Gone are the days when politics was powered by processions and mega rallies. Today, big data is the force giving elections and electoral processes new turns and twists to gain favorable outcome.
India is the largest democracy in the world and election campaigns play an important role in upholding its values. With the age of time, there has been a shift in the medium of communication. Social media and digital marketing have changed the narration of election campaigning, giving incumbents and newcomers alike a platform to connect with voters and turn the elections in their favor. Political parties and leaders are realizing that along with advertising on traditional mediums, such as television and newspapers, they must invest in digital marketing, especially in Facebook ads for political campaigns if they want to compete at par with their opponents.
Facebook is the most popular marketing platform in the world and the social giant has expanded its advertising network to suit a wide range of businesses, including Facebook political advertising. Investing on Facebook ads for political campaigns can influence elections in favor of political parties or leaders as the platform gives advertisers the ability to focus ads towards their own target audiences using data from users. Potential voters can be micro-targeted using Facebook strategy for political campaign as audiences based on different categories (age, gender, location, job title etc.) can be defined before starting campaigns.
Further, ads including, Facebook political advertising is freely available to all businesses and the Ads Manager tool is free as well. Ads on the social platform are low cost and in terms of digital pay-per-click, they offer some of the best return on investments. Further, Facebook advertising platform provides robust analytics so it always crystal clear regarding which Facebook strategy for political campaign is working and which is not. Metrics are provided about a political campaign’s weekly reach, post engagement, page likes and best performances for you to analyze the data and determine your next step. With this data, political ads can be adjusted on what’s needed, instead of having to guess or finding out later on that the investment was for nothing. Facebook gives advertisers a lot of power when it comes to tracking and measuring the progress of your ads.
Another benefit of investing on Facebook ads for political campaigns is that the majority of posts on the social giant’s news feed are videos. This is an enticing feature of turning voters in a political party or candidate’s favor as users prefer watching videos to reading content. Facebook enables advertisers to create video ads, which subsequently grab more attention of potential voters.
Almost every Indian political leader has taken up to social media to reach out to people and express themselves without the filtering of traditional media. From Amit Shah addressing rallies and local political campaigns via video link to Mamata Banerjee launching the “Mark Yourself Safe from BJP” campaign, the 2021 West Bengal election stands testimony to the fact that the digital landscape attracts masses like no other medium of communication.
There is no doubt that a digital wave has gripped electoral processes in India. As per data by Grapes Digital, regional parties are spending a substantial amount of their advertising budget on online local political campaigns to not only create a buzz but stay in limelight with the help of the different forms of content. In January 2021, ahead of the West Bengal election, a page called Banglar Gorbo Mamata by Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) spent Rs. 9,17,993 on Facebook ads, followed by Bharatiya Janata Party’s page Amar Poribar BJP Poribar spending Rs. 8,60,820 in the same period.
This is not to say one should rule out the effectiveness of traditional marketing during election. Engaging with the public via street plays, door-to-door campaigning, LED rallies, hoardings, pamphlet distribution etc. also contribute significantly towards a free and fair election. To reap the utmost benefits of marketing, one must always remember to join the forces of digital and traditional creatively and relevantly.
NCSofttech is a leading digital marketing agency, specializing in political campaigning across states in India. Our unique and creative approach to political campaigns promises to connect with audience, create engagement and turn election results in a party or candidate’s favor. Our passionate team of professionals is dedicated to building and implementing campaigns that will motivate and influence potential voters to contribute their bit to the elections.
