Political Digital Marketing: How to Prepare for Election Ads in 2020

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2020 is an election year, and with it, the political digital marketing market is in turmoil. In addition to embarking on new strategies and plans focused on the election period and the unique content shared at times like these, it is important to be aware of the policies that the main platforms impose when it comes to sponsored content.

In 2018, Facebook made a major change in this area, requiring that politically-related ads include an indication that they were focused on this topic. This change was one of the biggest changes in the last election period, but this year other platforms have already spoken out on the issue.

Facebook and Instagram
According to the Ads Help Center, political ads are those “prepared by, on behalf of, or related to a current or former candidate for public office.” Anyone interested in advertising content with these rcs database must go through the platform’s authorization process.

This process has been in place since 2018 and will continue to be necessary this year. One of the requirements is that advertisers must reside in the target country. The ads in question must have a legal notice with the name and entity responsible for paying for them. If the requirements are not met, the ad will be paused and can only be aired again after the situation has been regularized.

If you intend to use this platform to promote political content, look for an agency specialized in political digital marketing right now to begin the necessary processes to legalize the ads.


Campaign carried out by Fizzing in 2018

Campaign carried out by Fizzing in 2018

Campaign carried out by Fizzing in 2018
Twitter
The network of quick and short texts, widely used for content that has a greater appeal to young people and a large reach, also released some guidelines on political advertising options on its platform. Although it is not the largest network used in the country, it undoubtedly has a great appeal when it comes to social mobilization.

The network also has a series of restrictions on political ads, but specifically in the case of Brazil, the platform decided to cancel ads with an electoral campaign theme. According to Twitter's CEO, "(We) believe that the reach of political messages should be earned, not bought."

Spotify
The music streaming platform also has space for advertisements. On free plans, users hear 30-second audio ads. The music giant also updated its guidelines for politically themed ads for 2020. According to the terms of operation and conditions for advertisers, political campaign ads are prohibited on Spotify.

Along with Twitter, this is another platform that has decided to completely restrict this topic. Only Facebook remains against this movement, allowing ads to be displayed, even with the necessary identification and some restrictions.

Google
The search giant has also already released its policy for politically themed ads in 2020. To restrict the reach of this content, the platform has decided to drastically reduce the targeting options available. Only geographic location settings (except a radius around a location); age and gender; and contextual targeting options, for example: ad placements, topics, keywords on websites, apps, pages and videos, will be allowed.

According to the company's official statement, these measures aim to increase user confidence in the content published by the company: “We are proud that people use Google to find relevant information and that candidates use us to raise donations, but given the context around political advertising, we want to improve voters' confidence in the political ads we display.