Your Guide to Political Advertising in 2024

The ins and outs of political advertising can be complex. There’s nothing quite like it. For months, candidates vie to get their message in front of voters — to stand out and show them who they are and why they should vote for them. While every election season can be intense, political ad spending is projected at $15.9 billion in 2024 — up more than 30% from 2019-2020. 

You may be wondering where to start, or, if you’ve started, you might be questioning if you’re maximizing every ad dollar. You’ve come to the right place. We’re breaking down the best mediums for reaching voters, the best way to allocate your budget, and, most importantly, how to get in where you fit in. Let’s get started. 

CTV for President

To keep it simple: Political advertisers need to go where consumers are going. Enter CTV. In 2023, 88% of U.S. households had at least one connected TV device. It’s no surprise then that CTV accounted for 12% of all political ad dollars spent during the midterms. 

While the stats are impressive, why do political advertisers really need to get in on CTV? Not only does CTV give you access to voters who are not watching traditional linear television, it provides more precise audience reach while still capitalizing on a large-screen, TV-like experience. After all, your main goal is reaching voters and resonating with them, and TV remains the most trusted and memorable platform. 

With all the buzz around CTV, knowing how and where to buy CTV can be overwhelming — whether programmatically or through premium partnerships — and as inventory gets tight closer to election day, you may want the option to do both.  a4’s extensive CTV partnerships provide premium inventory and audiences. We can also tap into the exchange, with data overlaid if needed, and 1:1 data matching with our Optimum cable backend. 

Mobilizing Voters With (You Guessed It) Mobile Advertising

Political campaigns need to be more agile, data-driven, and personalized than ever before. As reaching voters on every medium continues to grow in priority, advertisers must lean into the benefits of mobile advertising. Mobile (along with CTV) captured more than three-quarters of U.S. digital time spent in 2023. Mobile ads get your message directly into the hands of voters and specific audiences using political party affiliation, prior voting habits, location targeting, and more. 

Solutions like our mobile ad unit, AdMessenger, make it simple to increase engagement and provide audiences with the information they need to make educated decisions and cast their votes on Election Day. When it comes down to the final days and hours leading up to voting time, having a solution that is fast, simple, and served directly to voters gives your campaign one final boost. 

Reaching Voters

There are always going to be roadblocks when it comes to political advertising. For example, Facebook introduced its authorization process for political advertisers in 2019 before completely eliminating audience targeting by race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, or sexual orientation in 2022. And don’t forget Google and the forever impending cookie depreciation that remains a topic of discussion — especially since they promised 2024 would be the year. Throw in an increasing demand for regulations against AI-driven political ad campaigns, and the political ad frontier gets extremely complex. 

For 2024, you’re going to want to make sure you have an advertising partner who has trusted, data-backed solutions and can ensure you’re reaching voters when it matters most. Using deterministic segments, a4 can build custom voter audiences with precision. We have access to premium segments and can reach voters based on viewing habits, voter behavior, and voter sentiments — including hot topics, issues, beliefs, and levels of excitement — as well as location, high-impact programming, and more. 

Let’s Talk Budget

Hopefully by now you’re starting to feel more confident about your political ad plan, but what about your budget? How are you going to allocate and plan for the year ahead while still maintaining a large push closer to Election Day? 

A recent study found that 50% of digital ad budgets for the 2022 midterms were spent in the last 30 days before Election Day, with half of that spend allocated during the 10 days running up to the election. While a final push in the days before an election is important to get voters to the polls, that doesn’t mean you should count out early spending. Starting early allows your message to cut through the clutter and optimize your reach and frequency while simultaneously giving you more time to build a meaningful connection with voters and keep up with opponents.

Planning your advertising goals now and working with a dedicated team who can talk you through your budget will be your path to success.   

Final Thoughts

2024 is a massive political year. Ad campaigns will face the challenge of continuing to connect with voters in a personalized and engaging way, while still taking advantage of new, cutting-edge technologies to reach the right audience. As complex as the political ad world can be, partnering with the right ad company is going to be key in accurately and efficiently connecting your campaign message to the people and voters that matter most.