Political Advertising in 2024: 3 Technologies That Are Putting User Privacy First

In 2008, $22.25 million was spent on online political ads. Fast forward to 2016, and that number catapulted to $1.4 billion.

What caused this shift?

As social media grew and people spent more time online, digital advertising skyrocketed. As of 2022, it was 61% of US ad revenue. Political candidates need to reach voters where they are and many US citizens are best reached online.

In his 2008 presidential run, President Obama successfully used Facebook to build strong grassroots support and a robust volunteer network.

According to The Social Pulpit from Edelman Research, “A major success factor for Obama’s victory was how Obama’s campaign used social media and technology as an integral part of its strategy, to raise money, and, importantly, to develop a groundswell of empowered volunteers who felt they could make a difference.”.

The power of online community should not be underestimated. While Facebook may have been a growing platform back in 2008, by the second quarter of 2024 Meta’s combined platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc.) accounted for more 3.27 billion daily users.

What about privacy concerns?

Online tracking has many Americans skeptical about how their data is shared for advertising purposes. These concerns are understandable, as cookie issues and data breaches are common occurrences.

The last thing political candidates want is to breach the trust of their voters. When advertising online, it’s crucial that they remain mindful that the technologies they use to target their voters respect their privacy.

Here are a few tools that are being used in political campaigns today that achieve this while still enhancing the effectiveness of advertising efforts:

AI-Powered Creative Analytics

• AI-powered creative analytics breaks down an ad creative piece by piece, evaluating everything from colors, objects, and text placement. It pinpoints exactly how each of these attributes impacts performance.
• Using machine learning, creative analysis can evaluate everything from photos to videos to GIFs. And the best part? It doesn’t require cookies or user data, making it GDPR and CCPA compliant.
• For political campaigns, this means a complete respect for user privacy and a more efficient way to get a message out to voters. Win-win!
• Fun fact: Nielsen reports that nearly half of ad sales are driven by the creative itself. Having quality ad creatives can be the difference between a successful and non-successful political ad campaign.

Contextual Targeting

• As the name suggests, this technology is all about placing ads where they make sense. A political ad on a local news site? Perfect. On a site selling electric scooters? Not so much.
• This method doesn’t care who you are—just what you’re looking at. Think of it as a matchmaker for ads and content.
• Not only does this safeguard user privacy, but it also helps avoid potentially awkward moments when your political ad appears next to questionable content.
• Using contextual targeting in combination with tools like AI creative analysis can lead to some very effective results. High quality and well placed creatives lead to more conversions.

First-Party User Data

• First-party user data is information collected directly from an audience through interactions like website forms, email lists, and surveys.
• Imagine you’re researching a political candidate and land on their website. You might share your email or contact info. That’s first-party user data at work.
• This information is ideal for most campaigns because it comes straight from the source and is compliant with privacy regulations.
• It also allows for more personalized marketing, better content, and ultimately stronger relationships with potential voters. Overall, a very powerful tool to be aware of.

What’s next?

It’s clear that many potential voters today are best reached online. From TikTok to Instagram, a quality digital advertising campaign can make all the difference in a political race. As US politics head up ahead of the presidential election, privacy-first technologies help maintain voter trust and foster stronger relationships. The future of political advertising isn’t just about reach — it’s about delivering quality and respecting voters as they prepare to cast their ballots.