2024’s US presidential race is forecast to generate a record-breaking $12 billion in ad spend. This includes a whopping $9 billion spent on down-ballot races alone. Advertisers across America are keen to join the chorus of voices and win the day.
With so much competition, advertisers looking to make a difference need to stand out. They need to ensure their data measurement is up to date and ready to go – leveraging the latest techniques and technology to reach the right audience and have a successful campaign.
The data of past and potential future voters is essential. Advertisers need to understand, as much as possible, who their audience is, where they are, and how they can be reached. While the right to a secret ballot is essential, behavioral data can be used to capture an image of the needs and locations of your desired audience for better targeting.
Data measurement is essential for understanding reach and impact. How many potential voters is your ad reaching? How are they responding to your messaging? These questions need to be answered for an effective campaign.
With so much on the line in 2024, how can advertisers properly measure data for their next political campaign?
Marketing mix models give advertisers an advantage
Marketing mix models (MMMs) can give advertisers insights and measurements to effectively reach their target audience. They do this using the natural variations in aggregate data rather than user-level data.
Data measurement is crucial in any campaign, but even more so in a political one. Additionally, privacy is especially important in political advertising. As data walled gardens make their climb and third-party cookies deteriorate, most marketers feel the pinch when it comes to finding an effective measurement strategy. Political marketers are no different. MMMs provide a reliable solution.
MMMs are not new, but as the world of marketing shifts, they are redefined and rediscovered. They let political advertisers overcome data measurement challenges and give them a holistic view of their overall performance. MMMs are also highly effective for political marketing as they are less invasive to user privacy, and privacy is crucial to the democratic process.
What are MMMs?
Mix marketing models (MMMs) are an analytic technique advertisers use to measure their impact on consumer, or in this case voter, behavior. This technique breaks down measurement results by channel, giving advertisers insight into which aspects of their cross-channel marketing activities are the most effective.
MMMs use a variety of variables to measure the impact of an advertising campaign. In political advertising, this means using voter lists, as well as the following variables:
- Marketing spend data – MMMs use a percent of the marketing budget allocated for various marketing activities like promotions, support, and advertising
- Economic data – MMMs use economic indicators like interest rates and inflation. They can also use data on consumer confidence.
- Market and consumer data – MMMs use demographic data, as well as data on voter attitudes and behaviors. They can also use data on market trends and conditions.
- Competitor data – MMMs use data on competing campaigns and advertising activities, like ad spend.
One thing to consider when adopting MMMs is to test your measurements before implementing them on a wider scale. Advertisers must take the time to calibrate their MMMs through ad experiments. This has been found to correct return-on-ad-spend by an estimated 15%.
The more narrowly targeted ads will need more calibration to ensure their measurement is as accurate as possible. If a campaign relies on fewer channels or has a more niche audience, advertisers will need to run more experiments to refine their MMM.
Final thoughts on data measurement for political advertising
Accurate ad measurement is essential for a successful political ad campaign. Political advertisers need to leverage data for measurement while maintaining the voter privacy democracy demands. Mix marketing models give advertisers the perfect tool for leveraging data to measure their impact on potential voters across the country.
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