Political Advertising Finds New Precision in CTV and Programmatic

amp8220The headline is that political advertisers want to align with premium trustworthy environmentsamp8221 Seebohm said amp8220They want to be in a place where potential voter audiences are watching something on streaming or TV and they find that source credible and then the associated ad is also credibleamp8221That combination of premium content and sophisticated targeting is becoming increasingly important as campaigns contend with fragmented viewing habits concerns about digital credibility and unprecedented levels of political advertising spending This midterm election is already on track to outspend 2024amp8217s presidential election cycle for the first time in historyBroadcast television remains the largest component of political advertising but streaming and CTV are rapidly gaining ground Seebohm pointed to an August study examining where voters get political information and where political marketers are placing their messages While she described the research as directional its findings showed broadcast share at approximately 48amp8220Streaming is going to be 2325 of ad placements because it39s effective and it39s reaching audiences where they watchamp8221 Seebohm revealedDigital meanwhile represented about 15 of the ad buy in the study Seebohm attributed some of that decline to concerns about credibility including the growing presence of AIgenerated social media content amp8220It has lost its credibilityamp8221 she said amp8220Content being generated by AI is one of those reasons because voters have a real concern about thatamp8221Broadcast remains essential particularly for broad reach but streaming has become increasingly important for younger audiences and cord cutters who almost exclusively watch film and television via streaming platformsFor political campaigns the value of streaming extends beyond simply reaching audiences who have left traditional television Seebohm emphasized the importance of placing political messages alongside programming that viewers actively choose to watchamp8220It seems like broadcast television You39re watching it on the biggest screen in the house You39re watching a streaming TV show Here comes an adamp8221 she said amp8220If you39re into that TV show you39re more likely to be into that ad and that candidate or issueamp8221At the same time political consultants have become increasingly sophisticated about identifying exactly whom they need to reach Seebohm who has spent a decade working in political advertising said she initially underestimated that sophisticationamp8220These marketersamp8230 are unbelievably smart in what they39re doing And they are up to speed on technology They39re up to speed on AI They39re up to speed on agentic buyingamp8221Political consultants she said amp8220pretty much know who they need to reachamp8221 in a particular battleground state congressional district or around a specific issueThat precision is supported by the combination of Comcast data political data providers and voter files Seebohm said the ability to combine Comcastamp8217s firstparty deterministic data insights from authenticated households with political data enables advertisers to reach specific voter audiencesamp8220We can put that all together and then reach that voter where they areamp8221 she said amp8220in a premium environment when they39re watching something they want to watchamp8221Seebohm compared today39s capabilities with the highly targeted nature of political direct mail amp8220Back in the day you didn39t get more targeted than thatamp8221 she said of the US Postal Service39s ability to reach registered voters at their addresses amp8220Today we can use data to bring that same level of precision to the TV screenamp8220Because we understand the authenticated household identity weamp8217re able to deliver match rates above 90 giving our clients confidence that weamp8217re reaching the right voter audiencesamp8221 she added amp8220We can take data and make sure that we are getting that message on streaming and addressableamp8221That precision becomes particularly valuable as voters move between screens Political marketers can potentially reach the same voter audiences across streaming television addressable TV and mobile devicesWith political spending reaching historic levels efficiency is another critical consideration Seebohm divides the challenge into two areas working media and optimization For working media campaigns want as much of their budget as possible to actually reach voter audiences rather than being absorbed by feesquotIt starts with getting as close to the supply as possibleamp8221 she said amp8220Buyer Cloudamp8217s direct connection to FreeWheel publishers gives buyers a more efficient path to premium CTV inventory and helps more of their investment go toward reaching key audiencesamp8221The second priority is optimization Political campaigns have a unique challenge because they cannot simply wait until the end of a campaign to evaluate resultsamp8220They really don39t ask for a postcampaign reportamp8221 Seebohm said amp8220You know why They got their report They either won or they lostamp8221That makes realtime visibility especially important Through Comcast Advertisingamp8217s LENS data insights campaigns can see which audiences were exposed to their messaging and extend that reach across traditional TV addressable TV and programmatic opportunitiesThe growing sophistication of political advertising is also reflected in where buyers are concentrating their spending amp8220Based on that the battleground states are where the action isamp8221 Seebohm said pointing to Michigan Texas and California She said sports followed by local news weather and Spanishlanguage programming are also among the major content categories driving political demandSports can provide especially valuable opportunities in battleground states Seebohm cited research showing that more than half of NFL fans do not align with a political party creating an opportunity to reach impressionable votersShe also highlighted the ability to target viewers beyond a simple ZIPcode levelamp8220In the congressional district it is not ZIP code dependentamp8221 Seebohm said amp8220You split a zip code down the middle and it39s New York 1 and New York 2 and with Buyer Cloud we39re able to do that exact level of congressional district targeting That could be the difference between reaching voters in the right district or wasting impressions on audiences that fall outside that areaamp8221Spanishlanguage programming represents another significant opportunity with Seebohm saying demand is amp8220about equivalent to sports local news and weatheramp8221Together those capabilities point toward a political advertising ecosystem where television39s reach and credibility increasingly intersect with the precision of programmatic technology allowing campaigns to find specific voter audiences reach them across screens and optimize their media investment in real timePosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Political Advertising Finds New Precision in CTV and Programmatic

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Political Advertising Finds New Precision in CTV and Programmatic

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