How Social Media Marketing is Impacted by the US Election

Social media has become a key part of most businesses’ marketing strategy. Unfortunately, as the election nears a higher number of political ads will begin popping up, making it more difficult for small businesses with lower budgets to compete.

Here are some of the ways your advertising will be impacted, along with a few social media marketing tips to combat this.

More Competition

During election years, the competitive landscape on social media increases and advertisers are forced to compete against political ads. More competition means a lower likelihood that your ads will be shown to users, since there’s more content vying for the space.

What you can do: You need to understand that in many cases you’ll be up against organizations with a much larger budget. So, if you really want to get your ads shown the best thing you can do is increase your spend. You can also try posting more content in order to break through the noise.

Ad Cost Increases

In addition to having to spend more to ensure your content is seen, the cost of running ads will also increase. This is due to more people bidding for the space, which drives up the cost of each ad. Make sure to factor this into your social media strategy, as your cost per lead might go up during this time.

What you can do: You will either have to increase your advertising budget or get creative about your strategy. For example, you can run fewer ads and concentrate only on the times when your customers are likely to be online to maximize your ROI.

A Decline in Organic Performance

Facebook already prioritizes content from consumers over brands. So, with even more brands and advertisers in the space the amount of views and engagement your organic content receives might decrease.

What you can do: You basically have two options: You can either spend more on paid content, or you can post more often to make up for the decrease in organic views. This is also probably not the best time to experiment with new content. Stick to topics you know are popular with your audience to maintain your performance as much as possible.

Things will be Even Tougher During Election Week

Political ads will be in full force during the weeks leading up to the election and consumers will be posting their own personal opinions even more. The bottom line is there you’ll be up against even more content, so be prepared.

What you can do: As always, you can increase your budget to try to compete with the other advertisers. However, a better strategy might be to simply hold off on advertising during this week due to the lack of reach you’ll experience. By waiting until the election is over to run your ads you’ll likely get more views and better value for your money.

Let the Experts Manage Your Social Media

Social media marketing services are available as an add-on to the FYNDYOU Program Bundle. Our team will create your strategy and post engaging content for you so your business stays top of mind amongst your customers. Call (502) 289-6115 or contact us today to speak to one of our team members and receive a free demo.