Some companies have urged customers and artists to put their content on hold until after the U.S. presidential election, which is in a few days.
Depending on the outcome and the candidate’s victory, some are reducing their major advertising campaigns throughout the election season and planning their post-election strategy.
According to Amy Luca, global head of social at Monks, this does not imply that all brands and creators are going entirely silent at this time. However, it is crucial that they pay attention to the timing of their posts.
“At the moment, we’re just waiting to see what happens,” Luca said to Digiday. “The brand world we live in is real-time. It implies that we must possess the agility to respond or shrink in response to external events.
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For example, if businesses and artists completely disappear during election season, there may be lost chances as more Americans rely on social media for political information. 75% of American consumers feel social media has taken over as their main source of news on the 2024 presidential race, according to Sprout Social surveys. Even more so for Gen Z (77%) and millennials (78%), two-thirds feel social media has influenced their views on the election.
We therefore made the decision to discuss how the maker community is getting ready for the pivotal election week and its fallout.
For what length of time are brands and artists going dark?
Some brands and creators are changing their schedules or campaigns in place of pausing their marketing content during the election. According to Randy Gudiel, svp and media director of marketing firm Orci, social media is a place where firms can be visible right now and interact with customers when they need a “break from the election noise.”
Brands are advised to take a “brief pause just before and after the election, then a swift return with content that resonates with the post-election mood,” according to Roee Zelcer, CEO of creator platform Humanz U.S.
While most clients will simply suspend their influencer content on Election Day, Stagwell business agency Gale will pause theirs for the entire week leading up to the election. According to Erin Lyden, vice president of public relations and influencer at Gale and co-lead of the agency’s social marketing team, any significant influencer launches will “get lost” that week.
There are still methods to connect during or after the election, even while Americans are divided on whether they want to restrict their usage of social media in the run-up to the election (per Sprout Social). According to creative commerce platform Kajabi, some creators intend to keep sharing political material; 37% of them intend to urge followers to cast ballots, and 35% believe it is critical to increase public understanding of political problems.
The brand, the type of creator, and the real-time events will determine how long and whether to suspend marketing during the election. Joey Chowaiki, COO and co-founder of Open Influence, stated that while some of the company’s clients decided to halt their influencer initiatives during the election, the majority are “in a wait-and-see mode.”
“We recognize that political noise can overpower other content, so we don’t have any campaign posts planned for Election Day itself,” Chowaiki stated. “But we continue to be adaptable and ready to modify our plans in response to current events, always collaborating closely with our clients.”
“If you have to ask if you should post, you probably shouldn’t — but that doesn’t apply as cleanly to times like these, when every day holds a pause posting-worthy event,” says Amy Cotteleer, partner and chief experience officer at agency Duncan Channon.
As they decide whether to go dark and when to provide some lighter content or, if necessary, run a promotion, Duncan Channon will keep an eye out for significant occurrences throughout the election season.
“Remember that many users use social media as a means of escape, and having a place to disconnect from the outside world is a welcome respite,” Cotteleer continued, adding that election day is much like any other.
What factors affect the cost?
As events transpire both online and offline, some brands and creators are adjusting their content strategies on a daily basis. Additionally, marketers need to be aware of the costs associated with advertising on key platforms. For instance, digital firm Kepler is recommending that a number of businesses cut back on their expenditures in the run-up to the election, according to Zach Ricchiuti, associate VP of client solutions at Kepler. According to Ricchiuti, most firms should wait until after the election, when political advertising expenditures will decline and the holiday shopping season will begin to take up in earnest.
“Political ad spending is flooding real-time auction platforms like Meta and YouTube, which affects engagement rates and drives up the cost of media on those platforms,” Ricchiuti stated. Furthermore, social media feeds that contain news, political opinion, and political advertisements don’t create the best conditions for brand addition.
The black time will “end quickly,” according to Sam Huston, svp of creative and media at full-service digital agency Dept, because Thanksgiving is later this year and the holiday shopping season is shorter. According to Huston, the department’s performance marketing teams have been monitoring election and media expenditures since January and found that, from July to September, spending was distributed fairly evenly among YouTube, Meta, streaming, and programmatic.
But today, Huston claimed, “political advertisers are giving YouTube priority over all other platforms.” For comparison, political parties spent well over $2.5 million a day on YouTube in the second half of October. It’s more like $1 million a day for Meta.
Huston suggests that companies “go dark” on video channels that are “over-saturated with political ads” in light of this. He continued by saying that it might just mean temporarily reducing the amount of programming on other channels — “or it could mean charging forward with cheerful and lighthearted content.”
What happens if Harris prevails? Should Trump win?
When asked about his post-election intentions, Luca of Monks stated that they will change depending on the outcome of the election. For instance, marketers will have the chance to capitalize on “a wave of optimism” if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected, she said. However, if former President Donald Trump wins, there may also be conflict, so companies should be ready for a variety of situations.
“Predict, protect, and promote are the three main pillars of our strategy,” Luca stated.
Agencies are considering brand safety and protection in relation to their promotions, to the extent that they can forecast the election’s outcome. For instance, if Trump wins, a company that caters to women would supposedly go into “protection mode.” “You’re not going to say much,” Luca remarked. “You will continue to discuss women and maintain a fairly straightforward brand. You say, “Great, we’re in promotion mode,” if Harris wins.
Depending on the winner, there are potentially broader platform and regulatory ramifications that might affect post-election tactics for the tech and artist sectors. Trump, for example, supports looser social media content regulation and restriction laws, but Harris might try to split up Google, which would significantly change the advertising market.
“Harris’ stance may lead to stronger enforcement aimed at promoting competition, benefiting open-web platforms,” as observed by eMarketer analysts Rachel Wolff and Zak Stambor. Harris may impose more stringent content regulations on brands.
The future of TikTok is another concern; if either Trump or Harris wins, what would happen to the platform’s ban? We’ll talk about that in another story.
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