Ahead of the 2024 election, Proximic by Comscore has launched new AI-powered targeting tools with custom audience segments that it says enable political marketers to drive incremental reach, boost frequency and increase candidates’ share of voice on CTV.
Initially, the new suite of political local TV ad exposure audience segments are exclusively available to clients of media-buying platform The Trade Desk. The custom segments represent individuals that have been exposed to linear TV political ads, that can now be activated in CTV and digital environments.
According to Proximic by Comscore - the company’s dedicated programmatic targeting unit that launched earlier this year - the ability to reach audiences in streaming environments based on exposure to linear TV ads at the local level is an industry first in the streaming space.
As to why the local level is key, Proximic told StreamTV Insider that reaching audiences in a specific electoral district is where marketers can use CTV to their advantage.
“In the last presidential election, 80% of political advertising was spent on local linear television, therefore any solution to help political advertisers reach CTV and digital audiences must take into account that local level TV ad exposure,” Comscore said via email.
With these linear TV ad exposures included in an advertiser’s programmatic political targeting strategy, they can most effectively drive incrementality and increase share of voice for candidates, the vendor added.
Proximic by Comscore laid out three primary use cases, the first being reach extension, as marketers can suppress viewers of a candidate’s linear TV ads to get digital and CTV incrementality. The second is to amplify frequency, where advertisers can reach viewers of a candidate’s linear TV ads to increase or reduce frequency across other channels. Finally, marketers can target audiences – down to a household level - who have been exposed to competing candidates’ linear ads in order to increase their own share of voice.
The new tools come as political ad spending is expected to soar in 2024. Projections from AdImpact anticipate a record 2023-2024 election cycle totaling $10.2 billion in political ad spending across channels. Of that, the firm projects spending on CTV will total over $1.3 billion during the 2024 cycle. Proximic by Comscore also sees the new audience segments as potentially helping drive more ad dollars to CTV. According to Proximic, political marketers can reach audiences in a privacy-centric way, with segments available at the presidential, senate, house and gubernatorial level.
“As more political advertisers look for ways for greater reach with right audiences, digital advertising becomes a critically important component to media campaigns. The open internet provides opportunities for political advertisers to apply more data to better understand what messages resonate with audiences," said Kevin Fisher, GM of Business Development at The Trade Desk, in a statement. "In working with Proximic by Comscore, we're presenting an innovative and privacy-centric offering to marketers across connected TV."
The new political local TV ad exposure segments are available as ID-based audiences and ID-free contextual Predictive Audiences.
"With the 2024 election season on the horizon and record-breaking spending anticipated, Proximic is excited to integrate our Political Ad Exposure segments into The Trade Desk to empower advertisers to reach political audiences in a privacy-centric manner," said Rachel Gantz, Managing Director of Proximic by Comscore, in a statement. "Media buyers will now have the ability to extend reach and drive incrementality over linear, to effectively compete in this hyper-competitive race."
Article updated to clarify the new audience segments and The Trade Desk partnership is with the Proximic by Comscore programmatic targeting unit, not just Comscore.