Surviving the Election Surge: 5 Brand Safety Tips for Digital Advertisers
As the 2024 election season ramps up, digital spaces are set to be flooded with political content, creating a highly competitive and often polarizing environment for advertisers. Political ad spend is projected to reach $12.32 billion, with 52% occurring in October and November. This surge drives up advertising costs and increases the risks for brands navigating this crowded and sensitive landscape.
Beyond rising costs, the influx of political content brings challenges for brands aiming to avoid association with controversial or sensitive topics. In a time of heightened political polarization and AI-generated misinformation, protecting brand reputation has never been more critical. According to recent data, 82% of B2C marketing executives are concerned about advertising during the election cycle, while 75% of consumers feel less favorable toward brands advertising on sites that spread misinformation. In fact, 51% of consumers are likely to stop using products or services if they encounter ads placed near offensive or misleading content.
With these dynamics in play, the next few weeks are a crucial period for advertisers to establish and maintain a solid brand safety strategy. If you’re looking for actionable insights, keep reading as we outline five key strategies to protect your brand, manage costs, and ensure high-quality campaigns during this election season.
5 Strategies to Protect Your Brand this Election Season
1. Negatively Target Unsafe Keywords
Election-related content can unintentionally creep into ad placements, putting brands at risk of being associated with sensitive or controversial topics. By using negative keyword targeting, you can block specific words or categories from triggering your ads, ensuring they don’t appear next to political or inappropriate content. This goes beyond obvious political terms; it’s wise to expand your list to cover less direct but still risky topics that may surface during the election cycle. For example, terms like “recession,” “inflation,” “unemployment,” or “economic downturn” often signal discussions about economic uncertainty, which can be closely tied to political discourse. Expanding your negative keyword list in this way helps safeguard your brand’s reputation.
2. Enlist Brand Safety Tools and Partners
Brands can leverage third-party tools like IAS and DoubleVerify to ensure their ads appear in safe environments. These platforms analyze web content before placing an ad, flagging any harmful or politically charged material, helping brands avoid unintended associations during the election season.
Through DSP partners, brand safety filters can be easily added or adjusted throughout a campaign as the political landscape evolves. This flexibility is crucial during the election season, where unexpected events or breaking political news can quickly dominate the digital space. By applying these filters, brands can ensure their ads avoid being placed next to politically sensitive or controversial content, protecting their image during this high-risk period.
3. Utilize Blocklists and Allowlists
Blocklists prevent your ads from appearing on websites that host inappropriate or risky content, while allowlists help you ensure your ads run only in trusted, brand-safe environments. This is crucial during the election season when sensitive or polarizing content is more prevalent. By maintaining a predefined list of reliable sites, you can control where your ads appear and protect your brand from being associated with potentially harmful material. Regularly updating these lists will help safeguard your brand’s reputation in an ever-changing digital landscape.
4. Consider Premium Ad Buys
For greater control over ad placements during the election season, consider premium ad buys through private marketplace (PMP) deals. This approach ensures that your ads are displayed only on carefully vetted, high-quality sites, giving you more precision over where your message appears. By opting for PMPs, you can reduce the risk of your ads being shown next to politically charged content or other sensitive material, helping to protect your brand’s image in a competitive and unpredictable environment.
5. Don’t ‘Set it and Forget it’
Election season is a critical time for brands to stay on top of their campaigns. Instead of setting them up and walking away, constant monitoring and real-time updates are essential. Brands need to be ready to act quickly if their ads are placed next to sensitive or politically charged content.
Having a plan in place to mitigate any potential backlash is crucial for protecting your brand’s reputation. This is especially important during such a high-stakes period, where a hands-on team can help catch and address any issues before they escalate.
Protect Your Brand this Election Season with Digilant’s Help
At Digilant, we understand the complexities of running digital ad campaigns during election season. Our team is equipped with the right tools, technology, and industry partnerships to help advertisers navigate the challenges and keep their brands safe. Contact us today to discuss how we can support your brand’s campaign success this election season.