We're jumping into a massive political advertising season in the US. With the presidential election less than eight months away, this cycle is gearing up to be incredibly impactful for voters and advertisers alike. In fact, all of the projections have stated that this year will be the largest political ad spend ever for a major election year: $12.32 billion (Reuters). For context, that's almost triple the ad spend from the 2016 election cycle, which was $4.25 billion (eMarketer).
Additionally, according to eMarketer, it’s predicted that "Digital political ad spend will hit $3.46 billion, 45.0% of which will go to connected TV (CTV)." But along with all the potential of this new channel, there are also new challenges. Most top of mind: Political marketers simply don't have 4K produced-for-television 15 and 30 second ad creative at their disposal.
Where production-ready ads are lacking, candidates and social causes typically have a strong presence on social media. The content that lives on social is authentic, engaging, and creative. Furthermore, social media enables two-way communication with voters, which is an area where many digital channels are lacking. So, it's not surprising that there's a lot of social video in the political space as it's one of the most powerful ways that candidates can connect with their constituents.
To fight with fire, VoterX, the political subdivision at Division-D, is working with Spaceback to launch Social CTV: A refreshingly new way to support the creative needs of this political cycle. Through this partnership, political advertisers can turn their best social video content into production-ready CTV ads that are then executed using precise targeting, whether on a local or national scale.
"Since most campaigns include social in this day and age, the option to expand the use of existing and strong performing assets across channels like CTV with zero production/lead time requirements is a game-changer. Especially with the expected growth of CTV, the chance to tap into the channel in such a unique way helps candidates test new formats they wouldn't have otherwise been able to," explained Lauren Faulkner, Senior Account Executive representing VoterX.
Social CTV will ensure ads stand out from the political noise with more authentic creatives and better UX. Additionally, Spaceback's platform can help advertisers move at scale more quickly. Within a few quick steps, the creative is ready to launch on any streaming service.
"With the ever-growing need for unique video execution this cycle to stand out from the opposition, Social CTV allows us to diversify existing video messaging for a larger impact without creative fatigue and leverage a candidate's strong social presence with production-ready CTV ads," said Emma Maack, Manager, Sales Development representing VoterX.
Spaceback and Division-D have been working together for several years now. Throughout this partnership, we've collaborated on dozens of campaigns, with notable activations from brands such as Glass Doctor, Rainbow Restores, Eggland's Best, and Lamb Weston.
"After working with Division-D on Social Display campaigns in the past, I'm thrilled to have this partnership expand into the political space with VoterX and Social CTV," shared Gretchen Mosby, Senior Customer Success Manager at Spaceback.
Learn more about Division-D's political branch, VoterX, here, and view Social CTV demos here.
