Political Online Advertising Poised To Take Off In 2008
GW’s Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet Unveils New White Paper on
Best Practices for Political Advertising Online
WASHINGTON (March 4, 2008) – More candidates will utilize paid political online advertising in 2008 than in all previous elections combined, according to a new white paper titled Best Practices for Political Advertising Online, released today by GW’s Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet. Yet Internet advertising will represent a minute portion of overall advertising dollars.
While political candidates will spend billions on television and direct response advertising, and despite embracing the Internet in new ways, online advertising is expected to attract only $73 million, by one estimate, during the 2008 political cycle. According to the co-authors, the disparity is the result of an over-reliance on the Internet for earned media and a lack of understanding about its effectiveness as an efficient, scalable and measurable medium capable of driving awareness and persuasion as effectively as its offline counterparts.
“It’s no longer true that the only way campaigns can reach voters is by purchasing ads on network television,” said Julie Barko Germany, director of the institute. “The rise of online content sites, blogs, and social networking communities has led voters to consume political information in new ways. In order to reach them, the presidential campaigns must move into online advertising.”
Co-authored by several political online advertising experts, the white paper looks at the changing online political environment and offers best practices, case studies, and information about how political organizations, parties, and candidates can incorporate online advertising into their political marketing strategies.
A few key findings in the paper include:
- Political marketers spend an average of 1.6 percent of their budget online, compared to 7 percent by commercial advertisers.
- With broadband penetration among online households predicted to reach 89.4 percent in 2008, online video advertising has never been more accessible to political marketers.
- Search engine marketing is engaging, can be updated frequently and cost-effectively, and is among the most easily monitored of all advertising media.
- Display advertising, when used in concert with other components of an online plan and the rest of an integrated media mix, can make a measurable impact on awareness and voter intent.
- Lead-generation marketing can help political organizations build awareness, drive traffic to a specific Web site, and build large permission-based databases of interested voters.
Matthew Boyd, senior vice president of ValueClick Media said, “Political marketers are extremely savvy when it comes to fund raising, e-mail marketing, and use of Web 2.0 applications like video sharing, blogs, and social networks; however they are just now discovering the targeting capabilities, control, performance metrics, and scalability that can be achieved by online advertising. The white paper is perfectly timed to provide political and advocacy communications professionals with the information they need to incorporate online advertising into their overall marketing strategies.”
About IPDI
The Institute for Politics, Democracy, and the Internet is the research arm of the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University. The institute’s mission is to promote the use of the Internet and new communication technologies in politics to enhance democratic values, encourage citizen participation, and improve governance at home and abroad; in short, to “democratize democracy.”
Offering graduate programs in political management, legislative affairs, PAC management and public relations, GW’s Graduate School of Political Management seeks to improve politics by educating its students and professionals about the tools, principles, and values of participatory democracy; preparing them for careers as ethical and effective advocates and leaders at the international, national, and local levels.
For more information about the Politics Online Conference, visit http://polc.ipdi.org.
For more information about GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, visit www.gspm.gwu.edu.
For more news about GW, visit the GW News Center at www.gwnewscenter.org.
About ValueClick Media
ValueClick Media is one of the world's largest and most effective performance advertising networks, reaching more than 75 percent of the U.S. Internet audience across 13,500 quality sites. Leveraging its extensive reach, advanced targeting capabilities, superior optimization technology and expertise, ValueClick Media drives scalable results for advertisers and revenue for publishers through its display advertising, lead generation and video solutions.
About ValueClick, Inc.
ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK) is one of the world's largest online marketing services companies, offering comprehensive and scalable solutions to deliver cost-effective customer acquisition for advertisers and robust revenue streams for publishers. ValueClick's performance-based solutions allow customers to accomplish their objectives through multiple online marketing channels, including affiliate and search marketing, display advertising, lead generation, ad serving and email technology, and comparison shopping. ValueClick brands include Commission Junction, ValueClick Media, Mediaplex and PriceRunner. For more information, please visit www.valueclick.com.
CONTACT: ValueClick, Inc.
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SOURCE: ValueClick, Inc.