As privacy changes limit one-to-one targeting, political campaigns are turning to behavioral and contextual data to reach voters through programmatic advertising, says Daria Grastara, CEO of Direct Persuasion, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
“We used to do the traditional way of signing IOs, going publisher direct,” Grastara says. “We’ve really turned to SSP world and relying on an audience strategy and then finding the inventory that can supply that.”
Direct Persuasion creates priority audiences and ranks inventory based on quality and cost, always aiming to maximize efficiency. Top of the list is “forced view” inventory on premium publishers like Hulu, followed by direct deals with device makers like Roku and LG.
Polling Data Informs Media Plans
“We’re very lucky in politics to have polling data,” Grastara says. “That helps inform what age groups we’re winning and losing, what zip codes we’re winning and losing.”
Polling can also reveal where voters are spending their time and how they get their news. Another key data source is voter returns, which allow campaigns to track who has already voted and focus their spending on those who haven’t yet cast a ballot.
Automatic content recognition (ACR) data also plays an important role in ensuring that digital campaigns are reaching true cord-cutters, rather than those who also see ads on linear TV.
Linear Budgets Still Growing in Politics
Despite the shift in media consumption, “politics is the only vertical where linear buying is growing,” Grastara says. “Our media allocations do not match actual consumption habits, which is frustrating as a digital buyer.”
As a result, digital teams have to be smart about choosing from the vast array of available placements. Facebook and Google have cut back on first-party targeting for political ads, leading to a decline in their share of media budgets.
Connected TV has taken center stage, while audio remains a small piece of the pie, despite the growth of podcasts and streaming. Digital out-of-home is also an efficient channel, Grastara says, offering strong reach at a low cost, with the added benefit of device ID retargeting.
You’re watching “Road to the Election 2024,” a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by Effectv. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
