It appears that Republican digital marketers are favoring the programmatic ecosystem over platforms like Meta and Alphabet that report on and archive political ads.
At least that’s according to a new report by the Wesleyan Media Project, which found that by the end of August three quarters of the $619 million in trackable political ads (those exceeding a spend of $5,000) placed on platforms like YouTube and Facebook favored Democrats.
As a result, the group concludes, “some Republican-aligned spending may have migrated to other platforms.”
It’s noteworthy that Republicans are opting for programmatic placements because vendors see these buys as a way for campaigns and groups to fill in the targeting from their TV spends.
Samba TV CEO Ashwin Navin told C&E campaigns’ media spending on TV looks like a tennis match with the ball bouncing between homes who’ve seen an opposing side’s attack ads and then having the counter argument pop up – a so-call conquesting strategy. But on digital, the focus is on hitting voters in younger demographics.
“We’re also seeing social pick up significantly as a way to microtarget segments and fill in the gaps from TV-only campaigns,” Navin said in an email.
“This is key for voter targeting, especially, for example, with many Gen Zers who get news almost entirely from social.”
Meanwhile, voters in battleground states are going to see even more spending coming their way.
“For states that appear to be winnable, we see both sides taking a holistic approach to messaging by employing a hybrid strategy that involves traditional TV, surrounded by social and digital media,” said Navin.
