Case Study: Finding the CTV Frequency Sweet Spot for Political Campaigns

In political advertising, the temptation is often to reach voters as frequently as possible—but what if more isn’t always better? After the 2024 election cycle, Optimum Media’s Data and Analytics team set out to answer a critical question for campaign strategists: Is there an optimal frequency for political CTV advertising that maximizes persuasion without wasting budget on diminishing returns?

The Challenge

Political campaigns operate under intense time pressure and finite budgets, making efficiency paramount. While digital advertising platforms provide extensive reach, campaign managers need data-driven guidance on how many weekly ad exposures would deliver the strongest voter persuasion for a given dollar spent.

The industry assumption had long been that higher frequency equals better results, but this hadn’t been rigorously tested in the political context.

Study Design and Methodology

Our approach combined large-scale observational analysis with live campaign validation. In the first phase, our data scientists analyzed dozens of campaigns across the political spectrum at the IP level, examining the relationship between weekly frequency, budget efficiency, and incremental reach. This analysis identified a candidate “sweet spot” where spend-per-reach optimization suggested diminishing returns beyond a certain weekly exposure threshold.

To validate these findings in a real-world election environment, Optimum Media partnered with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and GMMB during the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial race. The race pitted Democrat Mikie Sherrill against Republican Jack Ciattarelli in a closely fought general election with tight polling. Both campaigns aggressively courted suburban and independent voters on economic concerns, taxes, and public safety; turnout and late undecided voters ultimately secured Sherrill a decisive victory.

During the election, alongside a broad CTV campaign to persuade voters to support Sherrill, our data scientists used AdMessenger, our proprietary mobile ad solution, to run a brand-lift study. We segmented voters by recent CTV exposure in rolling seven-day windows, assigning them to either an Optimal Frequency or High Frequency group, then surveyed on ad recall, voting intent, and decisiveness.

This design isolated the effects of exposure frequency while controlling for demographics and prior exposure, providing actionable insights into how different exposure levels affected voter behavior in a live campaign.

Key Findings

The results validated our hypothesis that there is indeed a frequency sweet spot for political CTV advertising. Voters in the Optimal Frequency group demonstrated stronger persuasion metrics and greater decisiveness compared to those exposed to higher frequency advertising. Most significantly, voters within the optimal range were more likely to move from undecided to decided and reported that the advertising meaningfully influenced their views.

Conversely, pushing beyond the optimal frequency threshold produced additional impressions and maintained recall levels but failed to deliver proportional improvements in persuasion. In many cases, higher frequency exposure resulted in more voters remaining undecided, suggesting that oversaturation can be counterproductive to campaign goals.

The study also revealed important demographic nuances that inform targeting strategies. Different age cohorts, income levels, and partisan affiliations responded differently to frequency variations, indicating that optimal cadence should be tailored rather than applied universally across all voter segments.

Industry Implications

These findings challenge conventional wisdom in political advertising and offer actionable guidance for campaign strategists. Rather than maximizing impressions, campaigns should optimize toward the persuasion-maximizing frequency range. This approach allows for better budget allocation—resources previously spent on excess frequency can be redirected toward broader reach initiatives, creative testing, or get-out-the-vote activation.

As Ryan Olson, vice president and digital media supervisor at GMMB, noted, “The study validated our working hypothesis that the optimal frequency isn’t simply about maximizing ad impressions, but about finding that crucial sweet spot where message resonance peaks. Effective political advertising isn’t about bombarding voters – it’s about strategic, well-calibrated exposure that respects both budget constraints and voter psychology.”

The Path Forward

This research earned recognition with a prestigious Reed Award for excellence in political CTV campaigning, but more importantly, it provides a replicable framework for future campaigns. The key takeaway is that rigorous, campaign-specific testing should be embedded into media planning from the start. Optimal frequency varies by audience segment, creative approach, and competitive environment, making continuous validation essential.

For political advertisers looking to maximize their impact in an increasingly crowded media landscape, this study demonstrates that success comes not from reaching voters more often, but from reaching them more strategically. 

Interested in implementing frequency optimization for your next campaign? Let’s discuss how data-driven media planning can turn your advertising investment into measurable voter impact.