As the countdown to the 2024 election begins, marketing leaders must adapt to a rapidly changing landscape shaped by public discourse and political fervor. It presents a unique challenge that requires a bit of integrity, creativity, and marketing innovation.
From adapting your campaigns to thriving amidst the unpredictability of an election season, here are a few tips on how integrated marketing teams can navigate this upcoming election year with confidence.
Adjust your media mix and spend
During election years, the influx of political campaigns dramatically inflates advertising costs. It’s important to pivot your strategy and emphasize a digital channel mix over traditional channels, which are susceptible to premium pricing.
Pulsing can be used to intensify ad exposure during debates or key polls when audience engagement peaks and dayparting enables your campaigns to align with times when audiences are most active, acknowledging the shift toward evening news segments for updates.
You can also navigate unpredictable ad space effectively by prioritizing programmatic buys. These strategies allow you to maintain a visible, impactful presence while avoiding the heightened competition.
Learn more about our paid media capabilities at Envisionit.
Remember that context is everything for content
While compelling content can captivate an audience, the surrounding context amplifies its impact.
As a marketer in an election year, it’s important to communicate in a manner that respects the intensity of public issues while staying true to your brand values. This involves a delicate balance of engaging with topical matters when they align with your brand’s ethos and refraining from entering debates that do not serve your organization’s purpose or principles.
This is especially important for social media. Engaging on these platforms during this time requires a commitment to fostering genuine connection and supporting respectful conversations that reflect your values.
Here are a few strategic questions you can consider before publishing or engaging:
- Does the content align with our brand’s core values and mission?
- Will engaging with this content enhance our brand’s reputation and trust among our audience?
- Could this content unintentionally alienate any segment of our audience?
- Is this content relevant to our audience’s interests and needs right now?
- If the content has political undertones, have we considered the potential implications for our brand?
- Who will be responsible for monitoring and responding to audience reactions to the content?
- Is this the appropriate time to release this content — are there any major political events/news cycles that might overshadow or change its context?
- How will we measure the success or impact of this on our overall marketing goals?
A strongcontent strategyand flexible calendar help you get ahead but still allow you to pivot when needed, ensuring you’re posting relevant, appropriate content.
Take a data-driven approach to your marketing strategy
A data-driven approach becomes even more critical amidst the heightened public attention of an election year. Being data-driven not only allows for personalized and segmented messaging but also eliminates media waste. By surfacing real-time insights on performance, your team can make optimizations that will create greater outcomes.
Additionally, in an overcrowded market, leveraging interest and behavioral insights to narrow your target audience allows you to reach folks with even more precision. Overall, it’s good to monitor performance diligently throughout the campaign, using the insights that surface to pivot your strategies as needed.
Focus on delivering value to your audience
The stakes for creating value during this time are amplified as your audience navigates a barrage of political content. So whether you’re developing impactful content, positioning products toward an audience need, or designing experiences with the user in mind, everything should be focused on creating value for your audience and distinguishing your brand in the process.
Here are a few KPIs or signals that can help you determine whether you’re on the right track.
- Engagement rate: a high engagement rate often indicates content is resonating with the audience
- Share of voice: understanding your share of voice becomes even more important during this time to gauge if your brand narrative is growing stronger compared to competitors amid political dialogue
- Time on site or view rate: the time someone spends viewing the content is a good indicator of how useful they find it and whether or not they find it valuable
- Conversion rate: a strong conversion rate demonstrates that the content is not only engaging but also effective in driving your audience to action
Creative storytellingand intuitive user experiences rooted in the right insights play a big role in ensuring the audience is at the center of your strategy. Success in these areas will ensure you’re not just adding to the clutter, but breaking through it with campaigns that truly resonate and drive value for your audience.
Ready to make it an impactful year? Let’s work together to build out your 2024 marketing strategy! Get in touch today.
