The Right Programmatic Partner Can Be the ‘Executional Multiplier’ in a Cycle Decided by Close Races

Close races are decided at the margins. This cycle, those margins may be shaped by the decisions behind every ad placement: how campaigns identify persuadable voters, move across TV, CTV, and digital, and adjust investment in real time.

Social changed political media in 2008. CTV changed it again in 2020. The next shift is about how campaigns use data to plan, optimize, and measure media as voter attention moves across screens.

In their latest report, MiQ examines the technical choices that can help campaigns reach voters more efficiently and make smarter investment decisions.

Ultimately, the winning formula for campaigns this cycle likely won’t get highlighted in a tell-all book or in a series of cable news interviews. It’s not even something consultants will tout to the industry when they hang their own shingle after the 2026 midterms. 

In a word, the (some would say “boring”) formula could be described as “efficiency”. Those who find it will ensure more of their campaigns’ budgets go to delivering their messages to the right voters. Those who don’t could lose tight races. Simple as that. 

Finding efficiencies in a cycle where political marketers are projected to spend $11.6 billion won’t be easy, in part, because of how that money is getting allocated. Roughly $6.54 billion will go through CTV and other digital channels — much of it placed or running over the next six weeks.

“Programmatic is easier to access than ever and getting more attractive to campaign media buyers by the day because voters’ content consumption continues to splinter,” said Jesse Contario, Regional Vice President (RVP) for Political at MiQ. “But at the same time, it’s harder than ever to execute effectively.”

Inefficient programmatic buys can come at a high strategic cost for campaigns. MiQ’s report “The Multiplier Effect,” found a majority of voters last cycle were hit too frequently with the same campaign ads. In fact, 88 percent of voters said they started to tune out overly repetitive ads.

This frequency imbalance stemmed from media buyers having to navigate a fragmented programmatic space with placements running across multiple publishers or platforms. 

“What media buyers need in this environment is a data- and platform-agnostic partner who can help them optimize their buys across channels as they chase hard-to-reach swing voters down the stretch,” said Contario. “The easier-to-reach voters are already saturated, and without strategic precision, 80 percent of dollars will continue to reach only approximately 20 percent of high content consumption Americans.

“At MiQ, we’re able to bolt on and become an extension of our partners’ teams, which helps them drive incremental reach, more balanced frequency, and ultimately, win more races.” 

Between the different creative approvals by platforms, new state laws governing digital privacy, the changes in Lowest Unit Rate (LUR) rules for political advertising on traditional broadcast media, and Supreme Court rulings including National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, media buyers certainly have their work cut out for them this cycle.

“If that list wasn’t enough of a challenge, I’d add in another new complexity for buyers: having to stitch together all the data from the different platforms into a timely and digestible report for their clients,” said Contario. “That measurement component is something that MiQ has built through our Sigma platform to help make both the buying and reporting more effective.”

As Contario notes from the report, in the last cycle, 20 percent of audiences saw nearly 80 percent of campaign ads. That inefficiency partly stemmed from a price-first approach to ad buying, which led to duplicate bids, audience overlap and, ultimately, a massive frequency imbalance. Without effective cross-channel planning and frequency management, voters tune these messages out.

“Cost per new voter reached, cost per incremental household reached, cost per voter reached at an optimal frequency — these are the metrics that are going to matter in 2026 more than just impressions ran in a specific geo, or how many points ran on a specific broadcast station,” Contario added. “Last cycle, we generated 35 million additional impressions in one competitive race — a 20-percent increase — while concurrently saving more than $1 million in media efficiencies and maintaining the same reach.” 

To learn more, download MiQ’s new report here.