Election season requires an extra layer of planning for your marketing strategy to anticipate pre-emptions as political ads saturate the marketplace. The fall 2022 election cycle will include 36 statewide gubernatorial elections and 35 statewide U.S. Senate elections as well as all 435 House of Representatives seats. As of February 2022, political contributions increased 72% over the previous midterm election cycle in 2018, according to Federal Elections Commission reports. As a result, Magna predicts political campaign ad dollars will increase 41% from 2018.

Once again, local broadcast TV is expected to receive a lion’s share of political ad dollars at $4.2 billion, an increase of 26% from the previous midterm election. For retailers and other marketers, this brings uncertainty about disruption of advertising campaigns during the critical fourth quarter of the year, a time when they can least afford it.

A former retail marketer who spent years in the industry described how election season could impact campaigns. “During election years, as we are experiencing this fall, our broadcast and cable TV ads got bumped all the time by political ads. We would get “make-goods” in November after the elections but that didn’t help us in October,” he said. “After a few election cycles and getting bad air times, we dropped TV ads in in October altogether and put more dollars into widening our shared mail scope for that month.”

Now is the time to take control and adapt your advertising strategy to anticipate pre-emptions and approach Q4 with confidence.

Leveraging Direct Mail & Digital Touch Points to Increase Reach & Response

Plan ahead for potential TV ad pre-emptions with an integrated strategy that implements direct mail & digital touch points to increase reach and response.

• 69% of purchase influence is driven by print and digital media combined.
• 60% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after seeing an ad offline and online.
• Advertisers achieve 39% lift in consumer awareness when print is integrated with digital campaigns vs. single media campaigns.
• And they get 30% lift in response when print is paired with digital media.
• 67% of US adults regularly or occasionally receive a print ad that encourages them to go online for more information or to make a purchase from the advertiser.

Research proves that for optimal results, a strategic marketing mix needs a print component as part of a coordinated, multi-channel strategy. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. It relieves digital fatigue—75% of consumers surveyed said they see an overwhelming number of digital ads daily.
2. It delivers high ROI—Direct mail has the highest ROI of any direct marketing channel according to the ANA’s 2021 Response Rate Report.
3. It drives website visits—60% of consumers surveyed visited an advertiser’s website in response to direct mail.
4. It moves consumers on the path to purchase—39% of consumers surveyed said they had made a purchase after receiving direct mail.
5. It has a longer shelf life—70% of consumers look at ads they receive in the mail and keep them an average of 14.5 days.

Now is the time to modify your advertising plan to compensate for inventory shortages this fall. Reach out today to plan your strategy.

Sources: Forbes; Prosper Insights & Analytics; ANA Response Rate Report 2021; USPS Mail Moments Spring 2021 by Summit Research; SG360 + Walker-Sands Research Study April 2021