Meredith Lightstone
Originally featured on ANA
Political ads play a unique role in the media landscape. Every few years, an infusion of political messaging joins the more typical rotation of retail, auto, health and financial services ads. The political messages are more serious, the timing is more urgent, and the outcomes are extremely consequential.
A recent study reveals people are not only disinterested in political ads, but they also begin to view general advertisements in a more positive light compared to anything political. In fact, about 43% of people reported that they see other ads as more likable compared to political ads.
One issue is that political advertising can be seen as jarring, standing starkly in contrast to whatever content it is adjacent to. Political advertisers do not always rarely tailor creative for specific audiences and stick to relatively standard formats. While the industry is laser-focused on messaging and the issues that matter in battleground states and districts locations, the elements of context, creative and personalization can fall by the wayside. Combined, these elements can provide dramatic performance improvements and change voters’ perceptions of a candidate or cause.
Context Changes the Message
Political advertising is extremely news-driven; the context surrounding international and domestic events can shape the zip codes candidates run with and messaging they invest in. Research shows that the combination of advertising and content (ie, context) can influence memorability and change how a message is considered. Political advertisers have a very short and crowded window to influence their audience during an election season; these restrictions often result in less emphasis on contextual targeting in favor of standard audience targeting. Leaning into contextually relevant placements can improve the impact of the ad and make it easier for those same voters to see the bigger picture of the messaging.
Today, audience and context are not mutually exclusive forms of targeting. In fact, AI has unlocked significant improvements in contextual targeting to the point that it can empower political advertisers to reach specific voters more efficiently than ID-based targeting. AI can infer from content exactly what type of audience is likely to be watching or reading based on thousands–or even millions–of inputs by considering elements such as sentiment, subject and even credibility.
Considering Different Angles on the Same Message
Combining contextual relevance with more personalized ad messaging is worth testing in political advertising. A recent study found that the same message can be tweaked to appeal not only to voters’ stances on issues, but to different aspects of people’s personalities. For example, ads could consider how positive or negative a voter is, as well as how open- or closed-minded they are on an issue.
What seems obvious and true to one voter might seem preachy and untrustworthy to another. Considering data and the type of content that viewers read and watch can help political advertisers personalize messaging to different lifestyles and personas.
Testing combinations of ad messages, targeting, and context sounds complicated, but that is exactly what programmatic and AI-based advertising are set up to accomplish.
Embrace Creative Flexibility
One way to test a variety of messages is to use dynamic advertising technology. With a single template and a collection of different images and messages, political advertisers can perform tests at scale and quickly arrive at the right combinations for different voters. All of these elements can be taken from approved creative so as to not be a burden to the media team.
Political advertisers often have to contend with layers of internal Communications, Policy, and Legal team approvals, which can slow down innovation. Building in room for different creative formats while in the planning stages is worth the early legwork. On CTV, display, and online video, interactive elements such as a survey or a QR code that leads to an informational website could provide opportunities for more engagement beyond the ad.
With the rise of AI, CTV, and granular voter data, there are new options every day for political advertisers to get creative. The protocols within this news-driven industry seemingly change every cycle– embracing contextual targeting and high-impact creative options could be the winning ticket.
