As you scroll through Instagram or TikTok, you may come across campaign ads that look very different from traditional political ads.
The ads are shorter and look more like casual social media posts than polished productions, with candidates speaking directly to the camera in selfie-style videos designed to be personal and relatable.
A panel discussion hosted by George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), “From Advertising to Algorithms: How Digital Media is Shaping the 2024 Election,” focused on this shift in political advertising and discussed how digital media is shaping the 2024 election. We explored how it continues to form. 2024 election.
The panel, moderated by SMPA Associate Professor Ethan Porter, was the second in a three-part conversation series being held this fall with SMPA in partnership with Campaigns and Elections. Panelists were Taryn Rosenkranz, founder and CEO of New Blue Interactive, Emily Karrs, creative director of IMGE, and Massimo Alicia, a combined degree student studying political communication and media, strategic communication.
Porter asked what makes this campaign cycle’s digital advertising different from other years, especially in terms of style and production.
Kerrs said the campaign is opting for more informal advertising that looks more natural when viewed by viewers on social media platforms.
“When people think of political ads, they think of the big, shiny things you see on broadcast television that tell a big story,” Kars says. “But as digital technology has come into its own, people have started spending more time looking at data to see what actually works. I really don’t like things like ads, so the more you can make them look like something you see on social media, especially a candidate’s selfie video, the numbers work perfectly. It’s something you’ve probably seen everywhere.”
Carrs said this tactic works because it feels personal and unsophisticated, allowing him to better connect with voters.
Alicia added that digital advertising is adapting to viewers’ viewing habits.
“The informal style of digital advertising is increasing compared to TV advertising, and I think this is mainly due to people consuming more entertainment on digital platforms, such as social media platforms and YouTube videos. ,” Alicia said. “I think everyone has seen political ads before YouTube videos, but they are different in many ways from a 30-second or one-minute TV ad.”
Rosenkranz said the ads are much shorter. She acknowledged that condensing campaign messages into just a few seconds was a challenge, but agreed it had proven effective in reaching an audience that avoids political content. .
Porter asked what to expect from the digital advertising industry as Election Day approaches.
Carrs said both sides will make strong efforts to reach undecided voters in the final days leading up to the election. He gave the example of a campaign that uses available voter information to identify people who have requested absentee ballots but have not yet returned them.
“That means persistent advertising will be everywhere,” says Carrs.
Alicia said that in the final days before Election Day, campaigns will try to recalibrate their messages to reach those they think are still persuasive.
“Digital advertising wasn’t born yesterday. We’d like to think about what we’ve learned from previous elections and video advertising experiences. Are there any strategies that have been tried, used, but abandoned? “Tell me about the lessons learned,” Porter asked.
Rosenkranz said he has recognized over the years the importance of continually evaluating and updating strategies to remain effective.
“From a best practices standpoint, I think you can’t win if you don’t test every time, because the styles and brands change,” Rosenkranz said. “There’s nothing we can say for sure that what we learned in the last cycle will be the same in the next cycle. So we always have to keep testing. That’s probably the biggest lesson.”
