Is your client’s goal to get more people to the polls this election season? Or are they hoping to ride the coattails of political ads to get more viewership? Either way, they should be turning to CTV media ads.

CTV Media Ads to Influence More Voters in 2024

CTV’s Ad Share is on the Rise

2024 is expected to be the costliest in U.S. history, according to a report from eMarketer. At $12.32 billion, 2024 will be the first year that political ad spending will have broken 11 digits.

While traditional TV ads still hold the title of top political ad spending category, CTV media ads are making waves.

Between presidential election years, digital’s political ad spending has doubled, making up 28.1% of total political ad spending in 2024. That’s $3.46 billion. Maybe the 14% increase doesn’t sound significant, but 2024’s digital ad spending is 10 times what it was in 2016.

CTV media ads make up 45% of political digital ad spending this year. These ads are also the ad format driving the most growth among political ads as a whole:

• CTV: 506.8% increase since 2020
• Google: 215%
• Digital: 156.3%
• Social Media: 86.7%
• Meta: 86%
• Traditional Media: 7.8%
• Linear TV: 7.5%

CTV’s Strengths

Why are CTV media ads so in demand this election season? Nearly 70% of U.S. consumers use CTV now. And those consumers watch an average of over two hours of CTV every single day.

“CTV offers a similar ad experience as its linear counterpart, but it also provides more sophisticated targeting and analytics capabilities.” eMarketer says those are, “Key features in an age when harnessing data can help tip the scales in tight elections.”

Digiday data highlighted in a previous SalesFuel blog post agrees. 76% of marketers as a whole say that CTV plays a huge role in their advertising mix because these ads:

• “Increase brand awareness: 55% (of marketers agree)
• Improve ad relevance: 40%
• Offer precise audience targeting: 39%
• Are an engaging creative format: 37%
• Increase brand engagement: 35%
• Achieve higher conversion rates: 35%
• Create more repeat customers: 29%”

Plus, CTV ads have increased viewability since they work even when the TV is off. Another SalesFuel blog based on GroupM data says, “8–10% of streaming impressions play when the TV is shut off.” How?

Ancillary devices, that’s how. CTV ads are not only viewed through TVs, but also dongles, gaming consoles, sticks, and TV apps.

Effective CTV Ads Start with Audience Data

CTV media ads’ main advantage over traditional TV ads are their audience targeting capabilities. But does your client know the demographic information of their target audience? Do they know where to place their CTV ads so that they reach that audience?

AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel can help. This tool houses demographic and marketing information on hundreds of unique audiences, such as:

• Political Candidate Researchers
• Politicos (people who have an avid interest in politics)
• Every Election Voters
• Political Campaign Contributors/​Supporters
• Conservative Cause/​Issue Supporters

On each audience’s profile, you can look up information such as:

• Which types of TV programming are their favorites
• How they’re watching the majority of their TV programming
• Which streaming services they’re using
• What percentage of this audience took action after seeing CTV ads within the last year
• How much time they spend watching TV on a daily basis
• Demographic information, such as their age, gender and occupations
• Self-​Identification categories, such as military veteran, small business owner, etc.
• Memberships and Clubs, such as religious organizations, charitable organizations, gun clubs, etc.

With this wealth of information at your disposal, you and your client can craft the best CTV media ads possible.

Photo by: Phillip Goldsberry