MEDIA BUDGETS: ELECTION YEAR EDITION
Why CPMs don’t matter with Atlas Influence Targeting
2024 ballots will be full. With the presidential race, one-third of the U.S. Senate, 435 congressional races, and 11 gubernatorial seats up for election, plus countless local elections, media buyers are already planning for rising CPMs. This electoral-driven increase in CPMs can also negatively impact your advocacy campaign budgets — unless you use Atlas Influence Targeting.
A CASE STUDY ON CPMs
Election year CPMs cost comparison
Voter CPMs increase drastically in the final weeks leading up to Election Day, impacting unrelated public affairs efforts if you use traditional broad targeting methods. Using data provided by StackAdapt, the chart below shows CPMs for digital video increasing by 50% over the last five weeks before the 2022 general election when targeting voters using a combination of voter file and broad traditional contextual and geo-targeting methods.
However, when using Atlas for public affairs campaigns during the same period, our data shows smaller week-to-week fluctuations with no price increase over the five weeks before the November 8, 2022, general election.
Here’s why: Atlas is not designed to target massive audiences of voters. Atlas is a precise digital advertising data tool that targets only the people who matter most to your campaign’s victory. Election year or not, Atlas’ precise targeting always reduces wasted impressions, budget, and time spent targeting irrelevant people who can’t influence policy.
THE TAKEAWAY
CPMs don't matter with Atlas
It is easy to fall for the common trap of judging a digital campaign by the CPMs. Don’t be misled. Compare the targeting methods, audience size, CPMs, and total spend for a one-month Atlas for Individuals campaign targeting Representative Kay Granger (R-Texas) using average CPMs from June 2024.
While the CPMs are cheaper with traditional advertising, Atlas targeting saved the campaign 92% overall by delivering ads only to the people who matter most — not a single person more.
