2024 Election to Impact ALL Digital Ad Buying

By Ken Harlan, Founder and CEO, MobileFuse.

Politicians are ramping up their election campaign engines - announcing intent to run for presidency and doubling down on marketing efforts. With all this activity, massive infusions of ad dollars are hitting the advertising ecosystem - in fact,  Statista finds that political ad revenue is forecasted to reach $2.8 billion this year, and jump to $15.8 billion next year. With all this new activity, competition is primed to increase and will subsequently cause brands to shake up their tried-and-true strategies.

Here's a look at a few key areas brands and advertisers should pay attention to as we navigate a heightened moment of competition.

As we look to the impending presidential race, we're seeing a renewed focus on political candidates investing more in online platforms like Facebook, Google, and the Open Internet - and away from traditional mediums like linear TV.

This makes sense, especially with the continued rise and evolution of digital media, and broader decline of traditional media. However, since 2020 it's become increasingly difficult to hyper-target audiences. There have been several evolving data privacy regulations, like the California Privacy Rights Act and many others, making granular targeting an increasing challenge - and incredibly costly. All players in our space need to collect consent from users to store personal data from online audiences. While these extra steps provide more protections to consumers, they come at a cost - rising CPMs.

When you bundle this with increasing competition for the same audiences, a harsh reality emerges for brands looking to primarily execute hyper-targeted campaigns. Because of this, they need to explore new paths to meet campaign goals and ensure their dollars go as far as possible.

A major focus should be placed on ad creative. Actually, wider reaching probabilistic approaches focused around messaging should really be a key strategy currently - particularly in light of the reduction in deterministic signals, along with the higher CPM's around granular targeting. As granular targeting capabilities become increasingly costly and difficult from a compliance perspective, messaging and creative stand as the bellwether for reaching campaign goals.

Another fresh avenue would be to utilize rich media expandable ad units, along with more outstream video. As rich media ads offer features like animation, audio and video, they stand as a great way to let consumers drive their own ad experience. This falls in line with a trend we've noticed across our client's campaigns; consumers want more control over their marketing journeys, and want a more personally-tailored experience getting the information they want. To that point,  81% of consumers would consider using more ad supported websites if they could manage their experiences. Suffice to say, while rich media ads are nothing new, they are more affordable and just as impactful as traditional video and social ads. They're a strong option while the market is saturated with political ad dollars.

Lastly, as an overarching consideration, brands and advertisers should pay close attention to their messaging. By emphasizing authenticity and purpose, organizations can shine through and reach key audiences. This involves aligning your brand with a cause or issue that resonates with target audiences, or highlighting your brand's unique values and mission. We've seen examples of this from companies like Patagonia - the company's messaging is often positioned around their use of recycled fabrics and environmentally conscientious manufacturing. By communicating the brand's authentic purpose and values, it can create deeper connections with consumers and differentiate itself from competitors.

Brands and advertisers should prepare to augment their current campaign strategies as we head into the election season. By diversifying their approaches, doubling-down on their unique messaging and creative, and adopting new advertising technologies, they'll be better positioned to cut through the noise and drive needed results.