From CTV to AI: Top 5 Media Planning Trends for the 2024 Elections

Earlier this year, I joined hundreds of other political consultants from across the country to celebrate our wins, analyze our losses and start mapping out how we will approach the ever changing media landscape in 2024.

The 2022 midterm election cycle absolutely shattered records, becoming the second most expensive political cycle of all time, behind only the 2020 presidential election. With control of the White House and both houses of Congress up for grabs, we should absolutely expect 2024 to set the new record.

Despite these mind blowing numbers, guess which stat shocked me the most? Of the $8.9 billion spent on advertising, over 73% of all budgets were spent on broadcast/cable TV. I’m not here to say that political advertisers and organizations should join us in the 21st century and ditch the traditional methods—not at all! There is certainly value in including TV in your media mix, but in 2024 we need to be thinking smarter and working harder to craft paid media budgets that actually reach our key voters.

Below are five trends in media that my team of brilliant media planners and buyers are keeping our eyes on for 2024. 

Connected TV

In the summer of 2022, streaming overtook cable for media consumption in the US with a 34.8% share vs. cable’s 34.4% share. But connected TV (CTV) only accounted for a 12% share of political ad spending in 2022 vs. cable’s 20%. Why is there such a large discrepancy? In 2024, we are only going to see more audiences shift to streaming and away from traditional TV, and our budgets must follow suit. CTV is more fragmented than cable and there’s about 100 different vendors in the media landscape selling streaming inventory, so it’s critical that media teams thoroughly vet their options and understand the demographics of each vendor before locking anything in. 

Audience research

It’s time to move away from thinking of our audiences as monoliths like “persuadables” or “BIPOC”—these labels only serve to erase the identities, motivations, concerns and experiences of extremely diverse communities. We need to invest in research that focuses on specific segments of the United States, incorporating elements such as their media consumption habits, geographic location, immigration status and more. Equis Research is just one great example of an organization that is taking the time and money to uncover the nuances of the Latino electorate and helping campaigns make smarter media decisions. We were able to use its research in 2022 when we partnered with United We Dream Action to turn out over 4 million youth voters in battleground states. More of this kind of research is needed in the progressive space, and campaigns need to be crafting media plans that speak to the rich diversity and nuances of their target audiences. 

Cookies and third-party data

The long march toward the end of cookies (and thus third-party data) continues. When iOS 14 was released in 2020, advertisers lost the ability to precisely track and optimize for conversions. And when Google eventually phases out cross-site tracking in late 2024, we’ll only see our ability to find and target specific audiences become more difficult. Cookies help advertisers collect and track data, enabling us to deliver ads that are more relevant to audiences. But there are legitimate concerns around privacy and data control that we must face. How advertisers adapt to the coming changes will be a key indicator for success in 2024. At BerlinRosen, we’re re-evaluating how we allocate budgets for conversion-based campaigns and testing new tactics to make up for the loss on Meta. We’re also constantly adding new data vendors to our repertoire and challenging outdated approaches to targeting.

Emerging and changing platforms

Meta and Google are basically the old guard of digital media. Both platforms have radically changed how they approach political and social issue advertising since 2018, and even in 2023 we are still reeling with the impacts of limited targeting, advertising blackouts and changing rules on disclaimers. In 2024, we will continue to find ways to be efficient and maximize reach for our clients. Here are examples of a few of platforms that we’re following:

• TikTok: It’s the fourth largest social media platform in the US and it’s only going to keep growing (if it isn’t banned, that is!). Political and issue-based advertising is banned on TikTok, but C3 organizations should be looking at how they can educate audiences on key social issues like climate change, racial justice and more. 

• Twitter: It’s nearly impossible to keep up with the constant stream of updates coming out of Twitter these days. One of the biggest changes Twitter’s new ownership instituted was lifting the ban on political advertising and making social-issue advertising much easier for groups. If and when to deploy Twitter ads is a nuanced issue that can’t adequately be covered in a blog post, though. 

• Hulu: After 2020, Hulu made the controversial decision to ban political and issue ads. But after Disney’s takeover and a social media campaign from Democrats, Hulu reversed its decision and began allowing political ads again in late 2022. Despite this change, there are still several hoops to jump through or limitations when it comes to Hulu, and media planners need to be well-versed in these to quickly and efficiently launch campaigns.

• Spotify: In the same vein as Hulu, Spotify banned political and issue ads in 2020 only to allow them back in 2022 but with more limitations.

AI

Everyone’s talking about it! How will AI help or harm our campaigns? Our team experiments with AI tools such as ChatGPT and Jasper for tasks such as generating creative ideation and writing variations of ad copy. We’ve found that AI can be a useful tool for brainstorming, but it’s important not to underestimate the importance of the human element in the creative process. After all, machines are only as good as the humans who program and supervise them. Recently, the RNC launched the first-ever AI-generated video ad. This has caused many communications professionals to ask, “How much control are we willing to give over to technology?” While many businesses want to leverage AI to streamline their campaigns, it all comes down to how much control you’re willing to give over to the tech. AI is not a replacement for human creativity, but rather a supplement for the creative process. Only by maintaining a balance between human creativity and machine efficiency can we successfully leverage AI to enhance our campaigns.

Are you ready to optimize your media planning? Send us a message and let’s discuss how we can collaborate to create a powerful strategy for your organization.