By now, you’ve already heard that 2024 election spending is on track to be a record-breaker. The question is how much more can competing advertisers expect? And more importantly, what they can do to stand out.
Three key facts about the remaining political ad spend.
- $569 million worth of ad time booked is already booked from October 1 through the election.*
- 86% of that remaining ad spend will focus on the 7 battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.*
- Pennsylvania has a chance at seeing the largest ad spend, including Senate GOP candidates.
*Source: CNN
What advertisers can do to survive the final rush of political clutter.
While making a drastic decision to wait out the rest of the election season is an option, there are plenty of better ways to make intelligent use of your marketing resources. Consider these top 5 options:
- Look beyond overcrowded channels: While traditional broadcast, OOH and print rates are inflated, consider channels that aren’t as saturated with political ads. Think emerging social channels, podcasts, streaming services, or even gaming platforms.
- Shift to event-based marketing: Align with relevant non-political events such as sports, autumnal and Halloween festivals, and other entertainment.
- Leverage Real-Time Relevance: Connect with hot trends in entertainment, lifestyle, or technology that offer your audience a diversion from the political arena.
- Keep it light: Cut through the intense and highly negative political climate with more entertaining, light-hearted creative approaches.
- Get interactive: Engage your customers with more compelling digital formats, such as quizzes, polls, or even augmented reality.
- Partner with influencers: Micro-influencers who have niche audiences can provide a more personal, authentic platform for brand messaging. They are often seen as trustworthy and are less likely to get drowned out by larger media campaigns. Of course, you may want to ensure they are politically agnostic or align with your audience’s viewpoints.
Along with showing greater potential through the end of this election cycle, you may find that these tactics deserve a more permanent place in your marketing mix. The holiday shopping period is next in line for your marketing prowess.
