, there was about $5.4MM in ad spend to promote political candidates.
- Reddit Spending: Reddit had the least amount of ad spend, estimating about $1-2MM was spent.
This year, we expect to see even more spending, driven by both traditional and digital media.
Key Dates in the 2024 Election Cycle
The election cycle is likely to induce increasing costs in metrics, especially during major events pivoting the election. Below is a list of a few important upcoming dates to keep in mind for advertising during the election:
- Arizona Primary Election: July 30th 2024
- Michigan Primary Election: August 6th, 2024
- Wisconsin Primary Election: August 13th, 2024
- Democratic National Convention: August 19th – 22nd 2024
- Election Day: November 5th 2024
The Impact on B2B Social Media Marketing
As the election quickly approaches, heightened competition will be observed from the impact of political advertising.
Rising CPMs: CPMs are anticipated to increase, which will negatively impact CPA.
- 2020 Example: During the 2020 election, one agency reported a 60-80% increase in CPMs on their non-political ads in Meta.
- Tracking Data: A CPM tracker by Gupta Media has already shown significant increases on most social platforms on days with key election/political events.
Regional Impact: So-called Battleground States will see a more significant increase, anticipating anywhere from a 15-50% rise in CPM on average.
Record Spending: Political ad spend is expected to reach unprecedented numbers this year.
- High Frequency: This will contribute to political ad frequency reaching an all-time high.
Ad Fatigue: Increased frequency will result in ad fatigue, even in non-political ads.
- Efficiency Impact: This will lead to less efficient CTRs and overall engagement, ultimately resulting in decreased pipeline.
Beware of Bad Actors
With the nature of social media and its sometimes-problematic aspects, it is anticipated the volume of bot activity will increase and political commentary from users may begin appearing on sponsored and organic content.
Bot Activity on the Rise:
- During the 2020 election, Facebook saw an estimated 13.7k unique bot accounts spewing political commentary, opinions, and misinformation.
- This staggering number doesn’t even include the bots designed specifically to comment on posts.
User Commentary Spillover:
- As the election nears, the influx of political content will rise. Expect more users, driven by polarized emotions, to post political opinions on non-political content.
- In the last election, TikTok had to remove around 347k videos for misinformation. Additionally, 441k videos were made ineligible for the For You Page after vetting.
The GenAI Impact
Along with bots and user disruption, the prevalence of generative AI in recent years will contribute to overall misinformation dissemination. With already multiple instances that have occurred across the world, the volume of generated content will increase even more as the election nears. This increase may impact overall user trust in platforms, likely affecting the ability for ads to resonate as users will be more cautious.
12 Tangible Tactics for B2B Marketers to Take Now
Election season is a wild ride, and for B2B marketers, it’s essential to stay ahead of the game. Here are actionable tips to keep your ad campaigns on track and efficient amidst the political chaos.
1. Ad Scheduling: Timing matters. Avoid the political noise by scheduling ads around major election events. This helps prioritize efficient ad space.
2. Budget Management: Battleground focus. Consider adjusting budgets or excluding battleground states where competition and costs will be higher.
3. Frequency Caps: Mitigate fatigue. Utilize frequency caps where possible (excluding LinkedIn, Facebook non-Awareness ads, and Reddit) to prevent ad fatigue.
4. Ad Refresh: Keep it fresh. Regularly refresh ads to maintain engagement, as election fatigue spills over into the non-political space.
5. Audience Testing: Find efficiencies. Experiment with a variety of unique audiences to discover what works best during this high-stakes period.
6. Bidding Strategies: Diversify. Mix up your bidding strategies to find efficiencies in your campaigns.
7. Use Exclusions: Stay relevant. On platforms like LinkedIn, Meta, Reddit, TikTok, and X, exclude keywords related to government and politics to maintain focus.
8. Bidding Tactics: Smart bidding. Apply cost caps or strategic bidding during key election periods to safeguard performance and maintain KPIs.
9. Combat Fatigue: Variety wins: Use a mix of ad types—Carousel, Stories on Meta, Video on LinkedIn—to keep things interesting and counteract rising inefficiencies.
10. Manage Comments: Stay neutral. As the rise in bots continues and political emotions fester, proactively moderate comment sections to deflect or remove political discussions. Public guidelines can help deter unwanted commentary.
11. Focus on Positivity: With political tensions high, shift focus to positive content to enhance brand perception and separate from election negativity.
12. Grab Attention: Prioritize highly engaging and attention-grabbing creative content to pivot users’ attention away from the election frenzy.
Amid election madness, staying agile and strategic is key. Keep these tips in mind to navigate the social advertising landscape with confidence and efficiency.
