Each year, digital marketers prepare, plan, and execute marketing campaigns for their clients to meet goals and reach KPIs. Plans and strategies change and adapt as industries shift, consumer trends change, and marketing best practices adapt to algorithm updates. But every four years, new challenges arise because of presidential elections.
Usual digital marketing planning and strategies around holidays and the end of the year are suddenly shifted dramatically as political campaigns invest billions and turn to digital marketing as a way to reach and engage with potential voters. 
So, how should you adjust your digital marketing plan during an election year?
5 Ways to Prepare Your Digital Marketing Strategy During An Election Year
Election years can greatly impact non-political advertisers whether they like it or not. Ad space becomes more competitive, audiences get ad fatigue, advertising costs increase, and consumers change their media consumption and spending habits. But, with these tips, you can be prepared to adjust your digital marketing as needed.
1. Plan and Strategize Early
Having a plan for content strategy, social media posting, and advertising spending before political messages begin to water down digital channels is crucial to maintaining visibility, managing costs, and driving engagement.
What we do: Several months before elections (and holidays) our team brainstorms new strategies and adjustments to implement to clients’ campaigns to maximize results.
2. Diversify Advertising Channels
During election cycles, consumers often change their media consumption. Adding new advertising channels like newsletters or social helps your brand reach audiences through various touchpoints and stand out among the noise of political ads.
What we do: We use consumer research and analytics to better understand where audiences are spending their time online. We then use that information to add new channels or shift strategies as needed.
3. Optimize Ad Spend with Data
During election years, advertising space is limited and costs soar. This is where analyzing past performance – both in election and non-election years – can help you identify any trends and strategic opportunities to refresh your ads.
What we do: We love data. Our team continually monitors the best and worst performing ads for our clients and adjusts and optimizes campaigns accordingly to maximize return on ad spend.
Download Our Guide: THE 2024 ELECTION CYCLE: How it May Impact PPC Marketing
4. Emphasize Creative and Engaging Content
Breaking through the clutter is important during the chaos of elections. Refreshing creatives more frequently than normal helps your brand capture and retain your audiences’ attention at a time when their attention spans are shorter and ad fatigue is high.
What we do: We refresh and create new website content and visuals, incorporating engaging copy and eye-catching design to ensure content remains valuable to users while optimizing for search visibility and SEO performance.
5. Be Flexible and Ready To Adapt
When times are uncertain, having a strategy that allows dynamic responses to the digital marketing landscape improves the chances for success.
What we do: One of our core values as a company is innovation. For us, that’s coming up with new strategies while relying on nimble scopes to help turn ideas into execution – fast.
Prep, Plan, and Perform This Election Cycle
As election season unfolds, the success of your digital marketing strategy hinges on a well-prepared and adaptable plan. By staying informed, leveraging data, and anticipating shifts in audience sentiment, you can position your brand to succeed during this dynamic period.
Our digital marketing team is ready to help your business stay visible during this busy time of year!