4 ways brands can make maximize budgets despite higher costs for video advertising
We’re a third of the way into a pivotal election year in the US – consumers are glued to the news for updates on their preferred candidates and causes, political campaigns and affiliated organizations are spending more money on media than ever before, and news publishers are benefiting from increased engagement and higher CPMs. But while the media industry is buzzing with the positive impacts of political spending, some evergreen brands are in a tough position to optimize budgets that are already stretched thin as advertising becomes more expensive and competitive.
Based on annual forecasting, Connatix expects to see average CPM increases range from 10-20% from August through November compared to last year’s monthly seasonal averages across our publisher network. With this in mind, how can price conscious buyers overcome these added costs without sacrificing reach, scale, and campaign success? Here are our top 4 tips.
Programmatic trading can be a bit unpredictable, even outside of an election year, as prices fluctuate due to a variety of factors. That’s where Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) comes in. PG deals are struck between a buyer and a seller, where they agree upon a set delivery for advertising. Unlike private marketplaces that invite a few buyers to bid on supply, PG is a private deal between one advertiser and one seller. These deals are a great way to secure high-quality, priority inventory while locking in favorable prices and terms like impression quantity, pacing and target audience all before a campaign launches.
While premium placements on news or news-adjacent sites covering topics like education or multicultural issues will see increased competition and higher costs, brands that lock in PG deals can stay on budget without sacrificing placement quality by negotiating directly with publisher partners and other sellers. Connatix runs PG deals through several partners, including The Trade Desk, Beeswax, Viant/Adelphic, Basis Technologies, and more, to bridge the gap between buyers and sellers and make it easy to set deals up quickly.
According to Connatix’s latest consumer research, 55% of consumers are visiting publishers' websites to watch the news during a normal year, and we expect these numbers to be even higher this election season. With this in mind, running ads adjacent to news or political coverage might result in high engagement, but it also comes with a high price tag that might be tricky for some price conscious brands to justify.
For political candidates, PACs or other organizations looking to reach voters, spending on news sites with election coverage is a no-brainer. The same goes for cause-conscious brands or those with campaigns tied to voting and election conversations. For other brands with evergreen campaigns, you may want to consider targeting media outside of news during the crucial periods from August to November – not only just due to the higher price tags, but also due to brand safety concerns. No one wants to see another Applebees/CNN fiasco.
By leveraging tools like Connatix’s Deep Contextual™, advertisers can target more affordable, non-news keywords that resonate with target audiences, align with campaign goals, and keep the brand in suitable environments all while avoiding pricey (and potentially unsafe) election content.
It might seem simple to avoid targeting news in favor of budgets, but for brands with heavily news-inclined audiences, it’s easier said than done. However, advanced tools are emerging that make it possible to predict what an audience will be interested in based on previous engagement data. By leveraging predictive tools, brands can identify a clear connection between news-lovers and their consumption patterns. For example, maybe the majority of your audience gravitates toward cooking videos or entertainment when they need a break from election news. These categories are likely more affordable than news, but still reach the same target audience in a privacy-safe and ID-free way, taking budgets further while improving reach and scale.
Connatix is currently testing predictive tools with a curated list of advertising partners. If you’re interested in learning more or leveraging the solution, reach out to the Connatix team.
Election-related stories will flood publishers' sites from now through November, but there are some dates where election news, and therefore consumer attention and CPMs, will be higher than others. If possible, try to avoid launching a non-election campaign on the same day as key moments like election day or presidential debate days. It’s also important to consider the dates that impact various DMAs where your campaign might run, like a caucus or a big polling push in a swing state that is bound to get a lot of political attention. Higher CPMs might be inevitable during election season, but the more closely tied a campaign launch is to a key moment, the more expensive media placements will be.
Navigating election season as an advertiser isn’t easy, but Connatix is here to help. Get in touch to learn more about our tools that make video advertising simple, successful and affordable this election year.