CTV Share Grows as Campaigns Rethink Social Media Strategies
Political advertising is growing and changing. Campaigns and interest groups will spend more than ever promoting candidates and causes on media channels. This year, these advertisers will continue to direct the bulk of their budgets to linear TV, but they will also capitalize on the refined targeting capabilities of connected TV (CTV) and social media as they grow their investments in those venues. Against the backdrop of an increasingly polarized electorate, political advertisers are also focused on the potential pitfalls of misinformation and reputational risks.
Key Question: How much will be spent on US political ads in 2024, and how is the media mix changing from previous election cycles?
Key Stat: US political ad spending will vault past $12 billion in 2024 - a new high - to nearly triple the $4.25 billion spent in 2016. As campaigns spend more, they are increasingly investing in digital formats like CTV.
Here’s what’s in the full report
- 2 Exportable files for easy reading, analysis and sharing.
- 9 Charts: Reliable data in simple displays for presentations and quick decision making.
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Ready or not, the $12 billion election is here
- Digital is capturing more and more political ad dollars
- Despite digital’s growth, traditional media still dominates political advertising
- Takeaways for marketers
- Media Gallery
Charts in This Report
- US Total Political Ad Spending, 2016-2024 (billions and % of total media ad spending)
- US Digital Political Ad Spending, 2016-2024 (billions and % of total political ad spending)
- US Connected TV Political Ad Spending, 2020-2024 (billions and % of digital political ad spending)
- Since the Last US Presidential Election, CTV Will Blow Past Other Formats/Platforms in Ad Spending Growth (% change in US political ad spending, by format or platform, 2020-2024)
- US Social Network Political Ad Spending, 2016-2024 (millions and % of digital political ad spending)
- Google Will Nearly Catch Up to Meta in Political Ad Revenues (millions in US political ad revenues, 2020-2024)
- Most US Political Ad Spending Will Be on Traditional Channels, in Contrast to Total Media Ad Spending (traditional vs. digital % of US political and total media ad spending, 2024)
- US Traditional Media Political Ad Spending, 2016-2024 (billions and % of traditional media ad spending)
- US TV Political Ad Spending, 2016-2024 (billions and % of total political ad spending)
