Selling Political Candidates on OOH

Kevin Gephart, OOHsalesfaster.com

“All politics are local” is an axiom that proves OOH is the most powerful media to drive political campaigns. Now is the time to pursue political candidates for the mid-term primary elections prior to and including the general election on November 8, 2022.

Check your state’s Secretary of State website for political offices that have contested races and focus on the largest ones. During this year’s election, all 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the US Senate, will be contested along with various local, state elections and referendums.

Dealing with political campaigns is different from general advertising opportunities. Work with management to assure you are following your companies political advertising pricing/policies. Campaigns spend as they’re able to secure money, so ad buys come down very quickly inhibiting advance planning. The biggest spend will come 4-8 weeks prior to the primary and/or the general election. You must build relationships now because there isn’t time when the money rolls in. “No” always means “no for now.”  A single set of poll results, a large contribution, or a news story can change a campaign’s priorities in a flash. Assure your political candidate prospects you are available 24/7 to respond to their needs throughout the campaign. There are no weekends/holidays once a campaign gets into full swing.

FCC law requires all political ad inquiries and ad purchases for both radio and television stations be recorded in the stations public inspection files and be available to anyone free online. These are the keys to the kingdom for selling OOH!

Build a bridge to the political party headquarters of the largest parties in your state.  These leaders may have party money to spend and are likely called upon for media advice from the individual candidates.

As a door opener, quote Political Communication: The Manship School Guide: “Outdoor Advertising has embraced the newest technology, and this has given it some unique advantages in the world of campaigns. The same elements that work for Madison Avenue when convincing people what to buy, also work in elections when convincing people how to vote.”

While political advertising can be a great boost to your billing in the second half of the year, don’t spend more than 15% of your time prospecting political advertising.  These are largely one-time only, limited scope sales. Maintain your database of contacts from the current election because many of the same people will be involved in future campaigns.

Many larger campaigns are directed by specialty political advertising ad agencies. They are fixated on TV as the answer to every problem. Radio and TV must (by law) guarantee the lowest unit ad cost for candidates. Even at the reduced cost, typically OOH delivers lower cost per thousand and cost per rating point than radio or TV.

The advantages of OOH for political candidates are very powerful:

  • Digital OOH can move as fast as politics. It is high-reach, real-time. Candidates can update their messaging based on campaign appearances, new endorsements, and overall campaign conditions.
  • OOH is scalable, it can be as big or as targeted as the candidate needs; it also allows geo-domination.
  • OOH can target any socio-economic, ethnic group or party persuasion.
  • Messaging can be hyper-local, neighborhood driven.
  • OOH reaches important, low-TV user segments: Gen-Z, Millennials, Soccer Moms, busy professionals, etc.
  • OOH delivers all demographics for the same dollar; no need for multiple broadcast stations/programs to reach all voters
  • OOH provides “recency” (the theory that often people don’t make a decision until they are on their way to take action).

Most campaigns know which ZIP Codes are most important to their success, making OOH the obvious media of choice. If not, Nielsen Research provides info about which ZIP Codes tend to vote Democrat, Republican, and Independent.

A related source of prospecting is “bumped” advertisers. Because the FCC requires radio/TV to bump/pre-empt general advertisers to make room for political advertisers, pursue advertisers holding unspent budget in need of strong advertising during the political season. Likely the advertisers that rely most on cheap broadcast rates are the most likely to be bumped.  Pursuing these pre-empted advertisers pays big dividends and build a loyal client going forward.  Position OOH as pre-empt insurance. Begin right now to remind advertisers, in your email signature and social media profile, that your company never pre-empts!!

Many advertisers prefer to opt out of TV during election seasons, avoiding having their ad stuck in a commercial break with several, generally negative, political ads which are likely to be tuned out.

If I can help with more political advertising strategies and resources reach me at: OOHSalesFaster.com, or call 612-387-5349.  Watch for the OOH Sales Guidebook being published by me and Billboard Insider, due out in a few weeks!

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