Television Is The Medium Most Likely To Influence Voter Opinions and Decisions, Especially in COVID-19 Environment
New Effectv research suggests candidates maximize the impact of their TV advertising by delivering their message across screens and using addressable advertising.
New York, June 22, 2020 – Today, Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, released findings from an analysis of political TV advertising that looked at campaign win rates in relation to media tactics and provided recommendations for successful advertising. The report is titled “Politics 2020: Making an Impact with Cross-Screen TV Advertising,” and there are several timely key findings.
The study found that winning candidates in the 2018 midterm elections had clear similarities in their approaches to TV advertising with Effectv. In fact, the research showed that the primary win rates among the over 400 federal candidates who ran TV ads with Effectv were 2.5 times higher than non-Effectv advertisers’ win rates, and their general election win rates were more than three times higher.
Effectv’s research shows that even moderate changes in advertising strategies, particularly in today’s New TV environment, corresponded to higher candidate win rates. The trends among winning candidates included launching ad campaigns sooner, advertising across more networks, running ads throughout the day, investing larger budgets and using data to inform their strategies.
“The 2018 U.S. elections were one of the most anticipated midterms in decades. To break through the crowded field and reach voters in this evolving media landscape, candidates had to employ especially strategic advertising campaigns,” said Dan Sinagoga, vice president of political sales, Effectv. “Key among our findings was the fact that TV remains an important medium for helping candidates win elections, especially in today’s advertising environment.”
Viewers are now watching more TV and more varied content during more dayparts while states had shelter in place orders. For the four-week period between March 30 and April 26, total TV time increased an average of 8% across the board, as compared to the same period last year. Likewise, live and video on demand viewing increased 6% and 38%, respectively. Cable news viewing increased 79% and daytime viewing was up 22%.
The report says that these trends could help amplify television’s effect and help advertising make a greater impact. Effectv suggests three key strategies for candidates to reach their most likely supporters in today’s environment:
- Reallocate budgets if needed to maintain a healthy media mix of TV, digital, print, radio and other platforms, but to reconsider the breakdown. If budgets are cut, the paper recommends prioritizing TV spend, as it was proven most effective in 2018.
- Adjust messaging to address the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper recommends different approaches for federal, state or local levels.
- Adjust tone to convey the empathy, understanding and value, and be consistent.
Finally, the report proposes that the key to making the most of TV advertising is to utilize all the capabilities it offers. By mixing traditional TV with cross-screen TV content, addressability and OTT, candidates can leverage TV as a full-funnel political advertising solution, driving awareness, interest, research, voting consideration and actual voting. The report suggests the following approach:
- Use traditional TV to introduce positions, gain name recognition and create a strong foundation for the ad campaign.
- Extend messaging across screens including on-demand, digital and over-the-top. Effectv found that those aged 18-34 are much more likely to watch connected TV or use other devices to watch video content.
- Take advantage of addressable advertising, which uses insights from viewership data and demographic data to deliver ads by audience rather than by daypart or network.
The full report can be found here.
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About Effectv
Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, helps local, regional and national advertisers use the best of digital with the power of TV to grow their business. It provides multi-screen marketing solutions to make advertising campaigns more effective and easier to execute. Headquartered in New York with offices throughout the country, Effectv has a presence in 60+ markets with nearly 35 million owned and represented subscribers. For more information, visit www.effectv.com.
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