Election season can feel like advertising during the Super Bowl.
If the Super Bowl lasted for months.
This year, the standard fourth-quarter sales push overlaps with a historic presidential election — creating unique media challenges. But it’s not impossible to navigate. In fact, consumer spending is predicted to rise in the fourth quarter of 2024. Brands that stop all paid media during this time could miss out on sales, growth and brand relevance.1
Luckily, your brand doesn’t need to approach election media with an all-or-nothing mentality. We’ve compiled seven tips to help all marketers get results.
1. Timing and location details matter.
The best first step is to be prepared for increased competition, higher costs and less inventory. But that doesn’t mean every month in Q4 is affected the same.
In 2020 and 2022, nearly 50% of political ad spending occurred within 30 days of the election and 25% of all dollars were spent in the last 10 days leading up to the vote.2
It’s not just timing that impacts your ad spend — location does, too. Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are the six swing states expected to see the most media activity this year.3
If you do business in any of these states, all is not lost. Thanks to in-depth research on the counties that will be most impacted and the ability to hyper-target consumers through most platforms, you can put your ad dollars toward placements in less impacted counties. Niche targeting can also be used to segment your buys in cities with major Congressional races and divisive ballot initiatives.
If your media plan includes waiting for the buzz to subside after November 5, think again. With the likelihood of tight races in 2024 comes the possibility of runoffs, meaning election ads could stay in market longer. Be ready to actively manage your buys for the entirety of Q4.
2. Diversify your channel mix.
Not all advertising channels are impacted by the election in the same way. Historically, TV and radio see the biggest influx of political dollars. This year is no different with 71.9% of the $12.32 billion expected spend going toward traditional media. 4
However, a whopping $3.46 billion is forecasted to be spent on digital political ads in 2024 — nearly half of which is predicted to go toward connected TV (aka streaming).5
Social media is a small but growing platform for election media. Meta is the top social platform for political ads, and this year is only expected to see 4.6% of the total political dollars (about $56.67 million in added Meta spend, which is a very small fraction of their ad revenue).6
While some social sites like Reddit, Snapchat and X allow political ads, sites like LinkedIn, Pinterest and TikTok have complete or election-year-specific bans outlined in their individual platform policies.
So what should you do? Run ads on multiple channels — especially those that don’t allow political ads. Try platforms you’ve never tried before and re-allocate spend to channels with lower costs and competition.
3. Protecting your brand is the #1 priority.
While keeping your brand from being associated with negative or misaligned content should always be on your list, it’s more important than ever during an election year.
One effective way to protect your brand is to have an updated block list stating all the sites and types of content you don’t want your ads appearing on or next to. You can work directly with publishers to implement your block list or update them manually within most ad platforms.
But brand safety goes beyond where your ads appear — the content of your ads matters, too. Is it part of your brand personality to take a stand and talk about politics? If yes, it could be beneficial to acknowledge the election (and the state of the world around you) in your ads. Just be sure you’re using platforms that allow for advanced targeting so you can connect with voters who will receive your message well. If your brand is firmly apolitical, your ads shouldn’t contain any content that could be divisive.
Regardless of your brand’s position, all marketers should be extra thoughtful about ads during an election. For many Americans this is a time of uncertainty and fear, where consumers may be more critical or reactive. Depending on your brand identity you may want to add humor to your ads, feature more light-hearted content or simplify your spots to eliminate any opportunities for misinterpretation. Whatever you decide, be sure it’s authentic to your brand.
4. Be flexible.
Change is the only constant in media buying during an election season. Because the FCC Equal Time Rule mandates that equal airtime be given to opposing candidates, primetime spots on traditional media fill up fast. With this added pressure on inventory, it’s common for non-political ads to “get bumped” from their intended buys, especially in the final month leading up to the election.
If your spot gets bumped, the station will offer you a “make good” of equal or better reach and value. But not all make goods are made the same. It’s okay to reject the first offer suggested by the station and negotiate for what you really want. In our experience, vendors are easy to work with and want you to feel good about the change. And if you can’t find a make good you’re comfortable with, you can ask for a refund and redirect your ad dollars elsewhere.
5. Put your holiday strategy to the test.
If you’ve seen a successful return on ad spend (ROAS) during Q4 before, congrats! You already have a head start on your election media planning. Although the presidential landscape is unique, implementing strategies you’ve used for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday selling surge is a great place to start.
Client Example:
For many of our business-to-consumer clients, the holiday season is a critical time to meet sales goals before the end of the year. This is especially true for Borsheims — our luxury jewelry client who faces extremely high digital and social competition during the holidays. In 2023, Borsheims wanted to stand out from competitors, increase e-commerce revenue and maintain a 4.0 or higher ROAS.
To meet these goals, our media team used hyper-specific targeting to cut through the noise and engage already warm audiences. They also adapted an agile strategy — evolving creative regularly to maximize performance and minimize spend. The result? Borsheims saw a 230% increase in e-commerce revenue from the previous year and achieved a ROAS of 8.6.
6. Monitor and make real-time updates.
Our media team reviews spend and ad performance for our clients every day. But during Q4, they take this already-acute level of scrutiny up a notch.
Our team reviews block lists, monitors publisher reports to see where ads are serving and keeps a close eye on CPCs and CPMs. They’re ready to make small (or large) optimizations and pause entire campaigns at a moment’s notice.
Whether you have a similarly dedicated media team or are a one-person business, checking on your media each day during the fourth quarter is a must. But don’t just review your media, make optimizations: pause low performers, introduce refreshed creative and test new things. Even if making updates during the election feels intimidating, taking an agile and experimental approach is likely to yield better results and can even help you stay on budget.
7. Work with the right partners.
Managing media during an election year takes adequate preparation and time. But you don’t have to do everything on your own.
Ask the partners you have for help. Work directly with stations and tap your digital reps for advice on achieving the results you want. If you work with a marketing partner, lean on them for education, ideas for implementing best practices and management support.
The TLDR is: don’t panic! Set realistic expectations and focus on what you can control. And don’t forget the benefits: more eyeballs on screens. With the challenges come opportunities to connect with a larger audience and enjoy increased brand visibility.
Still have questions or concerns about managing your media? We’d love to help. Start the conversation today to see how we can cross election stress off your to-do list.
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