Descriptors like "unprecedented" and "once-in-a-lifetime" are popular when talking about the 2024 election season. Current polling estimates a tight race, and political ad revenue forecasts predict record-breaking spending. Every election season sees an influx of ads across the digital space, including programmatic, CTV, social media, text messaging, and many others, but this year promises to be unlike the rest. The stakes of the 2024 election are seen as extraordinarily high by many voters on both sides of the aisle, which drives campaigns to invest heavily in trying to sway undecided voters and solidify their base. This intense competition fuels an arms race in political advertising, where every campaign strives to outspend and outmaneuver its opponents. In fact, the advertising dollars spent on this year's election are expected to be 31.2% higher than the 2020 election, according to Axios.
Natual causes like inflation drive campaign costs up every year, but that's not all. Modern elections see new digital ad formats that provide more opportunities for candidates to spend on sponsored marketing. USC’s Steve Caplan shares that among the fastest-growing advertising segments is Connected TV (CTV). Streaming giants like Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Netflix are revolutionizing political advertising. As they roll out ad-supported tiers, so does the option for political messaging to reach new heights. Such changes demand a shift in ad strategy as it is especially important that political campaigns are able to target voters with specific interests and expand their reach meticulously.
As of 2024, Pew Research Center reports that about 81% of U.S. adults use social media. Platforms like Instagram, X, TikTok, and Facebook have become battlegrounds where political messages go viral. The role of influencers and micro-influencers in political campaigns has also grown significantly. Recognizing the power of personal endorsements, campaigns partner with influencers who have substantial followings on social media. These influencers can sway public opinion by sharing their political views and encouraging their followers to support specific candidates or causes.
Social posts have long been chained to the walled gardens where their capacity is capped within their platforms until the modern age of a new frontier. Now, we see evolving internet practices where campaigns lean into digital formats beyond traditional banner ads and utilize social content elsewhere, like Social CTV and Social Display. Spaceback exists as a platform uniquely qualified to cater in this situation as the ultimate champion of Social Display and CTV. The platform empowers users to transform creator content and other social posts into programmatic ads. By blending the strengths of social media and advertising, political campaigns can tap into content generated daily for social as a content library for ads. Not only that but they can also move at the speed of social in the programmatic space with Spaceback as a tool to leverage viral stories that are so important in the political landscape. With the ability to turn any social post into a display or CTV ad in a matter of minutes, campaigns can precisely target their audiences with relevant content more likely to drive interaction and engagement than traditional display advertising.
In conclusion, the 2024 election season is shaping up to be unprecedented in many ways, from the sheer volume of ad spending to the innovative use of digital platforms and advanced targeting techniques. Spaceback's innovative offering bridges the gap between social media and programmatic advertising to give these political ads a fresh way to enhance visibility and resonate more deeply with voters across platforms. The seamless integration of social and programmatic advertising landscape and set the stage for an election season that will be remembered for its intensity and innovation.