Beyond Tactics, Think Strategically!
Navigating the social advertising landscape during election season requires flexibility and strategic thinking. By exploring less competitive channels, leveraging CTV, diversifying ad formats, and adopting a holistic approach, B2B marketers can maintain effective campaigns amidst the political chaos.
Less Political Channels:
- LinkedIn & Reddit: With political ads banned, LinkedIn and TikTok offer a smoother landscape. Reddit and Snapchat can also be great alternatives to dodge the political noise.
- Programmatic Channels: These can provide a less crowded space, ensuring your ads stand out.
Leverage CTV:
- Emerging Trend: Connected TV (CTV) is set to become a major player, potentially grabbing up to 45% of ad spend. This can help mitigate social misinformation but be ready for higher CPMs.
- Strategic Exclusions: When using audience networks or CTV on LinkedIn (or other social platforms), exclusions are crucial. They prevent your ads from appearing alongside political content.
Adopt an Omni-Channel Approach:
- Holistic Strategy: A diversified approach across channels can help manage rising costs on social and search platforms. Spread your campaigns across various platforms to maintain cost efficiency and ensure broader reach and engagement.
Stay agile, adjust your strategies, and keep your audience engaged to ensure your brand stands out during this election season.
What You Need to Know: Platform Positioning for the Impending Election
To maintain political discourse and minimize political impact on the election, platforms such as Meta, LinkedIn, X, and Tiktok have disclosed the following about preparing for and limiting misinformation for the 2024 election:
Meta: User posts will be removed if they are not following Community Standards policies. New political ads during the final week of the US election are prohibited. Advertisers are required to disclose AI use in political ads. Meta invests $20B in safety and security to protect users from misinformation.
LinkedIn: During elections and every day on LinkedIn, we help everyone engage with people and information they can trust. Our team of more than 180 news editors around the world keep members informed of election milestones from trusted sources. We work with industry peers, Microsoft’s Democracy Forward, and governments globally to identify activities that seek to undermine the electoral process. Our teams apply our Professional Community Policies to content and conversations on the platform daily, including during elections.
X: Users may not use X to interfere with elections, and posts containing misinformation could be de-amplified or labeled using the community notes feature. The notes feature allows users to add context and sources to inaccurate posts.
Tiktok: Users that post misinformation will see their content removed, which redirects search results and reduces account discoverability. Tiktok also partners with 17 global fact checking organizations who assess the accuracy of content in over 50 languages. AI manipulated deepfakes of politicians are not allowed and will be removed.
Happy Campaigning!
With the volatile nature of the election cycle, B2B Brands need to strategize to navigate the increasingly political landscape. To do so, advertisers must be ready to embrace flexibility, moderate posts proactively, and maintain positive/neutral positioning. Although the election may be daunting, there is a lot of opportunity to test and find solutions to navigate this difficult time.
Sources
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardhomonoff/2020/12/08/2020-political-ad-spending-exploded-did-it-work
- https://www.emarketer.com/content/facebook-dominates-2019-2020-political-ad-spending
- https://www.emarketer.com/content/us-political-ad-spending-forecast-2024
- https://leannajjackson.medium.com/how-do-political-campaigns-impact-paid-social-advertising-2dabbe0b1b51
- https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-political-ad-spending-soar-2024-with-tv-media-biggest-winner-report-2024-01-11/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2024/06/13/mastering-the-art-of-advertising-in-an-election-year/
- https://about.fb.com/news/2023/11/how-meta-is-planning-for-elections-in-2024/amp/
- https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/how-meta-tiktok-twitter-and-youtube-plan-to-address-2024-election-misinformation/
- https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/protecting-election-integrity-in-2024
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2023/08/30/x-lifts-ban-on-political-ads/
- https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/11/digital-ad-spending-2020-presidential-candidates-top-100m/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditPoliticalAds/?f=flair_name%3A%22Presidential%20Candidate%20Ad%202020%22
- https://www.sociummedia.com/blog/election-season-impacts-on-digital-advertising/
- https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/44d0af1a-8eed-4050-b49a-fe2f508dc68c/page/p_v3aq8o8v3c
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2023/08/30/x-lifts-ban-on-political-ads/
- https://www.thecurrent.com/us-election-political-advertisers-ctv-social-media
- https://news.syr.edu/blog/2024/05/07/idjc-report-tracks-influence-of-social-media-ads-on-presidential-primaries/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-were-keeping-linkedin-safe-trusted-professional-during-sue-duke/
Contact our team for expert guidance on minimizing the impact of political ad spending on your brand.
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